Where Eagles Dare

Character mistake: Lt Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) is wearing his War Merit Cross With Swords badge upside down on his tunic. It's supposed to be worn with the sword handles at the bottom but his are at the top. Best view of this is when he is leaning against the bar of the tavern at 00:36:03 and has just watched Major Smith get slapped by Heidi. (00:36:03)

Character mistake: The adjutant who wakens Major Wilhelm Wilner to tell him he has a phone call from the Schloss Adler has no breast eagle on his tunic. (01:27:40)

Character mistake: In the courtyard of the castle there is an anti-aircraft gun. You could probably not find a worse place for a gun like that even if you tried (except maybe if you put it inside, in a windowless room). In the position it is placed it can only fire at targets directly above the castle. What you want to do is fire at targets before they reach the castle. It would be better if they placed it on the roof, or even near the village below.

Character mistake: Before entering the tavern,Smith tells the team to meet outside in a 1/2 hour. When they are sitting at the table just before capture, he says he gave orders for nobody to leave.

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)

More mistakes in Where Eagles Dare

SS-Standartenführer Kramer: Let me remind you, Major, I'm a colonel in the SS and not a lieutenant who you can frighten with your threats.
SS-Sturmbannführer Von Hapen: Your military rank and position are obvious to me, Colonel, and so are your attempts to discredit me with superiors in Berlin.
SS-Standartenführer Kramer: If there is any discredit, you bring it upon yourself. Good night.

More quotes from Where Eagles Dare

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.

More trivia for Where Eagles Dare

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?

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.

More questions & answers from Where Eagles Dare

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.