Burton made the film Where Eagles Dare (1968) because his kids wanted to see him in an exciting action film. Burton consumed around four bottles of vodka a day during filming, and often delayed filming by going on drunken binges, the self destructive behavior which would lead him to an early grave in 1984 at age 58 well under way. No sign of any of this is shown in the film. Eastwood hated the script, considering it too talky and convoluted. He worked out a deal with Burton by which Burton would take over most of the dialogue in the film while Eastwood would do most of the action sequences, which turned him into a one man killing machine, with a body count between 73-99.
The filming occurred in the Austrian alps in January 1968 amidst blizzards and sub zero conditions. Not a film for those with a fear of heights, with the stunt men stand ins for Burton and Eastwood earning their pay. Burton received a fee of 1,250,000 and Eastwood got paid 800,000, plus a high end motorcycle. Burton was shrewd enough to negotiate a cut of future showings of the film on television, which raised his total for the film to 8,000,000, his highest earnings from any of his films.
C0-star Ingrid Pitt was an escapee with her mother from a concentration camp during the War, and would later escape from East Berlin in the 1950s by swimming across the River Spree in Berlin.
The film plays like James Bonds, two of them, do World War II. An enjoyable film as long as the suspension of disbelief is fully engaged.
