Remembering The Eagle has Landed
Back in 2012 I was doing a cinematic advent calendar and on the 7th December 2012 I posted about The Eagle has Landed.
There are quite a few films in that advent calendar that have significant memories over and above the film itself. With The Eagle has Landed I went to see it at the Aldeburgh cinema with my grandparents. Looking back I was seven (maybe eight) when I went to see it, which when you consider the current certification of 15 was way too young! What I do remember was that whenever there was a scene with blood, my grandparents would say to me, that’s tomato ketchup! I think because I saw that film at that cinema that it is one of my favourite films and in that list.
The film was set in Norfolk and partially in the Channel Islands. However, the filming of the Channel Islands and coastal scenes was mainly filmed in Cornwall. The majority of the film was in and around the fictional village of Studley Constable, these scenes were filmed in the village of Mapledurham in Oxfordshire.
In March 2014 I was driving from Oxford to Reading, and having watched the film recently and checking out IMDB for the filming locations, I realised that Mapledurham was on the way. So I set the sat nav and drove to the village. It was easy to find and I drove down to the Manor House.
I think what surprised me was how little the village had changed in the last forty years.
It still looked very much as it did in the film.
During the filming mock buildings such as shops and a pub were constructed on site in Mapledurham while interiors were filmed at Twickenham Studios.
They had added a waterwheel to the mill for filming, but apart from that it was very familiar.
I didn’t spend too long looking around, as I didn’t have enough cash for the parking meter, and I had meetings to go to.
Stuff: Top Ten Blog Posts 2018
Over the last twelve months I have published 89 posts.
The tenth most popular post on my personal blog was Cinematic Advent Calendar #07 – The Eagle has Landed.
In at number nine, is one of a few posts about the harbourside in Bristol, Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Five
Eighth most popular post, was about how Trenchard Street in Bristol had changed from the 1970s to today.
At number seven, was a post about the Bryan Brothers’ Garage Demolition, Bristol, in 1999.
The sixth most popular post was about A nice clean new shiny Millennium Falcon as would be seen in the Solo: Star Wars Story film.
The post at number five was a post containing photographs from the harbourside in Bristol. Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s
Fourth most popular post was Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Three. This was another post containing photographs from the harbourside in Bristol.
Post at number three, Changes at the railway station, was how things have changed at Weston-super-Mare railway station.
Second most popular post was some photographs from the Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s
The most popular blog post this year was Cinematic Advent Calendar #05 – Leon.
Stuff: Top Ten Blog Posts 2016
Across this blog I wrote fifteen posts in 2016. As might not be expected most of the top ten posts that year were from 2016, and I was pleased to see how popular my 1990s photographs of the Bristol Harbourside were.
I visited Legoland in 2013 and felt that it was A bit tired and this was the tenth most popular post, dropping one place from last year.
Also about Legoland Miniland was the ninth post.
The eighth post was about Time travelling by train which was a post on the newly painted GWR High Speed Train in the classic 1970s blue and yellow.
The seventh popular post was inspired by a newspaper article and talked about the many Changes at the railway station in Weston-super-Mare.
The sixth placed post was from my 2012 series of Cinematic Advent Calendar posts, this one was #07 – The Eagle has Landed. There were quite a few films in the advent calendar that have significant memories over and above the film itself. Queuing for Star Wars was significant for example. With The Eagle has Landed I went to see it at the Aldeburgh cinema with my grandparents.
When I used film, I didn’t take than many photographs, but I did take a fair few of the Bristol Harbourside, so the fifth post was of the Bryan Brothers’ Garage Demolition, Bristol, circa 1999.
Three of the next four posts were similar and all contain photographs from the Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s.
Fourth was this post Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s and third was this one: Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s (second part).
The second most popular post was a comparison of Trenchard Street, Bristol, circa 1970s and the view today.
The most popular post of the year on the Stuff blog was a series of photographs of Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s.
So quite a few posts from 2016 in the 2016 top ten.
Cinematic Advent Calendar #07 – The Eagle has Landed
There are quite a few films in this advent calendar that have significant memories over and above the film itself. Queuing for Star Wars was significant for example. With The Eagle has Landed I went to see it at the Aldeburgh cinema with my grandparents.
Looking back I was seven (maybe eight) when I went to see it, which when you consider the current certification of 15 was way too young! What I do remember was that whenever there was a scene with blood, my grandparents would say to me, that’s tomato ketchup! I think because I saw this film at the cinema that it is one of my favourite films and in this list.
The film covers an attack by German paratroopers on Winston Churchill. From the initial planning of the attack this film is a fast paced adventure.
There is a great cast, Michael Caine plays the lead role Colonel Steiner, and Donald Sutherland is perfect as the smooth talking Devlin.
I remember reading the book many years later, this as you may expect has much more detail than the film. What I did like about the book was the way in which it was written as though it was based on true accounts.
Unlike some other films of that era, I think this still stands up and is an enjoyable film despite the age.
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