The Eagle has landed (1976)
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A fictional German plot to kidnap Winston Churchill during the Second World War unfolds as a high-stakes operation involving sleeper agents and paratroopers.
The story
Following the success of the Gran Sasso raid, German intelligence officer Max Radl is tasked with studying the feasibility of capturing Winston Churchill. Radl identifies a Nazi sleeper agent, Joanna Grey, in the quiet Norfolk village of Studley Constable. He proposes a plan where Luftwaffe colonel Kurt Steiner leads a platoon of Fallschirmjäger into the village, aided by an IRA man named Liam Devlin who will coordinate with Grey. The Germans, believing they have Hitler's authorization, fly to England in a captured Royal Air Force plane and drop into Norfolk disguised as Polish paratroopers to initiate the kidnapping.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
German intelligence officer Max Radl plans 'Operation Eagle' to kidnap Winston Churchill, believing he has Hitler's approval. He recruits Luftwaffe colonel Kurt Steiner and his penal unit from Alderney, along with IRA man Liam Devlin, to coordinate with a sleeper agent, Joanna Grey, in the village of Studley Constable. The Germans land in Norfolk disguised as Polish paratroopers. While the villagers initially believe the ruse, it is exposed when a Nazi uniform is revealed. The Germans seize the village, but the priest's sister alerts U.S. Army Rangers. A costly assault by Colonel Pitts ends in his death, followed by a successful assault by Captain Clark that traps the Germans in a church. Devlin, Steiner, and a wounded second-in-command escape through a hidden passage with the help of a local girl, Molly Prior. Meanwhile, Radl is executed on Alderney for exceeding his authority. Steiner reaches the manor where Churchill is staying and shoots a body double, only to be killed immediately. The real Churchill is revealed to be in Persia. Only Devlin escapes, leaving a love letter for Molly.
- First release year
- 1976
- Runtime (minutes)
- 135
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Sturges
- Writers
- Tom Mankiewicz · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Michael Caine · Devlin; Donald Sutherland · Steiner; Robert Duvall; Jenny Agutter; Donald Pleasence · Heinrich Himmler; Anthony Quayle; Jean Marsh; Treat Williams
- Genres
- war; thriller
- Themes
- Espionage; Betrayal; Sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- Adventure; Suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- World War II; Spy Thriller; Historical Fiction; Kidnapping
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Eagle Has Landed (1975 novel) by Jack Higgins
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the number one film in the United Kingdom for a week in 1977 and receiving generally favorable reviews.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 71% · review count: 14 critics; Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: 100 · review count: 7 critics
- Production trivia
- It was John Sturges' last film before his death in 1992.; The film was based on a bestseller that the author originally doubted would be made into a movie because its protagonists were German soldiers.; The railway station sequence was filmed in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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