# THAT HELICOPTER IN "WHERE EAGLES DARE"...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936 "2001-01-20T00:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/21 "2016-05-31T15:50:03Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > Yep, definitely saw the Bell helicopter landing in the courtyard and some higher-up (General? Field Marshall?) getting out. Weird that there would be a (modernish) helicopter in a WWII movie, and odd they’d land in a pretty small courtyard. I looked it up. Yes, apparently there’s a helicopter in an opening scene (not the end). I only saw the end last night. > [@](#): > > But that’s only part of the problems that made me switch away from this movie at various times (ignoring plot issues or plot believability): it’s a 1970 movie and everyone - all these military people - have 1970 haircuts - haircuts that probably wouldn’t have been allowed in the military even in the 1970 US/British military, and certainly not in the 1940s German army. 1969, not 1970. See, even you’re doing it!😃 ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/22 "2016-05-31T15:53:34Z")
Hey, look, there’s an “Internet Movie Planes Database!” Here’s what it has to say about this helicopter: > [@](#): > > **Bell HTL-4** > > Flies General Rosemeyer to the Schloss Adler. Schaffer kills the pilot so it can’t be used by the Germans. An American Bell HTL-4 (47G) equipped with German markings, this helicopter is the source of some controversy among viewers who aren’t aware that there were rotary-wing aircraft during World War II, even on the German side. However, they looked much different than this, and it is several years too soon for the 47G. It is taken for granted by every character and even referred to as a helicopter in dialog. [http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Where\_Eagles\_Dare](http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Where_Eagles_Dare) ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/23 "2016-05-31T19:55:17Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > 1969, not 1970. See, even you’re doing it!😃 1969? :dubious: > **[Where Eagles Dare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Eagles_Dare)** > > Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 action adventure war thriller spy film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a Special Operations Executive team of men attempting to save a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, except the mission turns out not to be as it seems. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first... ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/24 "2016-05-31T19:58:18Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > It was on last night. I watched the last hour or so. No helicopter. Lots and lots of Germans with really bad aim though. One of my favorite movies, and unless it was edited, I can assure you that there is a helicopter. Eastwood steals the distributor cap from it to disable it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/25 "2016-05-31T21:19:45Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > One of my favorite movies, and unless it was edited, I can assure you that there is a helicopter. It’s a quasi-futuristic helicopter! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/26 "2016-05-31T21:28:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s a quasi-futuristic helicopter! A _Nazi_ quasi-futuristic helicopter. What more could one ask for? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/27 "2016-05-31T22:04:51Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > It was on last night. I watched the last hour or so. No helicopter. Lots and lots of Germans with really bad aim though. I got sucked into watching the last part as well. I was again struck by the number of vast improbabilities/physical impossibilities in the film that made the helicopter appearance pale by comparison. (In case anyone wondered if WWII commandos were unique in being able to plunge into icy cold water in the dead of winter without so much as shivering afterwards, the same feat was accomplished in the 2003 remake of “The Italian Job”). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/28 "2016-06-01T04:39:24Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > Yep, definitely saw the Bell helicopter landing in the courtyard and some higher-up (General? Field Marshall?) getting out. Weird that there would be a (modernish) helicopter in a WWII movie, and odd they’d land in a pretty small courtyard. > > But that’s only part of the problems that made me switch away from this movie at various times (ignoring plot issues or plot believability): it’s a 1970 movie and everyone - all these military people - have 1970 haircuts - haircuts that probably wouldn’t have been allowed in the military even in the 1970 US/British military, and certainly not in the 1940s German army. > > Then there’s the language, which is a harsh contrast to the movie that immediately preceded it on that day, _Guns of Navarone_. In _Guns_, German is spoken by Germans and Greek by Greeks. Granted, it sometimes made it difficult to understand the dialog with precision, but it worked wonders for immersion. But in _Eagles_, a film where they made a point to say in the initial briefing that all the infiltrators spoke fluent German, no one spoke German - not even the Germans (except sometimes, like when yelling at the troops; but not in the bar scenes or pretty much any other scenes). > > And that’s before we get into the multitude of continuity problems. The best movie to deal with this is “What Did You Do In The War Dad?”. The German force comes to the aid of the Italians who appear to be fighting against the Americans, somewhat successfully, in southern Italy. German commander says to the Italian “Sprechen sie Deutsch?” The Italian relies “Nein! Parla Italiano?” The German says “No. Do you speak ze Englisch?” “But of-a course!” says the Italian. For the rest of the film, any dialog between the Italians and the Germans is in heavily accented English. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/29 "2016-06-01T14:21:38Z")
Movies are FANTASY, not reality! There are many many things they get wrong. Note I once knew a Hollywood writer and he could not change the oil in his car. He was “technically challenged” to say the least! ---
**Author:** ![tmelander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tmelander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmelander)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/30 "2017-05-29T23:53:50Z")
I don’t really mind when English is spoken. It’s a plot device that implies the characters are in actuality speaking whatever language they should be. In this film, nearly the entire movie would be in German if you didn’t do this, and who wants that? Not even Germans, probably. The allies in Germany wouldn’t even be speaking English to each other. It’s a fine plot device. The only subtitles I want to read are for films by German directors, of which there are so many brilliant ones. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/31 "2017-05-30T05:29:04Z")
> [@tmelander](#): > > I don’t really mind when English is spoken. It’s a plot device that implies the characters are in actuality speaking whatever language they should be. In this film, nearly the entire movie would be in German if you didn’t do this, and who wants that? Not even Germans, probably. The allies in Germany wouldn’t even be speaking English to each other. > > It’s a fine plot device. The only subtitles I want to read are for films by German directors, of which there are so many brilliant ones. But of course. Hollywood. Germans always speak heavily accented English, as do Russians. Even the American Indians speak badly accented English, since they’re all Caucasian. So do Orientals, as demonstrated by Mickey Rooney and David Carradine (and most recently Matt Damon). ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936/32 "2017-05-30T16:29:08Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It was actually the Flettner Fl-282 “Kolibri” (“Hummingbird”). I like how, as a reconnaissance synchropter, its task was to keep an eye on things. I expect its pilots wore jackboots and its cockpit design incorporated a place to securely hold a mug. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-helicopter-in-where-eagles-dare/50936.md?page=1)