The Eiger Sanction

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climbrunride

Ice climber

Purgatory, CO

Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 23, 2011 - 08:40pm PT

So I'm just laying around the house having a lazy rest day and I see one of my favorite movies is on: The Eiger Sanction. If I'm not actually out climbing, I might as well be watching a great movie (that's kind of) about it.

Plus, it is the source of some great quotes:

Woman Journalist: Tell me, Mr. Bowman, in your opinion do these men climb to prove their manhood, or is it more a matter of compensating for inferiority feelings?
Ben Bowman: Lady, why don't you go get yourself screwed. It would do you a lot of good.

[Hemlock saves Meier from falling off the mountain]
Anderl Meier: You're very good. I have really enjoyed climbing with you.
Dr. Jonathan Hemlock: We'll make it.
Anderl Meier: I don't think so. But we shall continue with style.

And my favorite:

Ben Bowman: Wanna Beer?
Jonathan Hemlock: You gonna call room service?
Ben Bowman: We got beer.
Jonathan Hemlock: If you hauled beer up this rock you're insane!
Ben Bowman: I may be insane, but I'm not stupid. I didn't carry it, You did! It's in your pack.
Jonathan Hemlock: Christ, I outha throw you off this pillar! Besides, It's warm.
Ben Bowman: Sorry, just knew you'd draw the line at haulin' ice.

Acer

Big Wall climber

Jul 24, 2011 - 12:50am PT

I watch The Eiger Sanction all the time. Classic.

From the movie notes somewhere, George Kennedy got a helo ride to the top of the Totem Pole but Clint actually jugged the lines. Clint Eastwood did all of his own stunts for the flick.

Anyone want to sound off on climbing the Totem Pole?

Mark Powell, Jerry Gallwas, Don Wilson, Bill Feuerer (1957)
#5 Eric Bjørnstad
#6 Banditos
Todd Gordon & Dave Evans
Charlie Fowler & Alison Sheets 80s
Jim Bridwell
Charlie Fowler & Will Gadd and Kim Csyzmazia(2004)
John Middendorf
Acer

R.B.

Trad climber

47N 122W

Jul 24, 2011 - 12:53am PT

A Mike Hoover production, and a classic.

(Mike Hoover - "Solo" 1973?) anyone with any history?

rockermike

Trad climber

Berkeley

Jul 24, 2011 - 01:09am PT

The REAL Eiger Sanction thread....

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/565233/Eiger-Sanction

jstan

climber

Jul 24, 2011 - 01:13am PT

Talking about knowing the lines in movies – take a look at this.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-black-version-20110723,0,6273154.story

'The Black Version' of movies plays out at Groundlings Theatre
Imagine 'Grease' set in Compton and played for laughs. That and other films get an improv twist in the popular show.

The Black Version

By Jason Kehe, Special to the Los Angeles Times
July 23, 2011

All it takes to sell "The Black Version," the consistently overbooked comedy show now running at the Groundlings Theatre, is to state the concept: Audience members shout out titles of iconic movies, the director picks her favorite, and a cast of veteran black comics improvises, with scant regard for political correctness, the "black version" of it.

People start laughing in anticipation alone — "like we're winning before we even started," says cast member Keegan-Michael Key.

Consider their most recent show, a parody of "Grease." Don't expect the adolescent crooning and swooning of Danny and Sandy as they negotiate the all-American halls of Rydell High.

In the much cruder "black version," retitled "Sulfur-8" after a hair care product, Darrell and Shantell are Compton High students who share a meal of fried chicken and biscuits at a Popeyes and, over the course of their fraught courtship, encounter trigger-happy gang members, evil baby mommas and gun-toting golf caddies. All this while singing their own versions of the well-known songs. The title number becomes an R&B ode to Sulfur-8 — "only one thing make your hair taste so great," one cast member improvises, remarkably in tune as part of a respectable four-part harmony.

