The Eagle Has Landed

John Sturges’ (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) final film is an awkward cross between a thriller and a commando movie, and doesn’t succeed as either. Despite a fine cast and crew, this adaptation of Jack Higgins’ World War II spy novel only gets off the ground sporadically, lacking the suspense needed for a thriller and the excitement required of an action film. The inevitable failure of the film’s mission – a Nazi plot to kidnap Winston Churchill – is not in and of itself a flaw; much better thrillers like The Day of the Jackal, Thirteen Days and the recent Valkyrie have shown that historical events can be made into a good thriller, if done well. That certainly isn’t the case for The Eagle Has Landed, which is fitfully interesting but overall seems like a squandered opportunity.

During the waning days of World War II, Colonel Radl (Robert Duvall) of the Abwehr (Nazi Germany’s military intelligence), is asked by his chief, Admiral Canaris (Anthony Quayle) to investigate a proposal to land paratroopers in England, kidnap Winston Churchill (Leigh Dilley), and use him as a hostage to negotiate peace with the Allies. Radl’s initial skepticism grows to an obsession when he learns that Churchill is visiting a remote coastal village in England, and soon the plan is underway, with the approval of SS chief Heinrich Himmler (Donald Pleasance). Radl recruits a crack team of paratroopers, including disillusioned Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine) and IRA refugee Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland), to land in the small village posing as Polish paratroops and await Churchill’s arrival. The landing goes smoothly, but complications arise; Devlin falls in love with local girl Molly (Jenny Agutter), nearly leading to his discovery, but soon enough Steiner’s troopers are found out, forcing him to take the entire village hostage. Meanwhile, back in France, Radl finds that he has been tricked by Himmler – that the plan has not been authorized by Hitler at all, and that he will bear sole responsibility should the plan fail.

The Eagle Has Landed has the trappings of a fine war film, but despite a nice set-up ultimately drops the ball. The first hour has the air of an intelligent, suspenseful thriller a la Day of the Jackal, skillfully establishing characters, explaining the plot and setting the stage for Act II. However, the movie takes a sharp turn shortly after the commandos arrive in England; although the method through which the team is discovered is quite clever (a soldier’s German uniform is revealed whilst rescuing a child), the movie abruptly turns into a routine shoot-‘em-up action film with little suspense or inventiveness. From that point on, tension ultimately comes down to not if the plan will succeed (we know it won’t), or how it will unravel (because it already has), but whether or not our protagonists will get caught – which might work better if they were more interesting than the ciphers they are. From this point, the film ultimately builds to a ludicrous climax so bad as to be insulting, and the denouement is even worse. Sturges’ direction is frustratingly workmanlike, without visual distinction, the action scenes staged in a disappointingly rote and predictable manner, only exacerbating the film’s problems.

Michael Caine seems completely bored as the war-weary paratroop commander, eager simply to pick up a paycheck and go; those who scoffed at Tom Cruise’s flat American accent in Valkyrie would no doubt be apoplectic at Caine’s Cockney Wehrmacht Colonel. Donald Sutherland invests Devlin with his usual charisma and cynical wit, and Robert Duvall does well with the limited role of Radl. Larry Hagman’s Ugly American Colonel is ludicrously out of place, a horribly unfunny refugee from a dinner-theater production of Dr. Strangelove; a young Treat Williams comports himself better as Hagman’s more respectable subordinate. Donald Pleasance and Anthony Quayle do fine work as real-life Nazi bigwigs Himmler and Admiral Canaris, who would later be hanged as a member of the German Resistance. Jenny Agutter as Devlin’s love interest is given a ridiculous character to play; we see little reason why she should fall so deeply for him after one days’ time that she’ll betray her country for his sake. Jean Marsh makes a much stronger impression as a village schoolteacher-turned-German spy.

The Eagle Has Landed is a disappointing war film with a good idea that it can’t execute. Anyone who isn’t a Sturges fan or die-hard war-movie buff is advised to steer clear of this one.

Rating: 5/10 - Mediocre