History Film / TheEigerSanction

* BrokenPedestal: Jemina is a WideEyedIdealist who is shaken to discover that her superior officer is an ex-Nazi and that he and Pope set Baq up to be killed and aren't the least bit remorseful about it.

While Hemlock enlists his former climbing partner, Ben Bowman (Creator/GeorgeKennedy), to help get him in shape for the climb, he soon finds himself in the sights of Miles Mellough (Jack Cassidy), another old war buddy turned DoubleAgent. And, should he survive this, Hemlock still has to confront an unknown killer on the deadly mountain itself.

* MsFanservice: [[CuteMute George]] in her shorts and BareYourMidriff shirt turns out to be GoingCommando when she strips off for Hemlock. She previously had gone topless to keep him climbing too (which showed her with no bra).

* TiredOfRunning: This is why Miles approaches Hemlock with a deal--he's tired of looking over his shoulder for him, in constant fear that Hemlock was coming to avenge his old betrayal.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: During a previous climbing expedition, Meyer caught a porter stealing food and stabbed him to detain the resulting fight.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: [[spoiler:When Hemlock is the SoleSurvivor of the expedition, Dragon assumes that he decided to KillThemAll and MakeItLookLikeAnAccident, and congratulates Hemlock on this "extravagant but effective" solution. Meanwhile Hemlock has discovered that Ben was the second target, but as Ben saved his life Hemlock just plays along with Dragon's assumption, though when Jemima asks if the climbers really did die accidentally he avoids the question.]]

While Hemlock enlists his former climbing partner, Ben Bowman (Creator/GeorgeKennedy), to help get him in shape for the climb, he soon finds himself in the sights of Miles Mellough (Jack Cassidy), another old war buddy turned DoubleAgent. And, should he even survive this, Hemlock still has to confront an unknown killer on the deadly mountain itself.

* MsFanservice: [[CuteMute George]] in her [[WhoWearsShortShorts shorts]] and BareYourMidriff shirt turns out to be GoingCommando when she strips off for Hemlock. She previously had gone topless to keep him climbing too (which showed her with no bra).

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Clint Eastwood mentioned in an interview that during filming he would have to dangle off the side of a cliff upside down with a rope tied to his leg. [[NoStuntDouble Eastwood insisted on doing the stunt himself]], because he wanted the camera to zoom in on his face to show that it actually was him. Later, he snuck into a screening of the film to gauge the audience reaction, and most of them thought that the scene was done with special effects.

%%* MadLibThrillerTitle

-->'''Dragon:''' Good luck Hemlock, on your latest assignment. The Eiger Sanction.

-->'''Hemlock:''' By now, she must be very anxious to see you climb the mountain.

Art professor Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood) is a [[RetiredBadass retired government assassin]] who gets coerced into doing OneLastJob for his former employer [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction C2]]: the [[DeadlyEuphemism sanctioning]] of the two enemy agents responsible for the murder of Agent Wormwood (actually Henri Baq, an old war buddy of Hemlock's). While one agent is known and quickly dispatched by Hemlock, the only thing known about the second agent is that he will be on an expedition to climb the notorious north face of the Eiger in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} Swiss Alps]].

Hemlock enlists his former climbing partner Ben Bowman (Creator/GeorgeKennedy) to get him in shape for the climb, but soon finds himself in the sights of Miles Mellough (Jack Cassidy), another old war buddy turned DoubleAgent. And even should he survive this, Hemlock still has to confront an unknown killer on the deadly mountain itself.

A 1975 thriller directed by, and starring, Creator/ClintEastwood, based on [[Literature/TheEigerSanction the novel]] by Trevanian, with the script adapted by Warren Murphy, co-creator of ''Literature/TheDestroyer'' series.

Art professor Jonathan Hemlock (Creator/ClintEastwood) is a [[RetiredBadass retired government assassin]] who is coerced into doing OneLastJob for his former employer [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction C2]], the [[DeadlyEuphemism sanctioning]] of the two enemy agents responsible for the murder of Agent Wormwood (actually Henri Baq, an old war buddy of Hemlock's). While one agent is known and quickly dispatched by Hemlock, the only thing known about the second agent is that he will be on an expedition to climb the notorious North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. Hemlock enlists his former climbing partner Ben Bowman (Creator/GeorgeKennedy) to get him in shape for the climb, but finds himself in the sights of Miles Mellough, another old war buddy turned DoubleAgent. And even should he survive this, Hemlock still has to confront an unknown killer on the deadly mountain itself.

* MixedAncestry: George is a woman of color [[spoiler:whose father turns out to be Ben, who's white.]]

'''Hemlock:''' Yeah, I see a difference. As long as we have Dragons and Popes working for us, [[NotSoDifferent how bad can the other side be?]]

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It's hard to believe that the openly-homosexual Miles Mellough would be accepted in the US Special Forces in the 1970's, or that he would be as easily shocked by violence as he appears after serving in the Vietnam War.