Eastwood Goes to War

For the better part of three decades following the end of World War II was staple fare for virtually every major British and American studio, plundering every important event (and many minor ones too) of the war in order to spin outrageous yarns that often had little to do with the actual events. Some of them are so bad that they become unintentionally funny, running the full gauntlet from sanctimonious drivel to idiotic shoot-'em-ups that want nothing more than to provide an impressive number of explosions and a high body count. "Where Eagles Dare" is an intriguing affair: a Boys' Own style adventure yarn that is a complete work of fiction and seems to have no loftier goal than to thoroughly entertain its audience. While perhaps not as accomplished or as well-known as its similar cousin "The Guns of Navarone"  (which was based on a novel by "Eagles" screenwriter Alistair McLean and shares a comparable style), the film has a legion of fans and the viewer accepts its charmingly ludicrous story at face value.

The plot initially seems completely straightforward. A crack team of British agents, led by Major Smith (Richard Burton), are tasked to infiltrate a castle deep in the Bavarian mountains and rescue a captured American general before he spills the beans to the Nazis about the Allies' plans for D-Day. Tagging along is an American ranger, Lt. Schaffer (Clint Eastwood). However, it soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems. Smith has been advised that there is a mole in his ranks, and when members of his team begin dropping like flies he must work both to discover the mole while at the same time concocting a daring raid and plan of escape.

The truth of the matter is much more complicated and by the time Smith reveals the real reason for the mission and the actual agendas at work, most viewers will have given up trying to make sense of it all. The fact that the mission itself seems completely pointless once we learn the actual objective is best forgotten. The sole American in the troupe, Eastwood's Lt. Schaffer takes in all the outlandish proceedings in much the same way as the audience: completely baffled, but willing to accept it in order to see it through. Complementing Eastwood's stolid but bemused performance is Burton's portrayal of Major Smith, a man who gives the impression that he is always in complete control. Even when (briefly) captured by the occupying Nazis, you get the impression that nothing worries or surprises him unduly, and Burton manages to make such activities as scaling a castle wall and hopping from one moving cable car to another look effortless. The third major player is Mary Ure, whose character of secret agent Mary Elison is a refreshingly active female heroine in a period and genre usually dominated by men. Hammer horror queen Ingrid Pitt is also featured as a resistance fighter who provides access to the fortress.

A lot of the enjoyment of the film is derived from its sheer excess. The location itself, a huge gothic fortress towering above snow-capped mountains and reachable only via cable car, has a superb atmosphere of its own, and Arthur Ibbetson's widescreen photography frames it beautifully. While the first half of the film is played out in a relatively subdued manner, the second half, which sees our bold heroes making good their escape, is a classic study of popcorn excess. Perfectly synchronized explosions ring out in unison, whole stone-walled rooms collapse based on the power of a couple of sticks of dynamite, and Clint Eastwood mows down entire battalions of soldiers thanks to his seemingly endless supply of weapons and ammunition, all pulled from a small bag of holding. Despite incoming machine gun fire from multiple positions, Eastwood's character seems to have no trouble in dispatching multiple opponents in a matter of seconds, whether it be with a machine gun of his own, his trusty pistol, or one of those magic sticks of dynamite. It's all incredibly silly, but it is the sheer lack of believability that makes the film so entertaining. You never truly know exactly what is going to happen next, thanks to the fact that our heroes seem capable of clearing any obstacle laid in the way of their goal.




Of course, no good World War 2 action film is complete without over-played Nazi stereotypes, and "Where Eagles Dare"  has them in abundance. From the monocled General Rosemeyer (Ferdy Mayne) to the simpering pretty-boy Gestapo officer Major Von Hapen (Derren Nesbitt), complete with curly golden locks, none of the villains of this piece are to be taken seriously. These fellows are cackling villains of the first order, all of whom could have stepped straight out of a pantomime: General Rosemeyer, for instance, asks for the Gestapo to be kept out of the interrogation activities until the requisite information has been acquired since "we don't need them cluttering up things with torture chambers". Of course, they all speak perfect English (minus the odd "Heil!" and "Fraulein!" and the fact that they pronounce "the" as "ze"). Indeed, English is the only spoken language in the film, despite a big deal being made of the fact that our heroes speak perfect German. Such is the magic of film, I suppose. It's probably a good thing that none of the German soldiers are allowed to be anything other than cardboard cut-outs, because they are gunned down with such carefree panache that to view them as actual people would make the film a rather depressing exercise.


 "Where Eagles Dare" remains a highly enjoyable action romp and one that remains effective to this day, provided you watch it in the correct frame of mind and don't take it seriously.