WHERE EAGLES DARE (1968)

1968
Directed by Brian G. Hutton

This is very much Richard Burton's film for it is he who is given all the acting, while Eastwood stands around looking cool but always ready when there' some killing to be done. And there's plenty of that in this boy's own style adventure movie that keeps the viewer literally gripping the edge of the seat.

The plot sees a group of British agents and an American (Eastwood) dropped into an Alpine fortress to rescue an American General who holds the details of for the planned second front in his head. No sooner have they parachuted in than we realise one among them is a traitor when one of the team his found dead, his neck clumsily broken to indicate he died in the jump from the plane. But as the mission continues it becomes apparent that there may be other traitors within their ranks and the plot twists and turns, keeping the viewer guessing but glued to this high octane thriller.

Based on the Alistar Maclean thriller, this was, at the time, Eastwood's most successful film and MGM's number one moneymaker that year. The action scenes are brilliantly staged and the extended climax is exactly what cinema was invented for, even if the final twist is just a little bit obvious.

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy."

The set pieces are many - the motorbike escape, the cable car fight, the heart-stopping mountain climb and the fight out of the fortress. The film doesn't question or moralise about the war (it's not that kind of war movie) but instead provides an exciting dose of pure action cinema.