The Eagle Has Landed

Following an animated staff meeting with Hitler, there's a suggestion put forward that the Nazis try to kidnap Winston Churchill. Spymaster Admiral Canaris (Anthony Quayle) thinks it's a dangerous idea, but Himmler (Donald Pleasence) wants it investigated. To that end, the admiral recruits "Radl" (Robert Duvall) to find a man who might be able to lead a team to get the job done. We've already met "Col. Steiner" (Michael Caine) and know he's a bit of a maverick, so "Radl" does a deal with him that will accomplish the task and save "Steiner" from a lively firing squad. It seems the Prime Minister is soon to visit a quiet country manor house near the Norfolk coast so this is their chance. The soldiers adopt the identity of British soldiers and work with the nearby villagers whilst laying the groundworks for their plot. A chance accident, though, reveals their identity to the villagers and things turn decidedly dangerous. Can the villagers find a way to warn the outside world? Caine does fine with this drama, and Donald Sutherland also delivers quite well as the IRA man who will do just about anything to see the British lose the war, but the rest of the cast rather underwhelm - especially the rather soporific "Molly" (Jenny Agutter) and curiously cast Jean Marsh. Quayle, Duvall and Pleasence barely feature at all and the denouement, though not quite what we were expecting, still can't quite enliven this rather over-scripted and far-fetched story. It's watchable enough, though, Caine sees to that - but just not quite the sum of it's parts.