The Eagle Has Landed

Plot synopsis:
The book makes use of the false document technique, and opens with Higgins describing his discovery of the concealed grave of thirteen German paratroopers in an English graveyard. The characters discuss the real life rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini by Otto Skorzeny. A similar idea is considered by Hitler, with the strong support of Himmler. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr (German military intelligence), is ordered to make a feasibility study of the seemingly impossible task of capturing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bringing him to the Reich. Canaris realizes that although Hitler will soon forget the matter, Himmler will not. Fearing Himmler may try to discredit him, Canaris orders one of his officers, Oberst Radl, to undertake the study, despite feeling that it is all just a waste of time and effort.
An Unteroffizier on Radl's staff finds that one of their spies, code named Starling, has provided a tantalizing piece of intelligence. "At any other time, in any other place, this information would be useless", Radl said. "And then synchronicity rears its disturbing head." Winston Churchill is scheduled to spend a relaxing weekend at a country house near the village of Studley Constable, Norfolk, where Joanna Grey, an Afrikaner woman and longtime Abwehr agent, lives. She detests England because she was abused and raped by British soldiers, and her husband, daughter, and parents were killed during the Anglo-Boer War. As a result of her reports, Radl devises a detailed plan to intercept Churchill and return with him to Germany. Although Radl is certain the plan has real possibilities, Admiral Canaris orders him to abandon it.
Himmler, however, has already learned of the scheme and summons Radl. He orders him to proceed, but without notifying Canaris. In response, Radl arranges for Liam Devlin, a member of the Irish Republican Army, to be smuggled to Norfolk by way of Northern Ireland. Posing as a wounded veteran of the British Army, he contacts Mrs. Grey, who arranges a position for him as game warden to the estate of Studley Grange. While awaiting further developments, Devlin becomes romantically involved with Molly Prior, a girl from the village.
Meanwhile, Radl selects the members of the "commando style" unit, led by disgraced Fallschirmjäger commander Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Steiner, which is supposed to carry out the operation. While returning from the Eastern Front, Steiner had intervened when SS soldiers were rounding up Jews at a railway station in Poland. To the outrage of the SS and Polizei, he took one of their men hostage and helped a teenage Jewish girl to escape on a passing freight train. For this he was court-martialled, along with his men, who backed his actions. Too highly decorated to face a firing squad, Steiner and his men were allowed to transfer to a penal unit in the Channel Islands. There they are forced to make high-risk attacks with manned torpedoes against Allied ships in the English Channel.
Radl travels to Alderney and recruits Steiner and his surviving men. Steiner's father, General Steiner, is being tortured by the Gestapo for his alleged ties to the German Resistance. This serves as an additional incentive for the Colonel to accept the mission. Radl relocates Steiner and his men to an airfield on the north western coast of Holland, where they familiarise themselves with the British weapons and equipment they will be using. The team will be air dropped into Norfolk via a captured C-47 Dakota with Allied markings. The commandos outfit themselves as Free Polish troops, as few of them speak English; the plan is to infiltrate Studley Constable, capture Churchill, rendezvous with an E-boat at the nearby coast and make their escape. As part of the ruse they arm themselves with Sten guns, M1 Garands, Bren guns and revolvers, as well as Browning Hi-Powers instead of German weaponry.
At first, the plan seems to go off without a hitch. Then, however, one of Steiner's NCOs rescues a young girl who fell into a mill race. He is killed by the water wheel and his German uniform (worn, by Himmler's order, under the Polish uniforms, as protection against being executed as spies) is seen by several of the villagers. Determined to continue the mission, Steiner arranges for the locals to be rounded up, but the sister of Father Vereker, the local priest, escapes and alerts a nearby unit of US Army Rangers. Colonel Robert Shafto, an inexperienced but glory-seeking officer, rallies his forces to retake the hostages. Without notifying headquarters, he orders a foolhardy assault in which many Americans are killed. After the Colonel is shot in the head by Mrs. Grey, Major Kane organizes a second, successful attack.
