The Eagle Has Landed (film)
Encyclopedia
The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976
film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed
by Jack Higgins
. It was directed by John Sturges
and starred Michael Caine
, Donald Sutherland
and Robert Duvall
. It is Sturges' final film, and despite tension between Caine and Sturges, the film was quite successful upon its release and retained a cult following
.
Inspired by the rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini
by Otto Skorzeny
, a similar idea is considered by Hitler, with the support of Himmler (Donald Pleasence
). Admiral Canaris
(Anthony Quayle
), head of the Abwehr
(German military intelligence), is ordered to make a feasibility study of the seemingly impossible task of capturing the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
and bringing him to Germany.
Canaris considers the idea a joke, but 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 (Robert Duvall
) to undertake the study, despite feeling that it is a waste of time.
An Unteroffizier
on Radl's staff finds that one of their spies, code named Starling, has provided tantalizing intelligence - Winston Churchill is to visit an airfield near the village of Studley Constable in Norfolk
, where Joanna Grey (Jean Marsh
), a German sleeper agent lives. Radl comes up with a scheme that could work. Himmler summons Radl and unofficially tells him to proceed, without notifying Canaris. Radl recruits Liam Devlin
(Donald Sutherland
), a member of the IRA lecturing at a Berlin
university, to the mission.
Radl looks for a suitable officer to lead the mission and chances upon the highly decorated and experienced, but conflicted and anti-Nazi, Fallschirmjäger
officer Oberst
Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine
). While returning from the Eastern Front, Steiner intervened when SS soldiers rounded up Jews at a railway station in Poland
, and attempted to save the life of a teenage girl who was shot while trying to escape. For this, he was court-martialled, along with a platoon of his men. Rather than face the firing squad, the men were allowed to transfer to a penal unit on the Channel Island
of Alderney
, where they made high risk attacks with torpedo boat
s against British
channel convoys.
Radl travels to Alderney and, with the help of Devlin, recruits Steiner and his surviving men. The team will parachute into England
from a captured C-47
with Allied markings. The commandos outfit themselves as Polish
paratroopers, as few of them speak English. The plan is to infiltrate Studley Constable, complete their mission, rendezvous with an E-boat
on the nearby coast and escape.
The plan is foiled when a German paratrooper rescues a local girl from certain death by a water wheel. He instead is killed in the process and his German uniform (worn under the Polish uniforms as protection against being executed as spies) is revealed to the onlooking villagers. The locals are rounded up but Pamela Vereker (Judy Geeson
), the sister of the village priest Father Vereker (John Standing
), escapes to alert a unit of the United States Army Rangers
stationed nearby. Inexperienced, glory-seeking Colonel Pitt (Larry Hagman
) tries to foil the German plan almost single-handed but is killed by Joanna Grey in her house, while his poorly-planned assault on the church fails with heavy casualties. Pitt's young deputy, Captain Clark (Treat Williams
) then organizes a second, successful attack.
Steiner's men sacrifice themselves to delay the Americans while Devlin, Steiner and his wounded second-in-command Neustadt (Sven-Bertil Taube
) escape, with the aid of local girl Molly Prior (Jenny Agutter
) who was romantically involved with Devlin. Instead of boarding the boat, Steiner makes one last attempt at Churchill. Steiner infiltrates the country house and apparently succeeds in shooting Churchill before being shot himself. However, when Captain Clark appears on the scene, he is informed that "Churchill" was actually an impersonator - the real Prime Minister is at the Tehran Conference
.
