Plot hole: Why do all the Germans abandon the cable car control room after the alarm has been sounded? If the cable car is critical for access to the castle then you would expect a hard core of SS troops to remain behind to control access and protect the machinery in the event of an attack. (01:42:55)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Plot summary
Directed by: Brian G. Hutton
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, Patrick Wymark, Mary Ure
Send in a group of soldiers (8 UK + 1 US) into Germany to rescue an American general, who isn't really one, and find out who the main enemy spy is whilst blowing up as much as you can, and being better shots than all the Germans put together?
Skarloc
More mistakes in Where Eagles Dare
Mary Ellison: I nearly froze to death in that damn plane. Why couldn't you have supplied some hot water bottles or an electrically heated suit? I thought you loved me.
Major John Smith: Can't help what you think.
Trivia: When Mary goes undercover in the castle, her name is Maria Schenck. They are the middle names of Col Stauffenberg, the German officer played by Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, who tried to kill Hitler.
Question: During the opening dialogue, it is explained that Carnaby's plane was brought down after a raid on Nuremberg. Later in the same scene, it is explained that he was on his way to Egypt when his plane was shot down. Which one was it?
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Answer: The way I interpret it is that "following" the raid on Nuremberg, the plane was then on its way to Egypt when it was shot down by the Germans, prompting the mission to rescue Carnaby.
raywest ★
The "saturation bombing of Nuremberg" was a separate raid which should have lured all the fighters away from the Austrian border. The "General's" plane, on its way to Crete, was shot down by a roving Messerschmitt.