Film Review
John Sturges ended his long and distinguished film career with this
long and pretty undistinguished war time drama.
Even though he had acquired a reputation as one of America's leading filmmakers - best
known for such enduring classics as
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957),
The Magnificent Seven (1960) and
The Great Escape (1963) -
Sturges grew tired of directing towards the end of his career and put
little enthusiasm into his work. This caused particular problems
during the filming of
The Eagle Has
Landed since the lead actor Michael Caine was deeply unhappy to
work for someone whose heart was not in his job. Caine's concerns
are vindicated by the fact that whilst this film is competently made it
doesn't have anything like the impact and
grandeur of Sturges' earlier work.
The director's obvious lack of enthusiasm isn't helped by the fanciful plot -
a wartime intrigue in which the Nazis plan to abduct Winston Churchill
and thereby win the war - which is somewhat lacking in credibility
and imagination.
The Eagle Has Landed still manages
to be a compelling wartime yarn, benefiting from a highly respectable
cast and some meticulously staged action sequences. Admittedly
things get off to a slow start, with some scripting deficiencies and
wooden characterisation all too apparent in the first half, but once
the pace has picked up and the main characters have established
themselves the spectator is hooked. The German soldiers are
portrayed more convincingly than in many previous war films, showing a
human side that we rarely see, whilst the British and American
characters come across far less sympathetically. Definitely not a
masterpiece, but the utterly daft plot and Michael Caine's inimitable
portrayal of a German officer make the film an enjoyable diversion for
a wet afternoon, if nothing else.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next John Sturges film:
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Film Synopsis
Following an attempt to kidnap Mussolini, Hitler hits upon the idea of
abducting the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and thereby
changing the course of the war in Europe. Himmler requests that a
study be undertaken to test the feasibility of such a plan. This
task falls to Oberst Radl, who is initially very sceptical about the
success of the operation. When he learns that Churchill will
shortly be visiting a remote village on the coast of Norfolk, Radl
realises that Hitler's insane scheme may work after all. He
recruits an IRA supporter, Liam Devlin, and highly decorated
paratrooper Oberst Kurt Steiner to lead a Nazi strike force disguised
as Polish soldiers. Everything goes as planned until one of the
German soldiers reveals he is wearing a Nazi uniform beneath his Polish
uniform when he attempts to save a girl from being killed by a
watermill. Their cover blown, Steiner and his men round up the
villagers and hold them in the village church. The vicar's
sister, Pamela, manages to get word of the Nazis' arrival to an
American army unit stationed in the vicinity. Determined to win
the day single-handedly, Colonel Pitt leads an all-out assault on the
German troops, only to get most of his soldiers killed. Oberst
Steiner is not a man who is easily defeated...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.