Last night I watched The Eiger Sanction. It wasn't very good but I found one thing interesting.
The hero is Clint Eastwood. He's a macho mountain climber and killer but he's cautious. His character complains repeatedly that they shouldn't be using a route up a mountain that doesn't allow for an easy retreat.
The leader of the climb is arrogant, however, and dismisses Clint's concerns. He says that they won't need to retreat but (Spoiler Alert) bad weather comes, they do need to retreat and all the climbers die except Clint - who has to be saved by a team from the base.
The filming was actually done on a difficult climb. There were serious accidents and, ironically, a cameraman who fell and was hurt:
blamed Eastwood for the accident for lack of preparation, describing him as a director and actor as "a very impatient man who doesn't really plan his pictures or do any homework. He figures he can go right in and sail through these things"
LEADER: If the edges are not a go, we'll retreat and follow one of the classic routes. All that can stop us is the weather.
CLINT: Just one thing. Your route doesn't allow for retreat in case we're blocked from above.
LEADER: I consider it self-defeating to plan in terms of retreat.
CLINT: I consider it stupid not to.
LEADER: I'll leave the planning for retreat with you, Doctor. He has more experience than I in retreating. May I take it my plan is accepted? Fine. Our business is settled.
Later
LEADER: Well, the worst is behind us. You really needn't be so glum, Herr Doctor.
CLINT: If we retreat we won't make it back through the falls.
LEADER: You have a defeatist mentality. We won't retreat. We'll go up.
Eastwood's decision to brave the mountain was disapproved by Dougal Haston, director of the International School of Mountaineering, who had lost climbers on the Eiger, and by cameraman Frank Stanley, who thought that to climb a perilous mountain to shoot a film was unnecessary. According to cameraman Rexford Metz it was a boyhood fantasy of Eastwood's to climb such a mountain and he enjoyed displaying heroic machoism.
The Eiger Sanction was panned by most critics. Playboy described the film as "a James Bond reject". The film was a commercial failure. Eastwood blamed the production company for poor earnings and publicity and left Universal Studios.
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