History Film / TheEagleHasLanded

* FauxAffablyEvil: Himmler tries to present himself as an amicable sort with lots of bemused chuckles and smiles in his mannerisms, but it doesn't put Radl at ease dealing with the most dangerous man in the Third Reich.

Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/DonaldSutherland, and Creator/RobertDuvall star as, respectively, the leader of the squad, their Irish nationalist liaison, and the German colonel in charge of masterminding the mission. Also in the cast are Creator/JennyAgutter, Creator/DonaldPleasence, Creator/JeanMarsh, Creator/TreatWilliams, and Creator/LarryHagman.

* AdaptedOut: The present day BookEnds, Steiner's father and his arc involving being imprisoned by the Gestapo, renegade Brit Harvey Preston and his arc explaining how he came to be fighting on the German side [[note]] TruthInTelevision as there really was a (very small) SS unit comprising of British and Commonwealth soldiers recruited from POW camps [[/note]] and the Special Branch detectives hunting Devlin and their own arc are not present in the film adaptation.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The Nazis 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.

* GoodCounterpart: Steiner and his crack team are this of the German infiltration unit in ''Film/WentTheDayWell'' as while the latter were ThoseWackyNazis who were a HateSink team with no redeeming qualities product of the era's PropagandaMachine and WouldHurtAChild, Steiner and his team were sympathetic {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who were a TokenGoodTeammate group of the Nazis for being anti-Nazi themselves product of the post-WWII attitudes when depicting them in fiction and WouldntHurtAChild; as a matter a fact had attempted to save children whether be from Holocaust ([[DeathByAdaptation which they failed in the film adaptation]]) or from drowning even if it blow their cover. While the Nazi team's motive for their mission in '' Went the Day Well'' were ForTheEvulz and typical "[[TakeOverTheWorld Tomorrow the World]]" rhetoric, Steiner's team's whole reason for taking the mission was due to NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished due to the aforementioned incident intervening the Holocaust.

* GoodCounterpart: Steiner and his crack team are this of the German infiltration unit in ''Film/WentTheDayWell'' as while the latter were ThoseWackyNazis who were a HateSink team with no redeeming qualities product of the era's PropagandaMachine and WouldHurtAChild, Steiner and his team were sympathetic {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who were a TokenGoodTeammate group of the Nazis for being anti-Nazi themselves product of the post-WWII attitudes when depicting them in fiction and WouldNotHurtChild; as a matter a fact had attempted to save children whether be from Holocaust ([[DeathByAdaptation which they failed in the film adaptation]]) or from drowning even if it blow their cover. While the Nazi team's motive for their mission in '' Went the Day Well'' were ForTheEvulz and typical "[[TakeOverTheWorld Tomorrow the World]]" rhetoric, Steiner's team's whole reason for taking the mission was due to NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished due to the aforementioned incident intervening the Holocaust.

* GoodCounterpart: Steiner and his crack team are this of the German infiltration unit in ''Film/WentTheDayWell'' as while the latter were ThoseWackyNazis who were a HateSink team with no redeeming qualities product of the era's PropagandaMachine and WouldHurtAChild, Steiner and his team were sympathetic {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who were a TokenGoodTeammate group of the Nazis for being anti-Nazi themselves product of the post-WWII attitudes when depicting them in fiction and WouldntHurtChild; as a matter a fact had attempted to save children whether be from Holocaust ([[DeathByAdaptation which they failed in the film adaptation]]) or from drowning even if it blow their cover. While the Nazi team's motive for their mission in '' Went the Day Well'' were ForTheEvulz and typical "[[TakeOverTheWorld Tomorrow the World]]" rhetoric, Steiner's team's whole reason for taking the mission was due to NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished due to the aforementioned incident intervening the Holocaust.

* AntiVillain: All of the Germans and their allies are {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who seek to avoid unnecessary casualties [[spoiler: 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 RealLife.

* GeneralFailure: Colonel Failure at least. Pitts got his commission for his experience as a veteran weekend warrior in the Louisiana National Guard and had never seen combat. Once combat finds him, he botches it spectacularly.

* AllForNothing: The key twist of the film: [[spoiler: after the entire German force and scores of American and British troops have been killed, it turns out the the "Churchill" in the area is a BodyDouble while the real one attends a conference in Tehran.]]

* CurbStompBattle: Inflicted by the hardened veteran German paratroopers upon the relatively inexperienced American Rangers mainy due to the incompetence of Colonel Pitts.

* GloryHound: Colonel Pitts refuses to call in the presence of the Germans to the British or other American units so he can hog all the glory for himself. He gets much of his platoon and even himself killed in the process.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: 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 Radl 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 [[spoiler: Radl's underling is told Canaris will protect he and his family from Radl's fate at Himmler's hands.]]

* HypercompetentSidekick: Captain Clark is this for Colonel Pitt. Unlike Pitt, he is not a GloryHound and actually does value diplomacy and tactical approaches. In the novel he was an combat-expierenced Ranger.

* MilesGloriosus: Colonel Pitt. He was never given any meaningful authority throughout the war, and it really shows.

Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/DonaldSutherland and Creator/RobertDuvall star as, respectively, the leader of the squad, their Irish nationalist liaison, and the German colonel in charge of masterminding the mission. Also in the cast are Creator/JennyAgutter, Creator/DonaldPleasence, Creator/JeanMarsh, Creator/TreatWilliams, and Creator/LarryHagman.

''The Eagle Has Landed'' is a 1976 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII film directed by John Sturges and [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the novel of the same name]] by Creator/JackHiggins, detailing a fictional plot to capture or kill UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill by a group of German commandos.

* CurbStompBattle: Inflicted by the hardened veteran German paratroopers upon the relatively inexpierenced American Rangers mainy due to the incompetence of Colonel Pitts.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The commandos' torpedo boat with Hans, Steiner's NumberTwo and the SoleSurvivor, is last shown beached with nothing else shown about him or the boat's skipper and crew.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The commandos' torpedo boat with Hans, Steiner's NumberTwo and the SoleSurvivor, is last shown washed ashore with nothing else shown about him or the boat's skipper and crew.

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Molly manages to avoid the Germans after they've taken the rest of the town captive and goes to Joanna for help. Joanna, who is actually a collaborator, asks her if anyone else knows about this before reaching for a pistol.

''The Eagle Has Landed'' is a 1976 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII film directed by John Sturges and [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the novel of the same name]] by Jack Higgins, detailing a fictional plot to capture or kill UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill by a group of German commandos.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: The German paratrooper Werner (alias Corporal Kuniski) in the book was BadassBookworm and TheSmartGuy of the BadassCrew, while in the movie he was the PluckyComicRelief of the platoon.