Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Director:

Brian G. Hutton

Writer:

Alistair MacLean (story)
(more)

Release Date:

12 March 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | 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:

Mission | Nazi | SS | Castle | Parachute Drop

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
Victor Beaumont	...	Col. Weissner
Ingrid Pitt	...	Heidi
John G. Heller	...	German major (at Zum Wilden Hirsch) (as John Heller)
Guy Deghy	...	Maj. Wilhelm Wilner
Olga Lowe	...	Lt. Anne-Marie Kernitser
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Beale	...	Telephone orderly (uncredited)
Ivor Dean	...	German Officer #2 (uncredited)
Jim Dowdall	...	Extra (uncredited)
Max Faulkner	...	Sgt. Hartmann (uncredited)
Harry Fielder	...	German soldier (uncredited)
Lyn Kennington	...	German woman (uncredited)
Nigel Lambert	...	Young German soldier (uncredited)
Ian McCulloch	...	German Officer (uncredited)
Anton Rodgers	...	German officer at airfield (uncredited)
Jack Silk	...	German officer at ammunitions shed (uncredited)
Philip Stone	...	Sky Tram operator (uncredited)
Ernst Walder	...	Airport control officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Brian G. Hutton

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alistair MacLean		novel (uncredited)
Alistair MacLean		story and screenplay

Produced by
Denis Holt	....	associate producer
Elliott Kastner	....	producer
Jerry Gershwin	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ron Goodwin

Cinematography by
Arthur Ibbetson		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
John Jympson

Art Direction by
Peter Mullins

Costume Design by
Arthur Newman		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ted Lloyd	....	production supervisor
Tom Sachs	....	unit manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Colin M. Brewer	....	assistant director (as Colin Brewer)
Yakima Canutt	....	second unit director
Anthony Waye	....	assistant director: second unit
Chris Kenny	....	second assistant director: second unit (uncredited)

Art Department
Arthur Taksen	....	set dresser
Mickey Lennon	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	sound editor
John Bramall	....	sound recordist
J.B. Smith	....	dubbing mixer
Peter Dobson	....	assistant foley artist (uncredited)
Michael Hickey	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Hellenburgh	....	special effects
Richard Parker	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Tom Howard	....	photographic effects

Stunts
Gillian Aldam	....	stunt double: Mary Ure (uncredited)
Peter Brace	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tim Condren	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Lane Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Dittman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Max Faulkner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tex Fuller	....	stunts (uncredited)
Romo Gorrara	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Graydon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alf Joint	....	stunt arranger (uncredited)
Alf Joint	....	stunt double: Richard Burton (uncredited)
Alf Joint	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Lodge	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dave Newman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terence Plummer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Powell	....	stunt double: Clint Eastwood (uncredited)
Eddie Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunt arranger (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Richards	....	stunts (uncredited)
Doug Robinson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Sawyer	....	stunt double: Clint Eastwood (uncredited)
Bill Sawyer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Thong	....	stunts (uncredited)
Les White	....	stunts (uncredited)
David Wilding	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Yorke	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
H.A.R. Thomson	....	camera operator: second unit
Paul Wilson	....	camera operator
Bob Bremner	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)
Ginger Gemmel	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
John Jay	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Kelvin Pike	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Graham Scaife	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
David Wynn-Jones	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Alan Strachan	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	conductor

Other crew
Penny Daniels	....	continuity
Al Lettieri	....	dialogue coach (as Alfredo Lettieri)
Marion Rosenberg	....	assistant to producer
Raymond Becket	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Brian L. Davis	....	military advisor (uncredited)
Steve Pickard	....	process projectionist trainee (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Winkast Film Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1968) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (198?) (West Germany) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA (19??) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Sandrews (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (????) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment

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:

Spain:13 | Australia:G (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | New Zealand:PG | 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:

Winkast Film Productions

Trivia:

Nazi concentration camp survivor Ingrid Pitt found filming very difficult because many of the cast were wearing World War II German army uniforms.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the corridor firefight, Schaffer retreats into the room and a German soldier throws a grenade through the door. In the widescreen version you can see the grenade strike the door frame and bounce back at the actor's feet, yet there is an explosion inside the room where the grenade would have landed. And grenades do not explode in a fireball as shown in this, (and other) movies.

Quotes:

Vice Admiral Rolland: Security? The word's become a bloody joke!

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).