The Eagle Has Landed

Late in 1943, German intelligence learns that Winston Churchill plans to spend time at a country estate in Norfolk. Hitler's high command seizes on the opportunity and draws up a plan to abduct the British prime minister and take him to Germany, where he would be forced into negotiations. The operation is placed in the hands of Colonel Max Radl, who assembles a small group for the task: a decorated paratrooper, Colonel Kurt Steiner, several of his men, and Liam Devlin, an Irishman who harbours a deep hatred of the English. The commandos are sent to England in disguise, but the plan soon runs into trouble.

The Eagle Has Landed is a British wartime thriller directed by John Sturges, his eighteenth film and the last in his directing career, following McQ. Tom Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay, and Jack Wiener and David Niven Jr. produced. Michael Caine plays Steiner, Donald Sutherland plays Devlin, and Robert Duvall plays Radl, with Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence and Anthony Quayle among a credited cast of forty-two.

Made for about six million dollars, the film has a critics' rating of 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb, slightly above its audience score of 6.7 out of 10 on TMDB. Those figures, drawn from a relatively small number of reviews and several hundred votes, point to a modest but durable following rather than broad acclaim.