Movie Moments: #52

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Comment:

Not one of Clint Eastwood’s best but still entertaining with some good climbing scenes.  Ignore the cheesy bits (see synopsis below) and stay with it as an action flick.

Synopsis:

Dr Jonathan Hemlock, a mountaineer and professor of art, is also a retired government assassin.  He is blackmailed by Dragon, an albino ex-Nazi in charge of black ops, into coming out of retirement and killing (“sanction”) a target who is a member of a coming Eiger climb. Hemlock joins the team and the climb but must not only kill his quarry, he must also find out which one it is

Quote:
(Ben Bowman, played by George Kennedy, is the climb manager).
Woman Journalist: Tell me, Mr. Bowman, in your opinion do these men climb to prove their manhood, or is it more a matter of compensating for inferiority feelings?
Ben Bowman: Lady, why don't you go get yourself screwed. It would do you a lot of good.

Trivia:
Clint Eastwood did all of his own stunts, including the scene where he cuts his safety line over a drop of at least 300 metres. The only stunt he did not perform was an 800 metre drop, for which a dummy was used.