With the failure of the operation, Radl is executed by firing squad under the pretext that he was "Giving orders beyond his control to a point of treason". In this way Himmler distances himself from the failed mission.
as an additional incentive for Steiner to undertake the mission, and the attempted double-crossing of Devlin by Birmingham black marketeers which resulted in him being tracked down by Scotland Yard's Special Branch. In the novel, Steiner and Radl are both of the rank of Oberstleutnant
- Lieutenant Colonel
- where in the film they are both referred to throughout (including the credits) as Oberst
- Colonel
- the next higher rank. Some minor details such as names are changed; for example in the novel, Steiner's cover name is Carter and in the film it is Miller. Steiner's paratrooper uniform in the novel is more like those of his men, wearing a Luftwaffe Fliegerbluse and Schiffchen sidecap, while in the film he looks more like a pilot than a soldier, sporting a leather jacket and peaked cap. Some new events and explanatory dialogue are inserted - in the novel Molly does not shoot the mentally unstable villager Arthur Seymour. Also, a member of a British SS unit British Free Corps
is featured in the novel, but absent from the film. In the novel, Steiner hesitates before shooting Churchill and is shot and supposedly killed. However, Steiner reappears alive in The Eagle Has Flown
, a sequel to the novel. Radl is not executed; instead, he has a heart attack after discovering Devlin has escaped from England and is convalescing in the same hospital and dies soon after the war at home with his family. The book commences with author Higgins stumbling upon evidence for the event and concludes with him supposedly meeting the various surviving characters as he gathers information for the story, the final revelation coming from an aged Father Vereker that "Churchill" had been an impersonator and even if the mission had succeeded, it would not have mattered.
in Oxfordshire
and features the village church, Mapledurham Watermill
and Mapledurham House
. Mock buildings such as shops and a pub were constructed on site in Mapledurham while interiors were filmed at Twickenham Studios.
The sequence set in Alderney
was filmed in Charlestown
, near St Austell
in Cornwall
. Some of the filming took place at RAF St. Mawgan
, near Newquay
, and at Rock
, both in Cornwall. The railway station sequence where Steiner and his men make their first appearance was filmed in Rovaniemi
, Finland
.
The parachuting scenes were carried out by members of the REME
(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) Parachute Display Team.
1976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed
The Eagle Has Landed
The Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins set during World War II. It first published in 1975. It was made into a film of the same name in 1976 starring Michael Caine...
by Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...
. It was directed by John Sturges
John Sturges
John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The Magnificent Seven , The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra .-Career:He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932...
and starred Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
and Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
. It is Sturges' final film, and despite tension between Caine and Sturges, the film was quite successful upon its release and retained a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
.
Plot summary
The film begins with captured World War II film footage of the rescue from Italy of Mussolini by German paratroopers.Inspired by the rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
by Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
, a similar idea is considered by Hitler, with the support of Himmler (Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
). Admiral Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
(Anthony Quayle
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
), head of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
(German military intelligence), is ordered to make a feasibility study of the seemingly impossible task of capturing the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and bringing him to Germany.
Canaris considers the idea a joke, but 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
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
Radl (Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
) to undertake the study, despite feeling that it is a waste of time.
An Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...
on Radl's staff finds that one of their spies, code named Starling, has provided tantalizing intelligence - Winston Churchill is to visit an airfield near the village of Studley Constable in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, where Joanna Grey (Jean Marsh
Jean Marsh
Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
), a German sleeper agent lives. Radl comes up with a scheme that could work. Himmler summons Radl and unofficially tells him to proceed, without notifying Canaris. Radl recruits Liam Devlin
Liam Devlin
Liam Devlin is a protagonist and recurring character in the novels of Jack Higgins. "Liam Devlin" is a pseudonym and his real name is never revealed.-Background:...
(Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
), a member of the IRA lecturing at a Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
university, to the mission.
Radl looks for a suitable officer to lead the mission and chances upon the highly decorated and experienced, but conflicted and anti-Nazi, Fallschirmjäger
Fallschirmjäger
are German paratroopers. Together with the Gebirgsjäger they are perceived as the elite infantry units of the German Army....
officer Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
). While returning from the Eastern Front, Steiner intervened when SS soldiers rounded up Jews at a railway station in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and attempted to save the life of a teenage girl who was shot while trying to escape. For this, he was court-martialled, along with a platoon of his men. Rather than face the firing squad, the men were allowed to transfer to a penal unit on the Channel Island
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
of Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
, where they made high risk attacks with torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s against British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
channel convoys.