From the first show a year ago, "The Black Version" has been a winner for the Groundlings Theatre, drawing crowds creator Jordan Black says he never encountered during his seven years at the company (he left in 2007).

Part of the reason for its success might be the novelty of seeing seven black improvisers on the stage at one time. There isn't as much improv talent in the black comedy world, Black says, because most of the role models are stand-up comics like Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock.

Wayne Brady, who appeared on the old improv TV show "Whose Line Is it Anyway?," has been a special guest on two of the last 15 or so performances of "The Black Version," including "Grease."

"It's been one of my favorite live improv shows that I've been involved in a long time," Brady says, and he plans to do more.

The brainchild of Black — a running joke is that the show was named after him — the show began in 2007 as a series of Web shorts. Back then, Black and his friends, many of whom are now part of the show's regular cast, including Gary Anthony Williams ("Boston Legal"), Daniele Gaither ("Mad TV") and Phil LaMarr ("The Pee Wee Herman Show"), only parodied specific scenes, such as Meg Ryan's famous fake orgasm in "When Harry Met Sally."

When the opportunity presented itself, Black and director Karen Maruyama brought the show to the Groundlings, where it's been playing two or three times a month for the last year. Past movies have included "Back to Future," inevitably retitled "Black to the Future," and "Silence of the Lambs," better known as "Why You Eating People?" — and others such as "Star Wars," "Forrest Gump," "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Top Gun" and "E.T.," their first.

Once a movie is chosen, there's no time for brainstorming — Maruyama summons the comics to the stage, sets the scene, sometimes asks the audience for a suggestion or two, and then they begin.

To some, "The Black Version" might seem an endorsement of stereotypes — the ghetto-talking pimp, for instance — but Black sees it as, in some sense, freeing.

"There's no room for political correctness in art," he says. "These things exist, people talk about these things, but they talk about them behind closed doors. What we're doing is bringing them all out into the open, which is, I think, a big part of why the show is successful. It gives people a chance to relax about race for a second, because we don't talk about race, particularly in Los Angeles."

Black, who also teaches at Groundlings, has noticed that some of his black students "get onstage and don't want to be black." The fear, he says, might be rooted in a notion that playing to stereotypes unfairly represents black people.

"Instantly, you have people in the audience going, 'That's not us.' No, that's not you, but there are some people who behave that way and act that way, and that's the truth. It's OK to comment on that," Black says. "Not every white person acts like Jim Carrey, but he doesn't have to worry about representing his whole race. I refuse to worry about that."

Black and his cast take particular joy in luring audiences into certain racially familiar situations and then, in a flash, flipping them on their head, especially in the more open-ended second half of the show, in which the cast presents the would-be DVD extras of the black version they've just improvised, featuring Shakespeare, Stevie Wonder and Oprah Winfrey, among others.

Maruyama, the cast's Japanese American director who the cast has declared an "honorary" black, agrees that "The Black Version's" kind of comedy gives ethnic comics a certain freedom denied them in more traditional venues. She knows where to draw the line — sometimes an audience suggestion will border on racism — but she's normally too busy having fun to worry about offending people. A comic herself — like Black, she got her start at Groundlings, and also worked alongside Brady as a featured guest on "Whose Line?" — Maruyama has an ear for the funniest crowd suggestions. Don't shout out "Weekend at Bernie's" or "Kindergarten Cop," or you will be publicly shamed.

Everybody in the cast emphasizes the fun of putting on the show, saying that improvisation, though it might sound difficult, is no real work for trained professionals. Williams mourned the day he had to miss a performance for another job; Key calls it "one of the joys of my life."

Black is hoping to take "The Black Version" on tour, possibly to Las Vegas or New York, but is only "in talks" at the moment.

Williams has taken on the role of de facto publicist, and he has a marketing approach to new audiences. "If all of Los Angeles does not see this show," he says, "I will declare the entire place racist."

calendar@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Concerned citizen

Big Wall climber

Jul 24, 2011 - 10:46am PT

I agree with the comments citing the merits of the climbing footage.