Steiner, his second-in-command Ritter von Neumann, and Devlin manage to escape with Molly's aid. Determined to finish the mission, Steiner allows Devlin and Neumann to escape without him and decides to make one last attempt at Churchill. He succeeds in reaching Churchill, but hesitates, is shot and supposedly killed. (However, Steiner reappears alive in The Eagle Has Flown, a sequel.) In Germany, Radl has had a heart attack, implied to be fatal, although at about the same time, Himmler, upon discovering that the mission has failed, orders Radl's arrest for high treason.
As in many novels of Higgins, this story is surrounded by a 'frame story' with a prologue and epilogue. The author, whilst doing historical research in Norfolk, supposedly meets various surviving characters. Some paperback editions have more historical backstory than others, including a meeting with an older Liam Devlin in a Belfast hotel. The final revelation comes from an aged and terminally ill Father Vereker: at the time of his supposed visit to Norfolk, Churchill was actually en route to the Tehran Conference. The "Churchill" that Steiner almost killed was an impersonator, meaning that even if Steiner had shot him, it would not have mattered.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence, good versus evil, humor, romantic, revenge

Review:
"The Eagle has Landed" is a fine World War II fiction film placed in England that deals with a German commando operation planned to kidnap (or kill) Winston Chruchill.The pìcture is most entertaining right from the start -when the plan is designed- and keeps up all along when it comes to the operation's achieving.
Its also interesting that the German commandos are shown as decent and even likable men, professional soldiers that just like the allies fight a war for their country even if they don't agree with the Nazi regime that rules it."The Eagle has Landed" is also a good farewell from movies for director John Sturges (this is his last work in direction) a prolific man that gave us movie and western fans very good titles of the genre such us "Gunfight at OK Corral", "The Magnificent Seven", "Last Train from Gun Hill" and the more contemporary "Bad Day at Black Rock".A most entertaining and enjoyable film in the genre..
It would seem they are not all they are saying they are, so with Winston Churchill due to visit the village, there is something seriously afoot.Written by Jack Higins, directed by John Sturges {The Great Escape} and starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall, The Eagle Has Landed is a different sort of war movie.
It's very sly in how it pans out, its not asking the audience to feel sympathy with Steiner {Caine professionally impacting}, it's just proclaiming that not all people should be tarred with the same brush.Mostly the cast are fine and boosted by a brilliant turn from Donald Sutherland as an IRA spy helping the Germans, Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Anthony Quayle, Jenny Agutter and Jean Marsh all are solid within the picture's structure.
It isn't the best war movie from that time period, but it's far from bad.Based on the novel by Jack Higgins, this movie tells the story of Colonel Steiner, a German parachute unit commander, who has been court-marshaled for opposing the SS in rounding up Jews.
There is nothing more hateful than a well-known Hollywood actor who tries to make you believe that he speaks a language other than English (it never works and only brings down the quality of a movie).Overall this is a good WWII movie that shows the war from a different perspective, namely from the German side.
German soldier Max Radl (Robert Duvall) comes up with an audacious plot to deliver a devastating blow to the Allied forces by kidnapping Winston Churchill from a Norfolk village.
Every line is as written for the actors.And what an incredible cast: Michael Caine as Nazi officer driven by duty and honor, Donald Sutherland as an amazing Irish dog and horse whisperer (there is always those sparkling glimpses in his eyes!), Robert Duval as colonel Radl (he does not play the character - he IS in fact the colonel), Donald Pleasance as a slimy and yet funny Himmler and not to forget the energic Larry Hagman as "home made" American red neck officer.
Besides that a good supporting cast.But what is more important in this well done movie is the complexity of the war combatants - e.g. Caine trying to save a jewish women from certain death, one of his soldiers saving a little English girl from drowning at the water mill, Hagman as an incompetent, but yet war loving officer, sacrificing of an actor who takes over Churchill's part.
You don't see that too much from English-speaking filmmakers.Michael Caine is the most likable of these people, one of those given the assignment of kidnapping Winston Churchill (interesting premise, off the best- selling book by Jack Higgins).
