Where Eagles Dare/Operation Crossbow FSM Soundtrack

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy"! The 1968 WWII film Where Eagles Dare is the model of a no-nonsense military adventure, with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood leading an Allied rescue mission into an impregnable German fortress high atop a mountain. Scripted by Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra), who provides gripping plot twists, the film has become a virtual institution in Britain, beloved for its straight-faced depiction of machine-gun-wielding good guys blowing up everything in sight.

Composer Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) was an equally beloved British composer who contributed a number of popular scores, such as Of Human Bondage (1964), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), and four Miss Marple films. But Goodwin was best-known for his war efforts, such as 633 Squadron (1963) and Battle of Britain (1969), of which Where Eagles Dare was unusual in that it eschewed major-key pomp in favor of gritty, minor-mode determination. The title music embodies the single-minded ambition of the protagonists to infiltrate the mountain fortress and complete their mission, and becomes the basis for the entire score, which is full of hard-nosed suspense and pounding symphonic action.

This release also features another of Goodwin's WWII scores, for Operation Crossbow, the 1965 procedural adventure about German efforts to develop long-range rocket weapons, and the Allied mission to counter them. George Peppard stars as an American agent going undercover, with Sophia Loren top-billed in a brief appearance as a beleaguered widow, and a large multinational cast (including Richard Johnson, Patrick Wymark, John Mills, Trevor Howard, Barbara Rueting, Paul Henreid, Jeremy Kemp and Tom Courtenay) speaking their native languages with subtitles -- rare for the period.

Goodwin's score to Operation Crossbow features a main theme more in line with his work on the genre -- evoking optimistic British patriotism -- with churning, dynamic music for the German war efforts, and flavorful suspense for the unfolding mission. The lengthy interlude with Loren features sympathetic, melodic music for the woman's allure -- rare, romantic work for the genre, and a highlight of the release.

The complete underscore to Where Eagles Dare comprises disc one of this release -- the first-ever release of the film soundtrack, as the LP was a re-recording. This has been newly mixed and mastered from 1/2" three-track tapes in the Turner archives. The score to Operation Crossbow can be found on disc two (complete except for one short cue); this part of the album has been mastered from 1/4" two-track tapes possessed by the composer, as studio masters no longer exist. Complete source music from Where Eagles Dare -- plus earlier, alternate versions of the Eagles cable car cues -- rounds out disc two. The entire release is in stereo.