Where Eagles Dare

Where Eagles Dare
UK quad crown release poster
by Howard Terpning
Directed byBrian G. Hutton
Screenplay byAlistair MacLean
Based onWhere Eagles Dare
1967 novel
by Alistair MacLean
Produced byElliott Kastner
Starring
CinematographyArthur Ibbetson
Edited byJohn Jympson
Music byRon Goodwin
Color processMetrocolor
Production
company
Winkast Film Productions
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • 4 December 1968 (1968-12-04)
Running time
155 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6.2 million[1]–$7.7 million[2]
Box office$21 million[3]

Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 action adventure war thriller spy film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a Special Operations Executive team of men attempting to save a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, except the mission turns out not to be as it seems. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first, at the same time that he wrote the novel of the same name. Both became commercial successes.

The film involved some of the top filmmakers of the day and was shot on location in Austria and Bavaria. Hollywood stuntman Yakima Canutt was the second unit director and shot most of the action scenes; British stuntman Alf Joint doubled for Burton in many sequences, including the fight on top of the cable car; award-winning conductor and composer Ron Goodwin wrote the film score; and future Oscar nominee Arthur Ibbetson worked on the cinematography. Where Eagles Dare received mostly positive critical reaction, with praise for the action sequences, score and the performances of Burton and Eastwood, and has since been considered a classic.[4][5]

  1. ^ Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. p. 133.
  2. ^ "Metro-Goldwyn Omits Dividend; O'Brien Resigns: Board Cites Possible Loss Of Up to $19 Million in The Current Fiscal Year Bronfman Named Chairman". Wall Street Journal. 27 May 1969. p. 2.
  3. ^ Hughes, p.194
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference TCM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "The Spinning Image, Where Eagles Dare". thespinningimage.co.uk. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.