The Eagle Has Landed

is a 1976 film based on the book of the same name by Jack Higgins, detailing a fictional plot to capture or kill Winston Churchill by a group of German commandos. Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall star as the leader of the squad, their Irish nationalist liaison, and the German colonel in charge of masterminding the mission.

• All Germans Are Nazis: Averted. Steiner and his unit are depicted as chivalrous men of honor, and they are opposed to the persecution of Jews.
• Asshole Victim: In a rarity among World War II films, the victim here is not a German, but a British civilian. Arthur Seymour is depicted as being jealous of Liam Devlin just as the new game warden, is shown to be deeply obsessed over Molly Pryor despite the fact she broke up with him, attempts to fight Liam completely unprovoked just because he sees him with Molly, and when he discovers Liam is a German spy, proceeds to throw this into Molly's face just out of spite, and when she asks for time to talk to Liam, he proceeds to become physically violent with her and insults her with sexist language. Thus, when Molly shoots and kills Arthur with Liam's shotgun, the audience is not supposed to be feel sad for him.
• America Wins the War: Subverted. Colonel Pitts's headlong charge ends in a lot of casualties, and while Captain Clark does manage to defeat the paratroopers, Steiner still manages to kill Churchill. Then it turns out, the Churchill in the film was a body double all this time, making all of the losses pointless.
• Anti-Villain: All of the German's and their allies are Punch Clock Villains who seek to avoid unnecessary casualties mostly and in some cases feel they have legitimate grievances against the British. The exception is Heinrich Himmler, who signed off on the mission and is pretty much as much a bastard as he was in Real Life.
• All Germans Are Nazis: The movie goes to great lengths to avert this. Steiner and his men are depicted as deeply disgusted with the war crimes they witness and are depicted as honorable men. The same for Colonel Radl who is not a Nazi and is in fact a genuine compassionate German officer. Once he receives word that the operation has failed, he tells his assistant to leave and head to Berlin to protect him from Himmler. Played completely straight with Heinrich Himmler, who is depicted as very much the monster he was in real life, along with the SS troops who confront Steiner and who later kill Radl.
• Bad Boss: Heinrich Himmler, not surprisingly. When Himmler receives news that the attempt to kill Churchill failed, Himmler doesn't even read the transmission before he asks for the commander of Cherbourg to have Radl killed as a scapegoat over forging Hitler's signature even though he did that deed himself in order to maintain plausible deniability.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted. Steiner kills Churchill, but he was just a body double. The real Churchill wasn't even on the same continent.
• Boom! Headshot!: Colonel Pitts meets his end when the German sleeper agent Joanna Gray shoots him in the head as he prepares to toss a grenade at her. The grenade then falls in front of his corpse and detonates, destroying both his body and much of the lower floor.
• Destroy the Evidence: Once Himmler is told the paratroopers have landed on British soil, he destroys the authorization document with Hitler's signature on it by tearing it up and then burning it. This immediately alerts Radl that Hitler never approved the operation and that Himmler forged the signature, and that his life now depends on the operation succeeding.
• Critical Research Failure / History Marches On/ Rule of Cool: In Real Life the Nazi's really did send a commando squad to assassinate Churchill, but they knew all about the Tehran Conference and sent them there, and Roosevelt and Stalin were targets as well. They were foiled before they got anywhere near him or any of the other leaders. Incidentally the mission was headed (from abroad) by Otto Skorzeny, the man who rescued Mussolini which in-universe inspired the events of the story.
• Curb Stomp Battle: When the American Rangers arrive, the German paratroopers inflict a heavy defeat on them initially thanks to Colonel Pitts being completely incompetent. When Captain Clark arrives with reinforcements and armor support, the tables get turned, and the German commandoes are quickly slaughtered.
• Doomed by Canon: If you know history, you will know that the Germans' do not succeed, and in fact, he wasn't even in the country at that point in time.
• Face Death with Dignity: Radl knows he's a dead man as soon as the word of the operation's failure, so he sends his aide to Admiral Canaris to protect him from Himmler's wrath. Once SS agents arrive to arrest and execute him, Radl surrenders calmly and crosses himself before he is shot by a firing squad.