Donald Sutherland plays an Irishman recruited to help in the kidnapping and he's fun to watch.This is really a man's movie, something like "The Guns Of Navarone," but they inserted Jenny Agutter in here to give the viewers a pretty face and some romance, even though it has absolutely no bearing on the story.Robert Duvall, Jean Marsh, Treat Williams, Donald Pleasance and Anthony Quayle are some of the other "name" actors who contribute.
Maybe he's not the worst writer to make millionaire status since there's a lot of competition for that tag like Harold Robbins , Jackie Collins or even that dreadful hack called Rowling who has conned a lot of children out of their pocket money by publishing the same mediocre book year after year , but certainly as a writer Higgins is rather poor and it's no surprise that for many years film producers are totally disinterested in buying the movie rights to his stories THE EAGLE HAS LANDED is a typical Higgins story - Clichéd and with a ludicrous plot .
Compiled by a frustrated Colonel Radl (Robert Duvall), the team consists of a Britain-hating Irish militant Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland) and the loyal men of a righteous hero soldier Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine) who has been dishonoured and imprisoned for his lack of respect for his superiors.
Even though we know from history if the team's mission will be successful or not, there is a small twist at the end that adds a sense of sadness to the mood – the message about the futility of war efforts from a grunt's point of view culminate in Steiner's final scene somewhat effectively, even if the big payoff doesn't ultimately feel quite worth the wait.The emphasis being on the characters' on-screen chemistry, the importance of the actors becomes even bigger than usual.
I realize that a war film shouldn't be a hilarious or something to cheer at(like an action flick, for example), but it can at least show it's audience the courtesy of being slightly interesting, apart from the plot(which, I think, to some extent deviates from what really happened, in a typical Hollywood fashion) which seems predictable and is easily figured out from the very beginning, simply due to it obviously trying hard to be historically accurate, which negates the tension that the last scenes are trying to build.
After seeing this expensive movie on TCM last night, it occurred to me why Treat Williams in the film "Hair" (as George Berger) marched with so much anxiety onto the troop transport plane headed for Viet Nam. He was probably remembering what had happened three years earlier to his Captain Clark character in "The Eagle Has Landed" -- defeated by hoakum even as he assumes command after Larry Hagman (doing a Yank version of a Pythonesque/John Cleese kind of military idiot) gets a slug in the head by a tea and bisquit matron.
Michael Caine is outstanding as Colonel Steiner, an untamed German paratroop commander, who's covert mission is to go to Great Britain and kidnap Winston Churchill whilst on a retreat.
Coz we also know that Higgins can write action-packed thrillers (Was this really his first book?)Having got the basic idea, the Germans set out to do a feasibility study and they have the ideal guy to do it for them, Steiner (Caine) and his band of paratroopers.
There are a couple of silly scenes, the instant "love" between Molly and Devlin - nah, and the silly vicar, but apart from that it is all "GO".Treat Williams an American who replaces Larry Hagman's character is the best of the support cast, and he gets a great line..
To lovers of movie curiosities, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED offers the unique experience of watching actors speak in funny accents, whether it be Michael Caine's Cockney German, Jean Marsh's English Afrikaans, Robert Duvall's impeccable RP English, or (best of all) Donald Sutherland's Irish blarney.
At one point he advises a junior officer to return home from the Channel Islands back to Berlin, so as to avoid the inevitable punishment that will result from the failure of the entire operation.While John Sturges' film contains some exciting action sequences - the final shoot-out between the Nazis and the Americans is particularly dramatically handled, with the chocolate-box English village forming a backdrop - the main focus of interest centers on the characters.
She really doesn't play her part to well, mainly because the characters part is reduced a great deal from the book, in which the relationship with the Irish Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland) plays a much larger role.In all, the movie is decent attempt at making a good film from the book.
