Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Director:

Brian G. Hutton

Writer:

Alistair MacLean (story)

Release Date:

12 March 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

They look like Nazis but . . . The Major is British . . . The Lieutenant is American . . . The Beautiful Frauleins are Allied Agents!

Plot:

Allied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding an American General prisoner... but that's not all that's really going on.

Plot Keywords:

Animal In Title | Rescue Mission | Combat | 1940s | British Agent

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Richard Burton	...	Maj. Jonathan Smith, MC
Clint Eastwood	...	Lt. Morris Schaffer
Mary Ure	...	Mary Elison
Patrick Wymark	...	Col. Wyatt Turner, DSO MC
Michael Hordern	...	Adm. Rolland
Donald Houston	...	Capt. James Christiansen
Peter Barkworth	...	Edward Berkeley
William Squire	...	Capt. Philip Thomas
Robert Beatty	...	Gen. George Carnaby
Brook Williams	...	Sgt. Harrod
Neil McCarthy	...	Sgt. Jock MacPherson
Vincent Ball	...	Carpenter
Anton Diffring	...	SS-Standartenführer Kramer
Ferdy Mayne	...	Gen. Rosemeyer
Derren Nesbitt	...	SS-Sturmbannführer Von Hapen

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Spain:13 | Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1969) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (cut) (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Aigen im Ennstal, Steiermark, Austria

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Richard Burton wanted Richard Egan to play the Clint Eastwood role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Shaffer starts the cable car and runs to it to jump on himself, it doesn't actually start moving until he is nearly aboard.

Quotes:

Lt. Morris Schaffer: There's a stop and start button.
[for the cable car]
Major John Smith: See if you can make the motor work.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Meatrack (1970)

Thanks Dad for introducing me to a brilliant movie

"Where Eagles Dare" was one of the first films that my father took me to see at the cinema when I was a boy in the 1970's. Back then I was 100% caught up with the on-screen action and loved every minute of it. Now 25+ years later the film holds the exact same thrills for me as it did then. I always list it as one of my 10 all-time favourite films.

I had no idea who Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were at the time I first saw "WED" but I thought they were marvellous in the film. A few years later the BBC started showing it on TV (usually at Christmas!) and I always watched it each time it was on. Some years ago I was able to buy the Widescreen video of "WED" and now I can watch it whenever I like!

The music is absolutely brilliant and I often find myself humming the stirring main theme from time to time.

Not only did "WED" introduce me to Burton and Eastwood (two of my all-time favourite actors) but also to the novels of Alistair MacLean and many of his other films, such as "The Guns of Navarone", "Bear Island" and "Breakheart Pass" (all of which I recommend).