The Eagle Has Landed

A mission film set in the Second World War and told from the German side. The year is 1943. German intelligence prepares a plan: Churchill is going to spend a weekend in a small village in eastern England, and a unit is sent to abduct him. The team lands disguised as Polish soldiers and has to keep its identity hidden in the village. What is interesting is the choice of side. Colonel Steiner and his men, who carry out the mission, are at the centre, and the film shows them as professional soldiers; Steiner is an officer who has been punished for opposing the regime. The narrative turns on a mistake: a German soldier gives himself away saving a drowning child, and the whole plan collapses after that human act. The source is Jack Higgins's novel. Michael Caine plays Steiner, Robert Duvall the colonel running the plan and Donald Sutherland the Irish agent who helps the team. It was John Sturges's last film. A solid example for anyone who likes war films and mission narratives. For a viewer looking for historical accuracy, the story is wholly invented; no such plan was ever carried out.