My Favourite Movies: The Eagle Has Landed

The war is coming to an end and Germany is staring defeat in the face. But what if they could turn things around or at least have a more favourable negotiated peace? What if they could do something so audacious that the Allies would pause and wonder what to do next? What if a small band of determined men could snatch Winston Churchill and spirit him away to Berlin?

That’s the crazy idea that they come up with in the opening few minutes of this classic war movie (I was watching the extended version which added in lots of the missing background investigation that slowed the action down but proved to be quite interesting). Synchronicity did the rest – Churchill visiting a remote area near the coast and Colonel Kurt Steiner (played a little erratically but generally brilliantly by Michael Caine) being available for the duty after being attached to a punishment unit for annoying a SS General. The agents in place to prepare the ground were Joanna Grey (Jean Marsh) and Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland) who dreams of a united Ireland and the love interest – not for Caine but for Sutherland - is Molly Prior (Jenny Agutter). In the extended edition their relationship is much better explained and makes a great deal more sense than in the original cinema version even if, yet again, the action is slowed to a crawl in places. But I both digress and get ahead of myself.

For a war film this has surprisingly little combat. The plot is about suspense rather than action. Will the imposters be discovered? What will happen if/when they are? [There was a superb line spoken by one of the very minor characters when – not exactly a spoiler – the apparent Polish troops turn out to be German’s: “More bloody foreigners” he says. That’s just so British – mildly xenophobic and a huge understatement at the same time!] The action (basically one extended small unit combat scene) was very well done as first the inept and well named Colonel Pitts (Larry Hagman above) screws up an assault on the now uncovered Germans and Captain Clark (Treat Williams) who ‘knows what he’s doing’ is much more successful. Another great line from Clark “There is no death with honour, just death” all very 70’s I suppose and maybe a comment on Vietnam buried in there I wonder? It did all seem to be about grand plans and futility. From memory it did follow the original Jack Higgins novel very closely – was the novel also a subtle dig at Vietnam? I don’t know and honestly hadn’t really thought about that aspect until right this minute – interesting the things that through my mind when I’m this tired……

Anyway, this is a classic 1970’s British war film with some fine acting, some definite cheesy bits and a pretty good, if rather outlandish, storyline. Caine is great (as almost always) with Sutherland a close second (I wonder if I liked him so much for his irreverence as much as his Irish sympathies – to say nothing of his attraction to Agutter!) All in all this is light, unthinking fun which you should let wash over you on a lazy Saturday afternoon, just as I did. I would recommend the shorter cinema version though. Seeing the extra scenes was interesting but they added very little to the film and I can see why they had originally been edited out.