The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Directed by: Clint Eastwood | 123 minutes | action, thriller | Actors: Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy, Heidi Brühl, Thayer David, Reiner Schöne, Michael Grimm, Jean-Pierre Bernard, Brenda Venus, Gregory Walcott, Candice Rialson, Elaine Shore, Dan Howard, Jack Kosslyn, Walter Kraus, Frank Redmond, Siegfried Wallach, Susan Morgan, Jack Frey

‘The Eiger Sanction’ is a pretty good thriller from Clint Eastwood’s early days as a director. Eastwood himself stars as a popular teacher, who in his spare time solves dirty jobs for the government. In addition, there are strong roles from George Kennedy and Jack Cassidy. The story is special at best; striking is the number of ‘coincidences’ in the plot that must ensure that everything remains a logical whole.

Hemlock is told by his boss that he has to take out a spy during a mountain climb. The spy is limping. At the end of ‘Eiger’ Hemlock finds out who that person is, but it is striking that during the entire film that person had no problems with his leg and nothing was wrong! For example, there are more ‘coincidences’ in the story, which should make the whole plausible, but not seem very strong.

But luckily Eastwood (‘Dirty Harry’) plays the leading role in this, at least original, thriller. He is completely in his element as a teacher, who does well with the opposite sex. His association with women is very nice to behold: the ladies challenge him and Eastwood visibly enjoys the attention and that combination produces nice scenes. The dark clean Jemima Brown (Vonetta McGee) seems to be the lucky one. Furthermore, Eastwood is just himself in ‘Eiger’, as we know him from other films. Playful, friendly and loyal to his friends and cynical, blunt and anti-authoritarian towards figures he has to serve, such as the somewhat amateur-looking Dragon, who provides Hemlock with ‘sanctions’. Good, supporting roles by Kennedy and Cassidy, by the way: Kennedy (‘Airport’) as Eastwood’s all-American companion who has been through a lot with him and Cassidy as a former army comrade, who now plays the niece.

The mountain ascent of Mount Eiger, located in Switzerland, is the literal climax of the film, where Hemlock must find out which of his fellow climbers is wrong and must be eliminated. It can be any of his three companions: is it the friendly Austrian, the sympathetic Frenchman or the gruff German? The riddle is somewhat reminiscent of the 1988 thriller ‘Shoot to Kill’ starring Sidney Poitier. Eastwood does almost all the stunts himself. For the role of Jonathan Hemlock, he underwent rigorous training to learn the ropes of mountaineering. The ascent of the Eiger naturally provides beautiful pictures of sun-drenched mountain walls and climbers who defy great dangers and immeasurable depths.

‘The Eiger Sanction’ is a separate film in the Eastwood genre, especially because of the setting in which it takes place and the cult characters that appear in it. The albino Dragon, for example, who provides Hemlock with commands and lives in total darkness, and the alluring Brenda Venus would not look out of place in a James Bond film. Eastwood plays a role that fits him perfectly, although it sometimes takes some getting used to to see him as an art connoisseur and a painting lover. The film has quite a few moments that are not worked out well or too hastily. A film for lovers of the Eastwood genre.