Radl travels to Alderney and, with the help of Devlin, recruits Steiner and his surviving men. The team will parachute into England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from a captured C-47
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
with Allied markings. The commandos outfit themselves as Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
paratroopers, as few of them speak English. The plan is to infiltrate Studley Constable, complete their mission, rendezvous with an E-boat
E-boat
E-boats was the designation for Motor Torpedo Boats of the German Navy during World War II. It is commonly held that the E stood for Enemy....
on the nearby coast and escape.
The plan is foiled when a German paratrooper rescues a local girl from certain death by a water wheel. He instead is killed in the process and his German uniform (worn under the Polish uniforms as protection against being executed as spies) is revealed to the onlooking villagers. The locals are rounded up but Pamela Vereker (Judy Geeson
Judy Geeson
Judith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
), the sister of the village priest Father Vereker (John Standing
John Standing
Sir John Ronald Leon Standing, 4th Baronet is an English actor.-Early life:Standing was born John Ronald Leon in London, the son of Kay Hammond , an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker...
), escapes to alert a unit of the United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School...
stationed nearby. Inexperienced, glory-seeking Colonel Pitt (Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
) tries to foil the German plan almost single-handed but is killed by Joanna Grey in her house, while his poorly-planned assault on the church fails with heavy casualties. Pitt's young deputy, Captain Clark (Treat Williams
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...
) then organizes a second, successful attack.
Steiner's men sacrifice themselves to delay the Americans while Devlin, Steiner and his wounded second-in-command Neustadt (Sven-Bertil Taube
Sven-Bertil Taube
Sven-Bertil G. E. Taube is a Swedish singer and actor. Born in Stockholm, he is the son of songwriter Evert Taube and sculptor Astri Bergman Taube.-Biography:...
) escape, with the aid of local girl Molly Prior (Jenny Agutter
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
) who was romantically involved with Devlin. Instead of boarding the boat, Steiner makes one last attempt at Churchill. Steiner infiltrates the country house and apparently succeeds in shooting Churchill before being shot himself. However, when Captain Clark appears on the scene, he is informed that "Churchill" was actually an impersonator - the real Prime Minister is at the Tehran Conference
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943, most of which was held at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first World War II conference amongst the Big Three in which Stalin was present...
.
With the failure of the operation, Radl is executed by firing squad under the pretext that he was "Giving orders beyond his control to a point of treason". In this way Himmler distances himself from the failed mission.
Differences from the novel
The film lacks many details and side plots of the novel, including the detention of Kurt Steiner's father, General Steiner, by the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
as an additional incentive for Steiner to undertake the mission, and the attempted double-crossing of Devlin by Birmingham black marketeers which resulted in him being tracked down by Scotland Yard's Special Branch. In the novel, Steiner and Radl are both of the rank of Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...
- Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
- where in the film they are both referred to throughout (including the credits) as Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
- Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
- the next higher rank. Some minor details such as names are changed; for example in the novel, Steiner's cover name is Carter and in the film it is Miller. Steiner's paratrooper uniform in the novel is more like those of his men, wearing a Luftwaffe Fliegerbluse and Schiffchen sidecap, while in the film he looks more like a pilot than a soldier, sporting a leather jacket and peaked cap. Some new events and explanatory dialogue are inserted - in the novel Molly does not shoot the mentally unstable villager Arthur Seymour. Also, a member of a British SS unit British Free Corps
British Free Corps
During World War II, the British Free Corps was a unit of the consisting of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by the Nazis. The unit was originally known as The Legion of St...
is featured in the novel, but absent from the film. In the novel, Steiner hesitates before shooting Churchill and is shot and supposedly killed. However, Steiner reappears alive in The Eagle Has Flown
The Eagle Has Flown
The Eagle Has Flown is a book by Jack Higgins, first published in 1991. It is a quasi-sequel to The Eagle Has Landed, with a similar plot structure, but an arguably weaker storyline.-Plot summary:...
, a sequel to the novel. Radl is not executed; instead, he has a heart attack after discovering Devlin has escaped from England and is convalescing in the same hospital and dies soon after the war at home with his family. The book commences with author Higgins stumbling upon evidence for the event and concludes with him supposedly meeting the various surviving characters as he gathers information for the story, the final revelation coming from an aged Father Vereker that "Churchill" had been an impersonator and even if the mission had succeeded, it would not have mattered.