• Fake Nationality: Almost all Germans are played by British actors, along with the American Robert Duvall. This is at least justified with Steiner, as Heinrich Himmler states he was educated in England and can speak English perfectly without a German accent.
• Faux Affably Evil: When Heinrich Himmler invites Colonel Radl to discuss the possibility of capturing or killing Churchill, he points on multiple smiles and laughs to try to make Radl comfortable. Radl's mannerisms and hesitation show fully well that Radl is deeply scared of talking with the most dangerous man in the Third Reich and answers very haltingly, only agreeing to what Himmler says out of sheer fear knowing he can have him killed for any reason whatsoever.
• General Failure: Colonel Pitts, while not a general, easily fits the trope. Annoyed over not being allowed to lead the Rangers at D-Day and being transferred back to the States, as soon as he gets word of the German commandoes being there to kidnap or kill Churchill, he jumps at the opportunity to get overwhelmingly praise for saving Churchill's life, and deliberately leaves the British and other American units in the dark regarding the German commandoes. His strategy of ordering a wholescale attack against the Germans despite the fact the lieutenants blatantly warn him they could be ambushed ends in disaster as the Rangers suffer heavy casualties.
• It Has Been an Honor: Steiner to his troops, who propose a Heroic Sacrifice while giving him cover to escape and complete the mission.
• Instant Death Bullet: Actually averted. Pamela gets shot in the chest by Joanna Gray, but she actually survives and is stated to not be in any danger. One of the Rangers gets shot in the shoulder, but he survives.
• Hated By His Own Men: It is made very clear most of the American rangers do not like Colonel Pitts or the idea of him leading them into battle, correctly seeing him as an incompetent coward obsessed with his reputation. Captain Clark can barely contain his excitement upon learning Pitts is to be transferred back to the States. Once Pitts launches his attack on the village, the Rangers openly insult him as stupid.
• Have You Told Anyone Else?: When Pamela, having discovered Steiner's plans to kill or kidnap Churchill, runs to Joanna Gray's house to get her car to alert the Rangers, Joanna, who is actually a German spy, asks Pamela if she is the only one who knows about it. When Pamela says she is the only one who knows, Gray immediately grabs a pistol and tries to kill Pamela. She manages to shoot Pamela, but Pamela manages to steal her car and alert the Rangers.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Rare example where the Germans do it in a World War II film. Once Liam shows Steiner the tunnel out of the church, the soldiers stay behind in the church in order to buy Steiner, Devlin, and Neustadt time to escape and capture or kill Churchill. None of them survive the ensuing fight.
• Hero Antagonist: The Allied Forces, of course. Captain Clark especially, who takes command and becomes the main person protecting Churchill from Steiner after Colonel Pitts gets himself killed.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Admiral Canaris was in fact a member of the German Resistance, involved in several plots to kill Hitler, and shared information with British intelligence, and is unlikely to have signed off on a plot like this or at least done something to sabotage it. Men like Adler would likewise have been chosen for their Anti-Nazism as much as their competence. Subverted somewhat since they are still presented as sympathetic, sane and reasonable men, compared to Hitler and Himmler, and in the end Adler's underling is told Canaris will protect he and his family from Adler's fate at Himmler's hands.
• Hold the Line: Deconstructed. While the German paratroopers are well equipped and capable fighters, they are only armed with submachine guns since they are supposed to be going after Winston Churchill and a small security escort. However, once their cover is blown, the only reason the paratroopers perform as well as they do against the American rangers is because of Colonel Pitts's incompetence and lack of strategy. Once Captain Clark brings all of the American rangers and armor support and actually launches a coordinated attack, the paratroopers are quickly overwhelmed. Very tellingly, it is only once Devlin reveals a way out of the church via a tunnel that Steiner realizes it is possible to escape and complete the mission.
• Hollywood Tactics: Deconstructed, as Colonel Pitts decision to go in guns blazing without a battle strategy, results in an utter Curb Stomp Battle being dished out onto the Rangers. Several of the ranger lieutenants straight up insult Pitts for his stupidity.