Many years ago Eastwood was interviewed in the New York Times (or perhaps The New Yorker) regarding his great success as a film-maker, delivering so many movies within a reasonable budget. He commented on the self-discipline required of a director, because most of the big busts were movies that lost the attention of the audience by going on too long. This typically reflected self-indulgence by the director, dwelling on scenes or themes that were dear to him (I don't think any women directors were guilty, probably because producers and studios never gave them that chance in the first place!) but that did not connect with the viewer.

He offered as an example the scene where he had to cut the rope in order to swing into reach for rescue on the Eiger, based on the 1936 death of Toni Kurz. He spoke of how terrifying it was to execute the stunt, and how deeply he felt about the sequence. However, as much as that footage meant to him, he had to reduce it to no more than a few seconds to keep the film on pace. To my recollection, he described it to exemplify the toughest choice he had to make as a director.

Perhaps someone can find that interview and post it.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 24, 2011 - 11:49am PT

Jstan- Fascinating sidelight! I bet that would be some fun.

Mimi and I picked up a few classic press photos from the Eiger Santion recently...

aldude

climber

Monument Manor

Jul 24, 2011 - 01:34pm PT

In the german movie Nordwand the dangling lasts @ least 15 minutes......dramatic, but perhaps too long.....still a good pic!

climbrunride

Ice climber

Purgatory, CO

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2011 - 01:40am PT

Cool pics.

TrundleBum

Trad climber

Las Vegas

Jul 25, 2011 - 01:46am PT

Wasn't Haebler and Messner's speed ascent of the Nordwand a response to Hollywood wanting to pack up and go home after a death during filming?

Just some hype ^ I had heard in a previous life time?

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Jul 25, 2011 - 01:53am PT

Isn't that a Whillans [Ball Crusher] Sit Harness?

I loved the names of the characters:

Jemima Brown
Miles Mellough

But my favourite:

Anna Bidet

"She pronounced her first name with a dark vowel - 'Ah-na' "

Trevanian was an enigma. Only four novels I believe. Shibumi was excellent, great caving action.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Jul 25, 2011 - 02:07am PT

what's with that albino!?

James Doty

Trad climber

Phoenix, Az.

Jul 25, 2011 - 03:15am PT

I just watched it again for the first time unedited. It really is a stupid f*#king movie. I loved it.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 25, 2011 - 10:50am PT

"Go ahead, Make my day." really shoud have snuck in there somewhere. LOL

Rockin' Gal

Trad climber

Boulder

Jul 25, 2011 - 02:07pm PT

Watched it last night, free on demand. My favorite "climbing" movie. Love it when Clint is leading up a chimney on a toprope. Guess he did a lot of the actual climbing.
"North Face, of course."

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

Jul 25, 2011 - 03:28pm PT

what's with that albino!?

His full name was Yurassis Dragon.
Trevanian always had good character names.

James Doty

Trad climber

Phoenix, Az.

Jul 25, 2011 - 04:26pm PT

Yes those scenes LOOK like Clint is doing his own climbing. There are a couple sequences of distance shots of someone actually leading the big chimney. Anyone know who the climbing crew was? I think the Bird was on the rigging crew and it was a Hoover deal but who were the stunt climbers?

o-man

Social climber

Paia,Maui,HI

Jul 26, 2011 - 01:51am PT

Hoover was MR.Eastwood's stunt double in the desert scenes

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 3, 2011 - 09:16pm PT

Another action shot of Mr. Hemlock!

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Aug 3, 2011 - 10:30pm PT

Olaf,
that is the N face of the Landing.
Are you sure you are not confusing slides with the George Willig Wide World of Shorts attempt?

rich sims

Social climber

Aug 3, 2011 - 10:52pm PT

Any one know who the real climbers were for the Eiger climbing shoot?
I heard one real climber died when they dropped a bunch of fake rocks. Some real rocks were dislodged by the fake ones.

