The One Movie Clint Eastwood Absolutely Hated
Clint Eastwood doesn't mince words. And when it comes to Where Eagles Dare, the 1968 World War II action thriller he co-starred in with Richard Burton, he's never been shy about how much he didn't care for it.
Despite being a massive hit and one of the most iconic wartime action films of its era, Eastwood couldn't stand the script, barely understood the plot, and openly admitted he was only there for one reason: someone told him it would be a good move.
By the late '60s, Eastwood was sick of Westerns. Six of his last eight movies had been cowboy flicks, and Coogan's Bluff—a modern-day sheriff story—was basically just a Western in city clothes. So when Where Eagles Dare came along, offering him a change of scenery (literally—it shot in Austria), a chance to work with Richard Burton, and some space away from horses and hats, he said yes.
Only problem? Nobody actually liked the script.
"To Brian's credit, he felt the script was a pile of crap," Eastwood said, referring to director Brian G. Hutton.
To make it bearable, Eastwood pushed to cut his dialogue and hand most of the talking over to Burton. His deal was simple:
"I said, 'Let him handle the talk, and I'll handle the killing, and we'll just do a wild film.' So we did it, and everybody had fun doing it, and it did real well."
The logic of the plot didn't improve, though. The basic premise is a special ops team sent to rescue an American general from behind enemy lines—except there's a traitor, a ton of twists, and more Nazi cannon fodder than actual character development. Eastwood said it best:
"I was in it, and I can hardly tell you what it was about."
Despite the nonsense, the film was a commercial success and has since become a cult classic. But for Eastwood, it was little more than a paycheck, a few explosions, and a pile of exposition he didn't want to deal with. A rare example of a movie that audiences loved — and the star absolutely hated.