The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 action thriller based on a 1972 novel of the same name by American author Dr. Rodney William Whitaker, under the pen name Trevanian. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood who also starred as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.
Plot
Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, professor of art and expert mountaineer, is a long retired government assassin called upon to return to work for two more "sanctions," a euphemism for assassinations. He has used the considerable fortune he made from previous sanctions to amass a small but impressive art collection, primarily made up of stolen pieces smuggled into the U.S. from Europe.
Eastwood (right) as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock
His boss is "Dragon," an albinistic ex-Nazi confined to semi-darkness and kept alive by blood transfusions. Dragon wants Hemlock to sanction two men responsible for the death of another government agent. Insisting he is retired from this line of work, Hemlock refuses until he learns that a friend is the agent who has been killed. He carries out the first sanction.
Dragon wants him to kill one more time. Hemlock again resists, but this time Dragon says the IRS might be curious to know how he acquired his art collection with his professor's salary, in effect hinting that he will frame Hemlock for tax evasion. He also uses an agency courier named Jemima Brown to seduce Hemlock and then betray him.
Hemlock agrees to do one final sanction in exchange for a huge fee and for a letter that would "legalize" his art collection and prevent any future IRS issues. He is then informed that the target is a member of an international climbing team about to ascend the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland, a treacherous route which has claimed many lives. Hemlock must accompany and kill one of the mountain climbers, but for the moment Dragon's inept contact man, Pope, is not sure which one.
Hemlock goes to train in Arizona at a mountain resort run by a friend, Ben Bowman. There he is whipped into shape (on and off the trail) by a lovely Native American woman called "George." He also encounters his worst enemy, a former ally from the military who betrayed him, Miles Mellough, who now tries to kill Hemlock by hiring someone to drug him. Mellough is lured to a remote part of the desert, where Hemlock leaves him for dead.
Along with Bowman, who will supervise the Eiger's climb, Hemlock proceeds to Switzerland. There is much conflict within the climbing team, mainly due to clashing egos. The expedition encounters extremely bad conditions halfway to the top. Most of the climbers fall to their death and Hemlock is left dangling. He is rescued from a railroad passage that runs through the mountain, whereupon Hemlock finds the true target of his mission, though it is not the one he had expected.
He is rejoined by Jemima Brown, who suspiciously wonders if Hemlock, not knowing which of the climbers to kill, simply decided to do away with them all.
Production notes
This film has developed a cult following because of its authentic mountain-climbing sequences. Made in 1975, there were no CGI effects used — all the climbing was real. Clint Eastwood did all his own stunts, saying that he couldn't expect a stuntman to risk his life if he wasn't ready to risk his own. Many rock climbers, mountaineers, and even critics who didn't care for the film praise these scenes for their realism.[citation needed]
During the production, stunt man David Knowles, who was also a professional rock climber, was killed when a boulder hit him.[1]
Cast
See also
References
- ^ and , in a foot note in his novel "Shibumi", Trevanian will lament it, morever since (says he gruffily), the movie was a "vapid" one...
External links