Stewart Johnson

climber

lake forest

Aug 4, 2011 - 12:22am PT

"tell me mr.bowman, in your opinion, do these men climb to prove their manhood, or is it more a matter of compensating for infieriority feelings?"

a great smile from ben and, "lady, why dont you go get yourself screwed, it might do you some good"

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 4, 2011 - 12:40am PT

That goes right along with "Hey kid,why don't you go f*#k a duck" as classic George Kennedy lines! LOL

Allen Hill

Social climber

CO.

Aug 4, 2011 - 12:45am PT

Off the top of my head Dougal Haston, Bev Clark, and Chic Scott where among the stunt climbers. The climber who died was Dave Knowles. It was the first day of the shoot. Most of the climbers came out of Leysin and worked for Haston at ISM.

Stewart Johnson

climber

lake forest

Aug 4, 2011 - 01:53am PT

how about heidi ? WOW!

Allen Hill

Social climber

CO.

Aug 4, 2011 - 01:56am PT

Chic told me that he had been next to Dave minutes before the accident. Had he not moved he would have also been killed. The studio hadn't taken out insurance for the climbers so his widow was left with nothing. They all had insurance the next day.

apogee

climber

Aug 4, 2011 - 02:07am PT

I love this flick.

ms55401

Trad climber

minneapolis, mn

Aug 4, 2011 - 02:15am PT

not just best climbing movie ever, but best movie ever

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

Aug 4, 2011 - 08:57am PT

It is the best climbing movie ever.

The shot of Clint running up Checkerboard Mesa in Zion pretty much makes my world.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 13, 2011 - 01:28pm PT

The last of the quality press photos...

Roll the credits...

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 13, 2011 - 01:46pm PT

Cheapy Stylee...methinks.

Bad Climber

climber

Aug 13, 2011 - 02:50pm PT

Thanks, Steve! Great shots from one of the all time great movies. Cheesy, silly, fun, exciting, gotta watch it again soon. I believe John Cleare worked on that, too. Gaston as well?

BAd

Allen Hill

Social climber

CO.

Aug 13, 2011 - 11:07pm PT

They picked up the helmut at the last minute for the desert scenes. They kept it for the Eiger scenes for continuity. At least that's the way Bev Clarke explained it to me.

Brandon-

climber

The Granite State.

Aug 13, 2011 - 11:16pm PT

I've got a pristine copy of Summit, 6/76, with the totem pole on the cover and an article about the filming of the movie. I'll scan and post it if anyone is interested.

Allen Hill

Social climber

CO.

Aug 13, 2011 - 11:28pm PT

Please do.

Brandon-

climber

The Granite State.

Aug 14, 2011 - 12:35am PT

Sorry, the pages are out of order. Too tired to care, I;ll fix it tomorrow.

JOEY.F

Gym climber

It's not rocket surgery

Aug 20, 2011 - 12:32am PT

Saw this 25(?) yrs ago, giving it another go, 45 minutes into it and waiting for something to happen.
Edit,
Just finished it. The climbing sequences were great. So were the aerial shots. I didn't know there was a death associated with the filming.
With respect.

TomCochrane

Trad climber

Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay

Aug 20, 2011 - 01:29am PT

i think Hoover lurks here sometimes, so perhaps will shed some light

our movie 'Solo' was the pilot that established the possibility of filming something like this

Hoover told me he was not very happy with the 'Hollywood' choice of a script

i had written another script with him that we were hoping to fund

we were trying to open up public awareness of Yosemite style climbing; not just produce another Hollywood drama with a climbing theme

Universal Studios VP of Production offered me funding for it, but again wanted to incorporate sex and violence dramas

however i bowed out of the enterprise and went to sea

Hoover was the stunt double for a lot of the shooting; and apparently became a close friend of Eastwood during this movie

i have long been convinced that the dead climber would have been me, if i had stayed with the project

Mick K

climber

Northern Sierra

Aug 20, 2011 - 02:11am PT

My buddy mikee and I just climbed that thing last week via the Mittilleggi ridge last week and I must say it is one very bad ass peak!

o-man

Social climber

Paia,Maui,HI

Aug 20, 2011 - 04:01am PT

QuoOlaf,
that is the N face of the Landing.
Are you sure you are not confusing slides with the George Willig Wide World of Shorts attempt? te Here

Ron, I am sure that is a photo of Mike Hoover.
He was Clint Eastwood's stunt double for the desert scenes in the "Eiger Sanction" His crew did a lot of the filming for that production.
BTW: Yes,that photo That I took of Hoover was on an entirely different project.

