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Revision as of 05:24, 12 March 2006 by Deville (talk | contribs) (Disambiguate Action to Action movie using popups)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 action/thriller film based on a 1972 novel by American author Dr. Rodney William Whitaker, under the pen name Trevanian, and directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.
Plot
Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, professor of art and expert mountaineer, is a retired government assassin called upon to return to work for two more "sanctions", i.e. assassinations. He's used the small fortune he made from previous sanctions to amass a small but impressive art collection, made up primarily of stolen pieces smuggled into the U.S. from Europe.
His boss is "Dragon", a pure albino confined to semi-darkness and kept alive by blood transfusions. Dragon wants him to sanction two men responsible for the death of another government agent, an agent who was also a friend Hemlock's. But Hemlock refuses, insisting he is retired and uninterested in the work, regardless of the personal turn it has taken. Dragon will not be denied, however, and he arranges for Hemlock's illicit art collection to be seized by the IRS unless he cooperates. One of the targets 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 goes to train in Arizona with his friend, Ben Bowman, then both decamp to Switzerland to join the climbing team. There is, of course, much conflict within the team, mainly due to clashing egos. The expedition eventually sets out, but encounters extremely bad conditions. Eventually rescued from the railroad that runs through the mountain, Hemlock finds the target of his mission, but it is not the one he expected.
Cast
(Some are minor characters)
- Clint Eastwood - Dr. Jonathan Hemlock
- George Kennedy - Ben Bowman
- Vonetta McGee - Jemima Brown
- Jack Cassidy - Miles Mellough
- Heidi Brühl - Mrs. Anna Montaigne
- Thayer David - Dragon
- Reiner Schöne - Karl Freytag
- Michael Grimm - Anderl Meyer
- Jean-Pierre Bernard - Jean-Paul Montaigne
- Brenda Venus - George
- Gregory Walcott - Pope
- Candice Rialson - Art Student
- Elaine Shore - Miss Cerberus
- Dan Howard - Dewayne
- Jack Kosslyn - Reporter
- Walter Kraus - Kruger
- Frank Redmond - Wormwood/Henri Bach
- Siegfried Wallach - Hotel Manager
- Susan Morgan - Buns
- Jack Frey - Cab Driver