Broadsword calling Danny Boy

I have been to Austria for a few days, mainly to the Salzkammergut. I have, as this post's title would indicate, been to the castle which features as Schloss Adler in 'Where Eagles Dare'. In anticipation of this I bought a cheap, second-hand DVD and a couple of days before I flew out, after putting it off several times, forced myself to watch it. I would first have seen the film when I was thirteen and seem to remember enjoying it enormously. However, not surprisingly my tastes have changed in the intervening decades and this time round I had to give up 45 minutes in. According to the ever-reliable interweb the film - supposedly referred to by Clint Eastwood as 'Where Doubles Dare' - came about because Richard Burton was getting divorced and, needing some money quickly, persuaded Alistair MacLean to knock something up in a couple of weeks; frankly I'm surprised it took him that long.

The view from the bell tower

Burg Hohenwerfen can also apparently be seen in a much better film, briefly appearing in the background of one of the shots during 'Do Re Mi' in the 'Sound of Music'. The tour guide who told me this went on to complain that the various locations during that sequence were many kilometres apart and that it was physically impossible for the von Trapp family to have got from one to the other while singing the song. I took advantage of the ride up to the castle in the funicular railway to teach her the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic film music. In return I learned that Austrians use a different facial expression from us when showing interest and gratitude. Anyway, mentioning the funicular obviously draws attention to the fact that there are no cable cars. Hollywood lied to us; who'd have thought it?