Valley of Eagles

A below par British action thriller. I use both words in their broadest terms as what is supposed to be a chase across the Finish mountains turns into a nature film on the lives of the Laplanders for a large length of the film.

The lead characters deliver their lines so woodenly that if you closed your eyes they could be reading out loud from a drawing room in Hampstead Heath, so any attempt at pace is lost, not that there was much of an attempt in the first place.

If anything you have to sympathise with one of the villains, on the grounds that they want to 'get away from it all'.

Only worth while if it is on TV on a wet afternoon, when it is marginally better than watching rain hitting the window.

The Cold War was seldom chillier than this travelogue set in Lapland that begins with wintry location work in Stockholm (were we encounter Isak Borg's mother, Naima Wifstrund, and Gösta Cederlund, who had recently featured in Bergman's own Cold War drama, 'This Can't Happen Here'), before hero John McCallum and copper Jack Warner set off it hot pursuit of the film's 'MacGuffin': rectifiers & condensers for a device for converting sound waves into enough energy to light an entire city or (if the Baddies get their way) level them.

But this is just a pretext for a chase thriller framed around footage of reindeer, wolves and an avalanche with the Swedish actors dubbed into English and most of the rest shot back at Pinewood (which is presumably where the scenes featuring Christopher Lee & Euan Solon as a grim-faced pair of detectives were shot). Director Terence Young was reunited a few years later with villain Anthony Dawson on 'Dr No'.

Valley of Eagles recently came on BBC2 one afternoon so I set the video and was certainly pleased I did.

A scientist who has invented a machine that can convert sound waves into electrical energy has this stolen by his wife and assistant and this results in a chase across the frozen wastes of Lapland. The scientist teams up with a copper and they join a party who is transporting reindeer the same route. They face many dangers on the way: blizzards, a pack of hungry wolves and avalanches. A lot of the wolves are killed by some eagles that Laplanders use for killing instead of guns to reduce the risk of an avalanche which would result in their village being destroyed. The scientist catches up with his wife and assistant and escape and once the assistant stars shooting a gun, this results in an avalanche and both are killed but the village is safe. The scientist also finds a new love at the end.

Valley of Eagles contains some fantastic scenery in Lapland and has a good score too. Animal lovers probably won't enjoy this though. The snow scenes remind me of the Wilderness Family movies.

The cast includes Jack Warner (Dixon of Dock Green, The Quatermass Xperiment), John McCallum, Anthony Dawson and Nadia Gray. Horror legend Christopher Lee (Dracula) has a small part as a copper.

Valley of Eagles is certainly worth seeing, just for that scenery. Excellent.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

This is a hugely enjoyable and surprising film. It starts out as a standard post-war spy thing with a Swedish scientist (John McCallum) inventing some thingy that turns sound to light (or whatever). It's stolen by his wife and his best friend. He ends up with the police where a copper (Jack Warner) doesn't seem terribly interested or efficient. But after a few false starts, they learn the pair of thieves is on the run with the gizmo to Finland where they plan to sell it to the Russians. McCallum and Warner take chase. And this is when the film takes off as well. The culprits have chosen to take a northern route across the frozen north, so the good guys join up with a group of reindeer herders since there are no roads. The herders will guide them across the frozen expanse of Lapland. Among the herders is the fetching Nadia Gay.

The trek is difficult. The reindeer are contrary. And they're being followed by a pack of wolves. from this point on there's one surprise after another until they get to the valley of the eagles. The ending is a tad abrupt, but it's a hell of an adventure.

VALLEY OF EAGLES starts off as a typical and oh-so-British spy thriller, with a scientist inventing a new type of machine that will serve mankind. Before long his secrets are stolen after he's betrayed by his own wife and assistant, so he must give chase. Where the film differs from the ordinary thriller template is that the action shifts to the snowbound locales of Sweden and an outdoor adventure follows.

Be warned: if you're an animal lover, you'll probably hate this film. Adventures undertaken by the central characters include encounters with reindeer, wolves, and eagles, and plenty of the poor beasts are executed or killed by the time the credits roll. However, the stark black and white photography is a nice match for the icy backdrop, and the film looks great at least. There's even some not-bad avalanche footage achieved on what is obviously a low budget. Watch out for Christopher Lee's cameo as a detective.