Deleted scenes
The original running time for the film was just over 135 minutes, but nearly 6 minutes were cut by the producers before the film was generally released. Some, if not most, of those scenes were restored for the special edition dvd, these scenes are:- An alternative opening, originally the film started with Heinrich Himmler (Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
) arriving at a medieval castle for a conference with Hitler, Canaris, Bormann and Goebbels. This deleted opening would have followed the scenes under the opening credits which are a long aerial shot of a staff car approaching Schloss Hohenschwangau, which would have been the castle in question. The deleted scene explains why Schloss Hohenschwangau appears in the credits but does not appear in the film. - Extended scene when Radl arrives at Abwehr headquarters, he discusses his health with a German Army doctor (played by Ferdy MayneFerdy Mayne-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
). - Scene at a Berlin University where Liam Devlin is a teacher.
- Scene in Landsvoort where Steiner and von Neustadt discuss the mission and its merits and consequences.
- Devlin's arrival at Studley Constable is now extended where he and Joanna Grey discuss their part in the mission.
- Devlin drives his motorbike through the centre of the village and on to the cottage, where he inspects the barn before returning to the village.
- Scene where Devlin reads poetry to Molly Prior.
- Extended scene in which Molly interrupts Devlin shortly after he receives the army vehicles.
- Scene on the boat at the end that shows the fate of von Neustadt. (This scene is visible in one of the special edition DVDs extras, in the action photo gallery)
Cast
- Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
as OberstOberstOberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
Kurt Steiner - Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
as Liam DevlinLiam DevlinLiam Devlin is a protagonist and recurring character in the novels of Jack Higgins. "Liam Devlin" is a pseudonym and his real name is never revealed.-Background:... - Robert DuvallRobert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
as Oberst Max Radl - Jenny AgutterJenny AgutterJennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
as Molly Prior - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo... - Anthony QuayleAnthony QuayleSir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
as Adm. Wilhelm CanarisWilhelm CanarisWilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :... - Jean MarshJean MarshJean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
as Joanna Grey - Sven-Bertil TaubeSven-Bertil TaubeSven-Bertil G. E. Taube is a Swedish singer and actor. Born in Stockholm, he is the son of songwriter Evert Taube and sculptor Astri Bergman Taube.-Biography:...
as HauptmannHauptmannHauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
(Hans) Ritter von Neustadt - Siegfried RauchSiegfried RauchSiegfried Rauch is a German film and television actor. He has been an actor for over 40 years, in approximately 200 productions.-Career:...
as Sergeant Major Otto Brandt - John StandingJohn StandingSir John Ronald Leon Standing, 4th Baronet is an English actor.-Early life:Standing was born John Ronald Leon in London, the son of Kay Hammond , an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker...
as Father Philip Verecker - Judy GeesonJudy GeesonJudith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
as Pamela Verecker - Treat WilliamsTreat WilliamsRichard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...
as Capt. Harry Clark - Kent WilliamsKent Williams (actor)Kent Williams is an American actor.Williams was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York. He studied music and theatre at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he graduated in the class of 1973. He is known for his role as an Assistant District Attorney and, later, Special...
as Mallory (uncredited) - Roy MarsdenRoy MarsdenRoy Marsden is an English actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations of P. D. James's detective novels.- Education :...
as Sturmbannführer Toberg, SS (uncredited) - Wolf KahlerWolf KahlerWolf Kahler is a German actor.Born in Kiel, since 1975 he has appeared in many US and UK television and film productions. Due to his height - he is 6 feet 2 inches tall - sharp features, blond hair and blue eyes he is often cast in roles as Nazis or other unsympathetic German characters...
as Hauptsturmführer Fleischer (uncredited) - Larry HagmanLarry HagmanLarry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
as Col. Clarence E. Pitts - Ferdy MayneFerdy Mayne-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
as Radl's doctor (uncredited) - Harry FielderHarry FielderHarry Fielder is an English actor and supporting artist who has worked extensively in British films and television since the 1960s.Fielder was born in Islington, London...
