This is the first WW2 action flick that MGM put Clint in to capitalize on his fame after the Leone westerns, and it's a pretty good flick. Burton was a fan of "The Guns of Navarone" and wanted to make a film that was in the same vein, to the point of hiring the author, Alistair MacLean, to pen the screenplay. The director, Brian G. Hutton, would go on to direct Clint in "Kelly's Heroes" in 1970 - the second WW2 flick MGM cast Clint in. "Where Eagles Dare" was released by MGM in 1968.