  • One also occurs when the Americans make their final attack on the church. Bazookas are used against the Germans in order to destroy their occupied structures. Bazookas are terrible as anti-personnel weapons, and it would be very plausible for the Germans to survive since a bazooka rocket usually is not enough on its own to bring down a structure. It also does not occur to the Americans to send soldiers into the other buildings to search them and make certain the Germans are dead.
• Hypocrite: When Colonel Pitts demands a sitrep and learns of the severe beating the Rangers are getting, Lieutenant Mallory informs Pitts he managed to take out the German truck with a bazooka. Pitts, upon getting this news, proceeds to complain that Mallory wants a medal for taking out a star. Case in point, Pitts was so blinded by the glory of saving Winston Churchill that he ordered the Rangers to attack head on.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Captain Clark of the American Rangers is this to Colonel Pitts. Due to having seen action before, the entire unit treats him as the unofficial commander of the unit. Very tellingly, all of the Rangers seem to prefer Clark over Pitts leading them, as once word arrives that Pitts is dead and Clark is officially in command, the Rangers instantly manage to recover and begin to unleash a heavy Curb Stomp Battle on the German paratroopers.
• Mooks: The American Rangers get subjected to this once they are alerted to the German presence. Unlike most WWII films, the Americans are not incompetent, as they actually run and make tactical moves against the paratroopers. The only reason the first assault goes so badly is thanks to Colonel Pitts being utterly incompetent. Very tellingly, the paratroopers recognize this and convince Steiner to order a withdrawal to the church in an attempt to break out, but Captain Clark taking command results in the Americans trapping them anyway.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Devlin and Steiner are both composites of numerous real life people, most of whom had much colder relations with the Nazi's. Averted with Heinrich Himmler, played to perfection by Donald Pleasance, and Admiral Canaris who in reality was involved in several plots to assassinate Hitler.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: One of Steiner's men gets killed while saving a little girl from drowning, but as he gets crushed by the waterwheel, it reveals his German uniform, this blows the team's cover and causes the entire plan to unravel.
• The Neidermeyer: Colonel Pitts in spades. He is a rookie who believes he deserves to see real combat and that it is incredibly unfair for him to be robbed of leading the Rangers on D-Day. Once he learns of the German paratroopers, he jumps at the chance to see real combat and become a hero, avoiding alerting other American units and the British about the dangers to Churchill's life. He orders the soldiers to charge in, guns blazing with no strategy, but once he gets exposed to enemy fire, he drives out of the combat zone and gets himself lost. And when he stumbles onto Joanna Grey's house, he proceeds to approach her room in order to corner her despite knowing she is armed. Just as he prepares to toss a grenade, Joanna shoots him in the head.
• Pet the Dog: Despite the clear tension between the two, when Clark arrives at the Ranger Headquarters after hearing about Pamela being shot, Colonel Pitts immediately tells Clark that Pamela is alright and that she is in the hospital after being shot by Joanna Gray.
• Spanner in the Works: Subverted. Pamela proceeds to escape from the Germans and tells the American Rangers about the Germans trying to kill Churchill, but the reveal at the end that the Churchill in the film is a body double means the plan would not have succeeded anyway.
• Xanatos Gambit: Hitler never signed off for the mission to capture Churchill; Himmler faked the order, and while visibly upset that the mission failed he was able to easily buck the blame to Radl and have him executed for "treason", since he was "exceeding his authority". Radl seems vaguely aware of this, but can't do anything about it, though he claims he was "measured out for my coffin months ago".
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Colonel Pitts acts like he is in a typical World War II setting where All Germans Are Nazis and America Wins the War, performing a Big Damn Heroes moment saving Winston Churchill from incompetent German Mooks. He thus orders the Rangers to charge into the village the German paratroopers have seized without a battle strategy than just rely on bravery and valor. The result is an unmitigated disaster, where the only casualty the Americans inflict is when Lieutenant Mallory blows up the German truck with a bazooka. Everyone lampshades how stupid Pitts was.