Review of Eagle Has Landed, The

Introduction

In September 1943, a group of German paratroopers led by Otto Skorzeny rescued the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. This daring raid made Skorzeny a world famous figure and boosted the profile of the already legendary Fallschirmer. There seemed to be nothing that this band of soldiers couldn`t achieve.

This film starts with a suggestion in the aftermath of this raid that a plan could be hatched in a similar vein to snatch Winston Churchill. Abwehr head Admiral Canaris (Anthony Quayle) thinks this is a silly idea that will be forgotten about but instructs Colonel Radl (Robert Duvall) to come up with a plan. Radl also thinks this plan is a waste of time until a piece of intelligence lands on his desk that suggests that Churchill will be visiting an area called Studley Constable in the near future. The place the British leader will be staying at is near the sea and is easily accessible, so Radl works feverishly on a plan that could work.

Meanwhile Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine), a decorated hero of the Fallschirmer is returning from the Eastern Front with the remains of his men. Their train stops at a station where members of the SS are rounding up members of the local Jewish community and shipping them off to their death. Defying orders from first SS guards and then from an SS General, Steiner tries in vain to help a single Jewish woman to escape. For this insubordination Steiner and his men are incarcerated and their distinguished military careers seem to be over.

The Reichsführer-SS, Adolf Himmler (Donald Pleasance), has been examining the plans and gives the green light. He is also aware that Radl has identified Steiner as the most appropriate man to lead the mission and pulls the necessary strings to free the paratrooper. Also brought in to help the plan is Irish nationalist Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland), who is promised a large amount of money for `the movement` in return for his assistance. Devlin will leave for England ahead of the others in order to take up a cover as a Marsh Warden in the immediate area.

The Fallschirmer arrive in England and move around Studley constable in the guise of Polish paratroops, the locals unaware of the enemy in their midst. All the planning goes to pot, however, when a young English girl falls into the local stream near a mill and one of Steiner`s men is killed trying to rescue her. Exposed as infiltrators, the paratroops round up the local villagers in an attempt to keep their presence secret from the outside, but word soon gets out and all hell breaks loose.

Video

Some print damage, very evident during the opening titles in particular. The overall picture has a bit of a soft-focus feel to it with portions of the film looking a little blurred.

Audio

Mono soundtrack, what did you expect from a budget release? Works well for what it is though, dialogue is clear.

Features

Nothing.

Conclusion

Not a bad little film, certainly one that deserves a slightly better treatment than that given. Based on the Jack Higgins book of the same title, the film skimps a lot on the mission preparation but at least shows some of that detail.

This film portrays the German Fallschirmer in a positive light. Not the usual cookie cutter evil villains of the piece, the paratroops are shown in a very sympathetic light as men of honour and decency. This is established very early on with the defiance of Steiner and his men against the SS over a lone Jewish girl. How accurate this kind of act really was is unclear, but it casts the paratroops in the same sort of light as the equivalent traditional British heroes of film. Caine puts in a good performance as the cool and heroic Steiner, helped no doubt by the fact that his character is said to have studied in England prior to war, meaning his English is fluent and without trace of an accent. Oh, he gets to wear the leather jacket too…

Sutherland inevitably steals the film with an exuberant performance as the poetic Irishman with a thick accent. Devlin is also the character that takes the hero`s journey by developing across the film. Initially just a mercenary who is helping the Germans in return for money for the movement, he falls in love with Molly Prior (Jenny Agutter) and finds his actions and motivations changing.

The opposition to the potential kidnappers in this film are not English, but US troops stationed nearby. A pre-Dallas Larry Hagman gives a suitably comic performance as the incompetent Colonel Pitts with Treat Williams as the combat experienced Captain Clark. Pitts is recognised for what he is by the German occupiers of the village, and is accordingly treated with disdain prior to an attack planned by him being repulsed quite easily. When Clark takes over later on, the Fallschirmer know that this is someone with experience and not so easy to defeat. There is a nice twist at the end, although once you see what happens then it`s clear that it`s coming as these films never tamper with real historical facts.

Overall this is an OK film. The transfer is not that good, but then this is a budget title so it`s not exactly costing you a lot. I`d have preferred someone to spend some money on cleaning up the print and maybe doing something about the soundtrack, but then you have to consider if the sales of this disc would really justify this. I`d have to say no really, as I think that this disc has a limited audience and I don`t think a Special Edition is likely in the near future.

Not quite a ripping yarn, but close enough…

*edit* Just had it brought to my attention that there is in fact a 2 disc Special Edition of this release already available and at a very reasonable price too. Although the discs aren`t chocker with extras, it does contain two versions of the film and some interview footage from the time of release. That would clearly be the version to pick up and would only cost a couple of quid more than asked for this one.