Sat 11 Jan 2025
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE EIGER SANCTION (1975).
Posted by Steve under Suspense & espionage films[9] Comments
THE EIGER SANCTION. Universal Pictures, 1975. Clint Eastwood, (Jonathan Hemlock), George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy. Based on the novel by Trevanian. Directed by Clint Eastwood.
There’s the visual of a man walking through the streets of Zurich, encountering another man who hands him something, and then making his way back to his apartment. Where he is promptly killed by an assassin.
So begins The Eiger Sanction, a rather dated mid-1970s spy film directed by, and starring, Clint Eastwood. He portrays Jonathan Hemlock, an art professor and a retired killer for the government brought back into service to avenge the aforementioned Zurich murder of an American spy. It all sounds rather exciting on paper, but unfortunately the decidedly uneven pace of the movie makes it very difficult to stay fully engaged throughout the proceedings.
That’s not to say that the movie is without its merits. One of the best things the film has going for it is its ensemble of oddball characters, misfits all, who work for C-2, a fictional spy agency tasked with double crosses, assassinations, and other dirty business.
Leading the outfit is an albino ex-Nazi who goes by the name “Dragon” (Thayer David). There’s also his assistant Pope (Gregory Walcott) and a Black agent named (I kid you not) Jemima Brown (Vonetta McGee). And even though he may not be fully integrated with C-2, there’s also the smarmy and effeminate killer Miles Mellough (Jack Cassidy). All of these characters are one of a kind and will be rightfully remembered long after the plot is forgotten.
What attracted viewers to The Eiger Sanction, however, was neither the cast nor the plot, but the action sequences. Yes, this is the one where Eastwood goes mountain climbing. It’s breathtaking, to be sure. But it’s not enough to overcome the movie’s weak points.
What else? George Kennedy plays an important role in the film as Eastwood’s climbing instructor, but since I don’t want to give away spoilers, I’ll just say that his character is pivotal to the story’s ultimate outcome.
My overall assessment is that this Eastwood outing tried too hard to make Clint the epitome of an affected 1970s cool and thus unintentionally relegated its status to being very much of that era. Hence, dated.
