BROADSWORD CALLING BIKER BOY

Written by Valle V. Petersen - Wednesday, 21 September 2011 10:26

The year is 1968, and with a big bag of sweets in one hand, and only 14 years old, I edged into the third row of "Kosmorama" cinema. The promotional films would never end, and the anticipation and tension increased in my little boys body. The carpet in front of the silver screen slid slowly toward the edges of the hall, and made the canvas much larger. Large, red Gothic letters appeared, and a JU-52 edged over the snowy mountains. Inside the plane, were some of the great actors of the time - Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood - and they were on the same team! It could only be a great movie.

The author Alistair MacLean wrote the novel and screenplay for the film, at the same time. We all know that it was a commercial success, because everyone knows the movie. "Where Eagles Dare" swept us all off our feet back then, and indeed, it still does. I don’t know exactly how many times I've seen the movie from start to finish, but it is many.

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WHERE EAGLES DARE

It is the Second World War, the winter of 1943-44, and U.S. Brigadier General George Carnaby, one of the key planners of D-Day, is taken prisoner by the Germans, when his plane is shot down on his way to Crete. He was imprisoned at Schloß Adler, a fortress located in the Alps, also used as the German Secret Service headquarters. A team of British commandos, led by Richard Burton (Major Smith) was assembled to rescue him, accompanied by U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer, played by Clint Eastwood. Thus, begins the movie we all know.

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I’ll never forget my first encounter with the castle. Burton and Eastwood edge their way through a small pine forest, crouching down in the snow, and bring binoculars to their eyes. The music goes boom, boom, boom, and suddenly you get the castle thrown right into your head. The entire screen, filled with the castle, is just squeezed through your eyes, and sticks to the inside of your skull. Forever.