Where Eagles Dare

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.

• Director:Anthony Harvey
• Genre:Drama | History
• Runtime:135 minutes

Cast

Peter O’Toole : Henry II
Katharine Hepburn : Eleanor of Aquitaine
Anthony Hopkins : Richard
John Castle : Geoffrey
Nigel Terry : John

Where Eagles Dare takes place during World War II. In the winter of 1943-44, U.S. Army Brigadier General George Carnaby, enroute to Crete to rendezvous with Russian forces to plan the final details of the invasion of Normandy, is captured by the Germans when his aircraft is shot down. He is taken to the Schloß Adler (The Castle of the Eagles – hence the story’s title), a fortress high in the Alps above the town of Werfen and the headquarters of the German Secret Service in southern Bavaria. A special team of mainly British commandos is hurriedly assembled and briefed by Colonel Wyatt Turner and Admiral Rolland of MI6, and led by Major John Smith, MC and US Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer. Their mission is to parachute into the locality, infiltrate the Schloß Adler, and rescue General Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him.

Known only to Smith and Rolland, SOE agent Mary Elison, a trusted member of MI6, accompanies the mission. General Carnaby, really an American actor and look-alike by the name of Cartwright Jones, deliberately crash-landed near the castle after a staged attack by Royal Air Force fighters. He must be rescued before the Germans realize that he truly does not know of any secret plans and is not General Carnaby.

During the early hours of the mission, someone begins killing other members of the team and attempting to cover the evidence. Major Smith is unsurprised but shares his secret only with Lt. Schaffer, trustworthy because he has no former connection with MI6.

Contriving to get the entire party captured, Smith and Schaffer, being officers, are separated from Thomas et al., the only three non-officers left alive after the murder of two others. Smith and Schaffer kill their captors, successfully cover the evidence, create a diversion in the town by blowing up the railway station, and make their way to the cable car station that provides the only safe entrance to the castle. When Thomas et al. are brought up to the castle under German guard, Smith and Schaffer silently climb on top of the car and ride to the Schloß Adler with them. Meanwhile, Mary Elison is brought into the castle by Heidi, a top trusted MI6 agent since 1941 disguised as a barmaid in Werfen. Once in her room, she lets down a rope from her window over the cable car station, and Smith and Schaffer climb inside. Read more

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