Bill Sherman

Mountain climber

Culver City, CA

Aug 20, 2011 - 05:37am PT

An all time classic film. Mick, the SW face was pretty gnarly during my solo attempt in November 2007. I backed down 1/3'rd of the way up. Everything was angled down and covered in verglas.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 4, 2013 - 03:35pm PT

Eiger Bump...

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Feb 17, 2017 - 03:16pm PT

Hemlock Bump...

clode

Trad climber

portland, or

Feb 17, 2017 - 03:40pm PT

Hemlock: "You don't have to do everything he says. Here's your chance to get even with the white man".
George: "".

Mellough: "And what's your name?"
Buns: "Buns".
Mellough: "Of course".

Hemlock: "Now go home and study your buns off> On second thought, don't bother".
Student: "".

Hemlock: "Here, take your coat. Who's gonna recognize you without your disguise?"
Pope: "".

Fritz

Social climber

Choss Creek, ID

Feb 17, 2017 - 09:57pm PT

During Clint's desert warmup regimen, I thought his trainer "George" added some fun.

Bad Climber

Trad climber

The Lawless Border Regions

Feb 18, 2017 - 07:00am PT

What a gorgeous woman. Great runner, too. She's pretty mean with a syringe, however, so watch yourself.

BAd

Trad climber

Calgary

Feb 18, 2017 - 07:34am PT

Further to the story about Chic Scott and Dave Knowles. They were standing on the ledge and Chic had one of those mountaineer's intuition moments. He didn't feel comfortable standing there so he split. Shortly thereafter Dave was dead.

climber

I'm a Norwegian stuck in Joshua Tree

Feb 18, 2017 - 12:28pm PT

My favorite quote from this movie is from Dr. Hemlocks visit with Dragon:

"Does your physical disability preclude you from coming to the point?"

Flip Flop

climber

Earth Planet, Universe

Feb 18, 2017 - 12:35pm PT

Mellough "I didn't actually kill him."
Hemlock "I probably won't actually kill you."

Bad Climber

Trad climber

The Lawless Border Regions

Feb 18, 2017 - 02:01pm PT

I used a line with a young climbing partner after I--the soon to be retired college instructor--was able to flash a 10d (pretty good for moi):

Ben: "You're climbing pretty good for an elderly college professor."

I said: "Pretty good for an elderly college professor, eh?" A little Canadian twist at the end never hurts.

BAd

Trad climber

Calgary

Feb 18, 2017 - 02:45pm PT

Favorite line.
"I don't think we will make it but we shall continue with style"

SilverSnurfer

Mountain climber

SLC, UT.

Feb 18, 2017 - 03:03pm PT

"'Look, you better get up there before he panics, those pins are loose..'
'You're very good, I have really enjoyed climbing with you.'
'We'll make it..'
'I don't think so, but we shall continue with style..'"

Flip Flop

climber

Earth Planet, Universe

Feb 18, 2017 - 04:30pm PT

Sorry for this, Hemlock. But twice a year my blood must be fully replaced.

- With what?

BASE104

Social climber

An Oil Field

Feb 18, 2017 - 05:05pm PT

The book has even more great lines.

We had a lot of fun with them when we were kids, learning on our own how to climb. We had the book memorized for the hilarious lines.

That was way before DVD players. Hell, I think it was well before cable TV. So we had seen the movie maybe once.

Damn. I'm old.