Original subtitles

High in the primeval paradise that is the Austrian Alps, there is a storied

splendor in the bright white peaks and the picturesque villages that lie banked

in snow beneath them.

The Salzburg area of Austria is rich in a culture as enduring as its cobblestone

streets and coursing waterways.

A culture...

that for centuries has survived the challenges of nature and of man.

Memories of Nazi tyranny are brought to vivid light by the invasion of a movie

company.

Even in make -believe battle, these uniforms evoke strong emotions.

And in a different way, so do the men who wear them.

To recreate one of World War II's most exciting adventures, MGM has brought

Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and an outstanding group of filmmakers to the

top of the Austrian Alps, to a place where eagles dare.

Where eagles dare is the drama of a daring mission carried out against

insurmountable odds.

The odds against successfully filming it in these authentic settings seem

equally insurmountable.

The mountains above Berfin, Lothar, and Ebensee would challenge the hardiest of

alpine adventurers.

To a motion picture crew.

Untrained in mountain climbing and hampered by tons of equipment, it tested

to the limits of their strength, stamina, and ingenuity.

For all of them, the huge army of technicians working high above sea

especially the actors, this truly became a place where eagles dare.

Of all who came to this location, none was more challenged by it than Clint

Eastwood. Certainly unusual.

wearing war uniforms as opposed to ponchos and Stetsons and so forth. We've

up in the mountains shooting from cable cars and hanging cables and sliding off

the roofs and shooting Germans. I thought I shot a lot of people with a

-shooter. We'll see how we can do with a machine gun in a film like this.

I think it's very apt casting to cast Clint Eastwood and myself because we

such enormous contrast in type. He's tall and... Slow and drawly, sort of a

Gary Cooper, and as good as Gary Cooper, perhaps even better.

And I'm short and thick and fast -talking.

Now Richard starts to turn it, and we're coming out at this angle. Because I

understood it to be that we would be here and see them come around the corner

with the car.

With them still pushing.

When it got to this point, the car rolls on its own.

Continues to roll on its own.

I pan.

The car goes past them and goes, right?

And I pull back with them, and the car goes out over the side.

Planning was important, because retakes were impossible.

Beauty and Danger, personified by German actress Ingrid Pitt, who actually made

her own daring escape from East Berlin.

You know, to be out here in Austria at this time, it's like living through the

entire war again. Not that I'm that old that I would remember the entire last

war.

But there's shooting going on and killing and explosions and tanks and

battalions. And I mean, it really seems to be all war going on.

So I take this sled and I go out into the peace and quiet.

With these wild two horses.

What on earth are they doing?

I'm terribly proud to be a member of this cast, which is really rather

international.

There's Richard Burton, of course, with English.

Clint Eastwood was American.

And Mary Ewer, English.

Our director is American, Brian Hutton.

And I, German.

Anything else you need, Anthea? Oh!

Who might you be, my pretty alpine rose?

Heidi. Stop, Major. I've got work to do.

There's no more important work than entertaining the soldiers of the

Shall I sing you a song?

I bet you have a beautiful singing voice, too.

Thank you.

Many of the people of these Austrian villages were given the opportunity to

participate in the making of this film.

For some of them, it held the reminder of earlier days with a frightening sense

of realism.

When we headed the unit out from Salzburg each morning, the location.

We point it at the pass.

We move around 300 people in over 100 vehicles. We have three helicopters

overhead, up to 16 radio channels open for communication.

It's like Bloody D -Day.

Well, we've envisaged that there will be used something between 10 ,000 and 20

,000 rounds of blank ammunition for the submachine guns.

And for the other stuff, we hope to use about 10 ,000 rounds.

For as long as it has existed, the magic of motion picture making has captured

the imagination of a world irresistibly drawn to explosive action, breathtaking

beauty, and the glamour of storybook lives.

Our job is primarily, in this picture, to create the effect that we've blown

Things, people, and huge fires.

We, in place of blowing things down, we push them over. Sometimes we use a

charge behind a telephone pole up against it just to shove the wall over.

blow the boards out in effect with lots of fire and smoke.

And so it looks to the camera like there's been a tremendous thing happen.

in reality, it's like you ring up against the wall and shoved it over.

Black powder charges here into the mortars.

We use black powder because it gives the effect of a big explosion without the

concussion of one.

We put black powder in and then various other things with it to give fire and

black smoke and dust and chips and rubble effect.

Everyone was asked to perform near -impossible tasks in almost inaccessible

locations, even the women.

British star Mary Ure.

It used to take us about an hour to get to this location, but because of

avalanches, the main road was blocked.

So it took me three hours to get there, five minutes to do the shot, and three

hours back again.

The ultimate goal is the castle, Schloss Hohenbergen, high in the Austrian Alps.

In the film, it is a German fortress, the target of a hand -picked team of

espionage experts.

In reality, throughout the centuries of its existence, this castle has never

been successfully attacked, although many armies in history have attempted

Today, it is the destination of a determined cast and crew, headed by

Brian Hutton.

An ancient, inaccessible, orphaned setting.

So authentic that it was considered by many to be impossible to film here.

But the name of this motion picture is the motto of the men who are making it.

Where eagles dare.