I saw this movie few years ago and when i saw it i was astonished by this amazing trial to change the course of the war.Think about it ,16 paratroopers were landed behind the enemy lines to kidnap the prime minister of the opposing country to trade his life for a settlement .Actually the idea deserves to be tried and it reminds me with the Allied trial to kidnap or( kill ) ROMMEL -the desert fox- during the African campaign during which the British leader of the operation was also killed like the German leader of this one.For me there are a lot of amazing scenes in this movie: The German soldier died while trying to save the life of the British girl( my God a lot of people did not think that the NAZI soldiers have a human feelings to behave like that).The determination of the German major to carry out his mission even though he is alone and the net result may be his death.
The movie fails to convince me that Michael Cain,Anthony Quayle, Donald Pleasance, and every other English speaking actor is a German.
The eagle has landed knows a very good script, and also very great actors like Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall.
The good: the sympathetic portrayals of German officers by both Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, and the outstanding work of Donald Pleasance as Heinrich Himmler.
The first 35 or so years following the end of WWII saw many movies inspired by the events and or battles that took place in the European theater of war, and most of these flicks conform to traditional depictions of the Allies fighting the Nazis-- usually either a small Allied commando team on a fictitious mission to search and destroy Nazi targets, i.e. The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, Force 10 From Navarone, etc.
or cinematic interpretations inspired by actual events i.e. The Great Escape, Patton, Battle of the Bulge, To Hell and Back, A Bridge Too Far, etc.Based on the fictional novel written by Jack Higgins, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED takes a unique spin on the former through its portrayal of a Nazi commando unit dispatched to eliminate an Allied target.
Okay, so the unique setting and antagonists make this movie special to me and sets it aside from other war films as previously mentioned, but third, the CAST is phenomenal-- Robert Duvall portraying a "Stauffenberg-type" Nazi officer, Donald Pleasence playing an impeccable 'Himmler', Donald Sutherland's character providing the laughs and light undertones, and of course Michael Caine at his best.
"The Eagle Has Landed" is a World War II film directed by John Sturges, the legendary director who also helmed "The Great Escape" and "The Magnificent Seven".
So was Devlin (played by Donald Sutherland), the IRA operative, a bad guy for helping the Germans in their operation to kidnap Churchill?
The Eagle has Landed is a hammy, rambling film which takes it all too seriously.In WWII a German unit led by Colonel Steiner (Michael Caine) and his men (previously imprisoned for disobeying orders) are parachuted into the Norfolk countryside, impersonate some Polish soldiers fighting for the British and plan to kidnap Winston Churchill who is due to visit the area.The Germans have sent in an IRA spy, Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland) to lay the groundwork.
the eagle has landed is a superb adaptation of jack Higgins bestselling novel about a daring plot to kidnap Winston Churchill Michael Caine headlines this all star cast as Kurt steiner leader of the crack commandos assigned to undertake the perilous task.
I like HOW they are revealed...by a heroic act that ends a man's life to save another...very interesting.Michael Caine was outstanding, Robert Duvall was as always brilliant and Donald Sutherland I thought was funny (odd?)...I also enjoyed a young Treat Williams as the lead American hero.However as it isn't as realistic as todays war films...this kind of film still thinks that if a man is shot once then he dies immediately....but still if u ignore the silly things like that, and the typical gung-ho-ness of it all...it's still very entertainingall in all...very good fun 8/10.
It's a shame it isn't a better known war film, its fictional plot about an attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill coming from a best-seller by Jack Higgins.The plot is heavy going at times, particularly the whole first hour leading up to the planned landing, and some of the dialog--heavily accented Germans--is not easy to understand without subtitles.
This is a serious drawback for setting up this complex mission and establishing everything for the viewer, but the second half of the film has enough visual excitement, action and tension to make up for the talky first half.MICHAEL CAINE is excellent as a German paratrooper commando posing as a Polish military man with his group of invaders when they land to carry out their mission.
