MovieChat Forums > Where Eagles Dare (1969) Discussion > Clint Eastwood talks a little about this...

Clint Eastwood talks a little about this film...


as well as his others!

Clint Eastwood On... Where Eagles Dare
(1968, BRIAN G. HUTTON) "My agent felt it would be a great idea to pair up with an actor senior to me," starts Eastwood as mystified by the ways of agents as anyone. "In this case it was Richard Burton." Based on an Alistair MacLean novel, this brusque, often incomprehensible, but entirely entertaining bit of WWII derring-do seems predicated on the idea good-looking stars look even better in Nazi uniforms. From Eastwood's point-of-view it was a good payday ($800,000) even if he got second billing, and an opportunity to prove himself a on different ground. "It wasn't a role that was very challenging for me," he admits, "but I got to go to Austria and work with a lot of new people. I on those experiences."

Its barrage of nifty stunts and snowy locations, and the ping pong of double crosses that make up the twist ending, have granted the film a bank holiday charm. Although it was a long, arduous shoot - all the fuss Eastwood hates - he and Burton got on swimmingly. "Richard was quite a character," he laughs fondly, "and of course he was with Miss Taylor at the time, they were sort of the couple. I was the young guy who didn't have to worry too much."

http://www.empireonline.com/features/clint-eastwood-on-clint-eastwood/


Thought I was havin' trouble with my adding. It's all right now

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cool!


"Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life!" - Cannonball Adderley

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Clint Eastwood said that Where Eagles Dare should have been called Where Doubles Dare because stunt doubles did most of the stunt work.
Clint did some of it but Richard Burton was doubled many times.

Where Eagles Dare, Paint Your Wagon and Kelly's Heroes represented what Clint didn't want to do in the future because these movies were too expensive, especially Paint Your Wagon, and because the studios controlled all the production.
Moreover, the shooting lasted several months.

On Paint Your Wagon and Kelly's Heroes, the directors didn't have the final cut.
The studios had it. For Where Eagles Dare, I don't know.

Clint wanted to do smaller and cheaper movies which concentrated on characters and stories. Like The Beguiled and Play Misty For Me.

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