Where Eagles Dare ★★★★
IN 1968 Clint Eastwood’s film career was in a state of flux.
He had starred in a successful television western series, Rawhide, and then took a punt on starring in three so-called spaghetti westerns made by Sergio Leone in Italy.
At this early stage critics were generally still not sure what to make of The Man With No Name, one of the two characters that would become synonymous with Eastwood as he became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Two mildly successful American films followed in Hang ‘Em High and Coogan’s Bluff.
Then, in 1968, along came his first mega-hit, the World War II adventure/ thriller Where Eagles Dare.
The great British actor Richard Burton was the star, but Eastwood held his own as he mowed down the Nazi hordes with stylish stoicism.
Three years later his other signature role of Dirty Harry would be born, courtesy of the originally-cast Frank Sinatra pulling out.
Where Eagles Dare is a typical adventure film of the time, based on a book by best-selling writer Alistair McLean whose other film adaptations included When Eight Bells Toll, Puppet on a Chain, Ice Station Zebra and The Guns of Navarone; all also worth watching by the way.
In Where Eagles Dare, a British aircraft has been shot down in Nazi-held territory and the only survivor, an American General, has been taken to the nearest S.S. headquarters for interrogation.
In England, Major Jonathan Smith (Burton) is directed to lead a commando team to rescue the American who, unbeknown to the Germans at this stage, has full knowledge of the coming D-Day invasion plans.
Amongst the team is an American Ranger, Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Eastwood), who is sceptical of the reason for the mission but also raises questions amongst the others about his inclusion in the team
On parachuting into Germany one of the team is killed, but Smith later confides in Schaffer that the dead man’s neck was deliberately broken, setting the scene for a series of red herrings and double-crosses that punctuate the film.
Burton has the best scenes.
He gets to play the tough-guy sex symbol alongside Mary Ure who plays a local barmaid spying for the Allies while flirting with the Germans.
And he features in the action sequence that the film is renowned for – an ice pick fight on the top of a cable car that still thrills today.
Ultimately, Where Eagles Dare is a film that just delivers what it says on the can.
But, much like Eastwood’s methodical kills, it does so in a thoroughly efficient way.