ROBERT DUVALL is effective as German Col. Radl and there are good performances from DONALD PLEASANCE as Himmler, DONALD SUTHERLAND as an IRA loyalist who has a brief affair with JENNY AGUTTER, JOHN STANDING (excellent as a brave pastor), LARRY HAGMAN, as a cartoonish sort of "Mad Max" colonel, and TREAT WILLIAMS as a young Captain.It builds its tension steadily once the men have landed to complete their mission and there are many unexpected moments where anything can happen and usually does.
Based on Jack Higgen's novel, film tells the story of a secret German plan to kidnap Winston Churchill as a bargaining chip against Great Britain!
Michael Caine leads the mission, where they are disguised as Polish soldiers on maneuvers, and helped by an IRA supporter(played by Donald Sutherland) who will do anything in his war against the British.
Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Jenny Agutter, and Jean Marsh round out the fine cast.Despite the fanciful premise, this is an old-fashioned and very entertaining adventure, well directed by John Sturges, and features a good script as well, leading to the surprise climax..
Unless of course you were referring to Larry Hagman or Treat Williams but I found them both quite understandable and no problems with their accents.Still, it was a good movie, a bit light in parts from the book, like the landing of Devlin in Ireland and the planning for the assault; that is the parachutes, the plane and what happened to the plane..
His love story with Molly, admittedly played very well by Jenny Agutter, is nice but it doesn't really add much to the film.The film has a very strong supporting cast overall such as Robert Duvall as Oberst Radl, Anthony Quayle as the Cassandra-esque Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (who was executed for treason in 1945), a suitably creepy Donald Pleasence as Himmler, Jean Marsh as the sleeper agent Joanna Grey, Sven-Bertil Taube as Hans, John Standing as Father Verecker, a very young Treat Williams as Captain Clark, Michael Byrne as Karl, Siegfried Rauch (the most prominent German cast member) as Brandt and, last but not least, Larry Hagman as the blustering, buffoonish US Army Colonel Clarence E.
The acting's good from all involved, and Donald Sutherland plays his role as the sardonic Irishman to the hilt, perfectly, but if there's one stand-out performance in this film my vote would go to Robert Duvall, whose Colonel Radl is the most complex and conflicted of all of the characters (most of the principals being similarly conflicted, one way or another) and his acting is paradoxically stunning yet subtle.
It's about a group of German soldiers led by Michael Caine and aided by Donald Southerland as an Irishman, who parachute into England in an attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill and bring an end to the war.
Overall the standard of acting is quite high with Donald Pleasance quite chilling as Himmler, Donald Sutherland as a reluctant IRA man who is brought along because the abwehr has nobody else to hand and makes for quite entertaining viewing, Robert Duvall as put upon Colonel Radl who transforms one of Hitler's mad schemes into a workable scheme and Michael Caine is quite superb as Steiner, the disgraced officer given this chance to vindicate himself and His men.
As in another popular sympathy-for-the-Nazis movie, "Das Boot," these branches make convenient villains, serving as a contrast to the clean-cut good-guy Germans who just happen to be fighting for the Fuhrer because...well, they're patriots, that's all; they have absolutely nothing against Jews, and they despise those slimy fanatical Gestapo bastards -- honest!) The Michael Caine character in "Eagle" actually incurs punishment for trying to save a Jewish woman's life (how heroic can you get?); later, rather than shoot an unwary American sentry, he simply knocks the man unconscious.
I suspected that with the combination of Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Larry Hagman that the movie might be a bit tongue in cheek.Was it intended to be an action comedy?
Basically, set in World War II, Colonel Oberst Kurt Steiner (Sir Michael Caine) is the German parachute unit commander has been court marshaled for opposing the capture of Jews, he is sent to England on a mission to kidnap the Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
This film is unusual in that it is set during the Second World War but follows the actions of a German unit; Colonel Steiner and his men have been ordered to parachute into Norfolk and kidnap Winston Churchill during a visit to the county.
The acting was solid; I particularly liked Michael Caine's portrayal of Steiner and while some might have disliked Larry Hagman's portrayal of US Colonel Pitts I thought it was an entertaining portrayal of a man desperate to see action before his war was over.