as Motorbike outrider (uncredited) - Michael ByrneMichael Byrne (actor)Michael Byrne is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris...
as Karl - Joachim HansenJoachim Hansen (actor)Joachim Hansen was a German actor. He was best known for film roles in the 1960s and 1970s where he was often cast in roles portraying Nazi officers and World War II German officials....
as SS-Obergruppenführer (unnamed Jürgen StroopJürgen StroopJürgen Stroop, , was a high-ranking Nazi Party and Gestapo official during World War II. In 1952, he was extradited to Poland, convicted of war crimes, and hanged.-Early life:Jürgen Stroop was born in Detmold, in the Principality of Lippe, German Empire, the son of a police officer...
) - Terry Plummer as Arthur Seymour
- Denis LillDenis LillDenis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
- Jack McCulloch
- Tim BarlowTim BarlowMichael John Leigh Barlow , whose stage name is Tim Barlow or sometimes Timothy Barlow, is a British actor who has performed many small roles in a variety of films, television programmes and plays....
as George Wilde (Publican) - Maurice RoëvesMaurice RoëvesMaurice Roëves is a British actor, born in Sunderland, County Durham on 19 March 1937.His television roles include Danger UXB , The Nightmare Man , the 1984 Doctor Who serial The Caves of Androzani, Days of our Lives , Tutti Frutti , Rab C...
as Maj. Corcoran (as Maurice Roeves) - Keith BuckleyKeith Buckley (actor)Keith Buckley is a British actor who has mostly appeared on television since 1958.Buckley has made some appearances in film and television appearing in The Avengers and Randall and Hopkirk in the 1960s and The New Avengers in the 1970s.-Selected filmography:* Spring and Port Wine * The Pied Piper...
- Jeff ConawayJeff ConawayJeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
as Frazier - Siegfried RauchSiegfried RauchSiegfried Rauch is a German film and television actor. He has been an actor for over 40 years, in approximately 200 productions.-Career:...
as Sgt. Brandt - Richard Wren as Sgt. Hans Altmann
- Alexei Jawdokinov as Cpl. Werner Briegel
- Steve Ubels as a German paratrooper
- Leonie Thelen as the Jewish girl
- Leigh Dilley as Winston Churchill / George Fowler (uncredited)
Filming locations
The majority of the film, set in the fictional village of Studley Constable, was filmed at MapledurhamMapledurham
Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire.It should not be confused with the Mapledurham electoral ward of the nearby Borough of Reading, which is a subdivision of that town's suburb of Caversham....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and features the village church, Mapledurham Watermill
Mapledurham Watermill
Mapledurham Watermill is a historic watermill in the civil parish of Mapledurham in the English county of Oxfordshire. The mill is driven by the head of water created by Mapledurham Lock and Weir and is preserved in an operational state.- History :...
and Mapledurham House
Mapledurham House
Mapledurham House is an Elizabethan stately home located in the civil parish of Mapledurham in the English county of Oxfordshire.-History and architecture:...
. Mock buildings such as shops and a pub were constructed on site in Mapledurham while interiors were filmed at Twickenham Studios.
The sequence set in Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
was filmed in Charlestown
Charlestown, Cornwall
Charlestown is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, in the parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately south east of St Austell town centre....
, near St Austell
St Austell
St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Some of the filming took place at RAF St. Mawgan
RAF St. Mawgan
RAF St Mawgan is a Royal Air Force station near St Mawgan and Newquay in Cornwall. In 2008 the runway part of the site was handed over to Newquay Airport. The remainder of the station still continues to operate under the command of the RAF...
, near Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
, and at Rock
Rock, Cornwall
Rock is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite Padstow on the northeast bank of the River Camel estuary. The village is in the civil parish of St Minver Lowlands approximately four miles northwest of Wadebridge.-Geography:The main residential area is set back from...
, both in Cornwall. The railway station sequence where Steiner and his men make their first appearance was filmed in Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The parachuting scenes were carried out by members of the REME
Reme
Reme may refer to:*Rəmə, Azerbaijan*Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers...
(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) Parachute Display Team.