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Posted

Eastwood did the actual climbing on the So.Utah footage(which was shot on Castleton Tower,I believe)and the Eiger footage included some pretty famous top climbers of the era: Scots Dougal Haston and Ian Clough and American Beat expat Gary Hemming.And Eastwood did the actual footage on the Eiger as well,with off-camera rigging by Clough,Haston,and Jim Bridwell.Pretty good company.Eastwood also still does some recreational rock climbing.

The movie itself wasn't much,but the climbing scenes are pretty true to 70's era technique,especially the So.Utah footage.Worst technical gaffe in the Eiger footage was Clint wearing a construction-type hardhat instead of a regular mountaineering helmet,as well as soft,bendy boots suited more for a hike in the Columbia Gorge than for the Eiger.They certainly had far more advanced boots for ice climbing,even back then.Also they shot some of the Eiger scenes using goldline ropes instead of perlon,and there was no reason to be that outdated unless they were trying to portray an earlier period.Gold line was still around in 1970,but no serious climbers were still using it,and hadn't for about 5 or 6 years.

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Posted
Worst technical gaffe in the Eiger footage was Clint wearing a construction-type hardhat instead of a regular mountaineering helmet

 

Actually, wouldn't the worst technical gaffe be the fact that he's shown leading with a top rope in that scene?

 

I love that movie, full of priceless stuff for anyone who's an afficionado of 70's kitsch. I can put up with a lot in a movie that actually stuck hollywood actors up onto the north face of the eiger - there's a great shot where clint is struggling on some rock moves and the camera just pulls back and back with no cuts until you see the whole huge friggin' face. (Maybe not so impressive in these CGI days, but pretty cool when you know it's a real shot.)

Posted

agreed! those were the days. I can look the other way on the technical goofs like leading on TR.

 

That whole scene when they're on the summit and Clint unknowingly hauled beer up the route on lead! Fucking a' classic. The whole climbing buddy thing between Clint and his friend was pretty realistic...,"Good to see you again..shit are we gonna drink a lot of beer!"

Posted
Blake, RE: your original message: it couldn't have been W.C. Fields in The Eiger Sanction because he died in 1946, 29 years before the movie was made. I haven't seen the movie in a long time, so can't say who played that assassination coordinator...

 

Thayer David played "Dragon", to whom Clint referred to as "the fat albino" in the film. David died just a coupla years after The Eiger Sanction was released to theaters. He also appeared on several popular television series from the time period (Wild Wild West, Kojak, Rockford Files, Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Hawaii Five-O, etc.). Source.

Posted
...Worst technical gaffe in the Eiger footage was Clint wearing a construction-type hardhat instead of a regular mountaineering helmet...

 

Worst technical gaffe for the So. Utah footage was the presence of the TR to Clint, who was supposed to be leading the climb. rolleyes.gifyellaf.gif

Posted
Worst technical gaffe in the Eiger footage was Clint wearing a construction-type hardhat instead of a regular mountaineering helmet

 

Actually, wouldn't the worst technical gaffe be the fact that he's shown leading with a top rope in that scene? <snip>

 

The "TR lead" was not on the Eiger footage, but on the So. Utah footage. Small point, but true.

 

Secondly, if you look closely, he was wearing an MSR helmet, which I used for caving for years. They are rated for mine safety, I believe, so it's not that far of a stretch for them to be used for rock climbing. Things fall on your head in mines, as well.

 

Mebbe it had more to do with the predominant Ameri-ethnocentrism paradigm of the times to use a national brand instead of a Joe Brown or something? wazzup.gifyellaf.gif

Posted
Blake, RE: your original message: it couldn't have been W.C. Fields in The Eiger Sanction because he died in 1946, 29 years before the movie was made. I haven't seen the movie in a long time, so can't say who played that assassination coordinator.

 

 

Come On klenke, it's a joke. They were both fat pasty white guys who talked slowly. see the James bond reference in original post as well.

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