Where Eagles Dare

Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 action adventure war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. Set during World War II, it follows a Special Operations Executive team charged with saving a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, but the mission takes some unexpected turns. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first, while he was writing 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. 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 its action sequences, score, and the performances of Burton and Eastwood, and the film has since been considered a classic.