THE EIGER SANCTION (1975)

MORGAN'S RATING

Clint Eastwood plays a retired professional assassin who has turned toward the calmer pursuit of art collecting. Suddenly, he is forced out of retirement and finds himself on a hunt for a deadly double agent who has murdered his close friend. One member of the team is the man he seeks, though his identity is as yet unknown. This top-notch action film, based on the novel by Trevanian, features some of the most exciting mountain climbing sequences ever filmed.

Clint Eastwood (Dr. Jonathan Hemlock), George Kennedy (Ben Bowman), Vonetta McGee (Jemima Brown), Jack Cassidy (Miles Mellough), Heidi Bruhl (Mrs. Anne Montaigne), Thayer David (Dragon), Reiner Schone (Karl Freytag), Michael Grimm (Andrew Meyer), Jean-Pierre Bernard (Jean-Paul Montaigne), Brenda Venus (George), Gregory Walcott (Pope), Candice Railson (Art Student), Elaine Shore (Miss Cerberus), Dan Howard (Dewayne), Jack Kosslyn (Reporter), Walter Kraus (Kruger), Frank Redmond (Wormwood/Henri Bach), Siegried Wallach (Hotel Manager), Susan Morgan (Buns), Jack Frey (Cab Driver).

REVENGE ATOP A SWISS MOUNTAIN...ONE OF HIS TEAM IS A KILLER BUT WHO?

FACTS

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

RELEASE DATE: May 1975 (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $14.2 million (USA) - Clint Eastwood did all of his own stunts, including the scene where he cuts his safety line over a drop of at least one thousand feet. - The shoot marked the last time that anyone was allowed to climb the "Totem Pole" in Monument Valley. In return for permission to film there, climbers with the production had to remove all the pitons, which had accumulated from years of climbing, on their way down. - In the car-chase scene, where Hemlock is being pursued along a cliff road by Miles Mellough and his bodyguard Dewayne, there was so much dust that the actor portraying Dewayne could not see where he was driving. To compensate, he drove looking up through the sunroof and followed the ridge line above. While effective, this driving method so unnerved actor 'Jack Cassidy' that he demanded his stunt man take his place in the car. - In the scene where Hemlock killed Dewayne, Miles Mellough's bodyguard, the blood shown was actually chocolate syrup. - One climber died during the shoot.

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood (Play Misty For Me). WRITERS: Hal Dresner, Warren Murphy and Rod Whitaker, and based on the novel by Trevanian (Rod Whitaker). PRODUCER: Robert Daley. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck. ORIGINAL MUSIC: John Williams. DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures.

QUOTES

[Referring to Hemlock's written assessment] Jemima Brown: Crap? Jonathan Hemlock: Excuse me? You did just start this conversation off by saying crap didn't you?

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"The Eiger Sanction is barely even a movie at all, given that it doesn't really have a story to tell." -- Ziggy's Video Realm