Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 51 of total 51 in this topic |
middle joe
Trad climber
OC
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 29, 2013 - 02:30pm PT
|
Can anyone Identify the climbers in this pic working with Clint on the filming of the Eiger Sanction?
|
|
weezy
climber
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 02:47pm PT
|
mike hoover on the left. probably peter pilafian on the right.
|
|
middle joe
Trad climber
OC
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 29, 2013 - 02:51pm PT
|
Thanx. Do you know how they got hired for the gig? Are they on taco?
|
|
weezy
climber
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 02:57pm PT
|
doubt either of them post here. i'm not sure about how he got the gig but i bet someone who posts here could tell you, probably werner.
|
|
Al_Smith
climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 04:00pm PT
|
Mike Hoover was the liason for Universal Studios.
He hired Eric Bjornstad to climb the Totem Pole. Bjornstad hired Ken Wyrick to join him on the ascent.
The ascent was approved by the Navajo after EB and KW agreed to remove the pitons/fixed gear during their ascent to return the rock to its 'original state.'
I can't tell from your photo who those climbers are. Although I'd assume is EB and KW.
George Kennedy was deposited on the summit via Helicopter.
The below is a great link to all the locations in the film.
http://mitteleuropa.x10.mx/filmlocations_eiger_sanction.html
|
|
Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 05:20pm PT
|
Wow, that is an awesome web site with those locations... but man, someone had a heck of a lot of time on his/her hands!
Eric
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 05:30pm PT
|
Martin Boysen was Clint's double.
|
|
Al_Smith
climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 05:50pm PT
|
Eric - My thoughts exactly. That person arguably must have enjoyed the film even more than I do (which says something!). I was pretty shocked at the level of detail.
Grindewald and Zion are two of my favorite places on the planet. Watching the film brings me back to both and seeing it again and again just never gets old.
That said...whoever made that site might have some serious OCD issues...
The point-of-view satellite images to zero in on some of the more obscure locations is seriously interesting work...
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 07:19pm PT
|
Wow!
Somebody was obsessed!
Interesting. (BTW I didn't name Cerberus Gendarme until 1977)
"I do not think so, but we will continue with style!"
|
|
Mark Not-circlehead
climber
Martinez, CA
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 07:48pm PT
|
Best climbing movie of all time.
|
|
Barbarian
climber
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 07:53pm PT
|
Not "Banner in the Sky"?
How many times have I used that continue with style line.....?
|
|
jabbas
Trad climber
New River, AZ
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 07:57pm PT
|
PHD style research, but we all know it's OCD -- stunning menagerie of a microscopic view of the film.
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 09:56pm PT
|
The movie 'Solo' about my 1960s solo climbing career was the pilot film that inspired funding to be allocated at United Artists for the 'Eiger Sanction'. Note the pack that Eastwood carries throughout the movie is the same we used for 'Solo'. (Still have mine in the closet).
I was introduced to Mike Hoover as a classmate at Occidental College (where Joe Fitchen was my friend and fellow student). Mike was a talented athlete. I got him interested in climbing and taught him to climb, on the campus buildings and Stony Point and Tahquitz. I understand the school basketball coach was extremely unhappy with me for that. I also taught several other classmates and friends, particularly Jeff Schoolfield, who was an amazing gymnast and also worked as a Cobra race mechanic for Carol Shelby.
I took Mike to some of my favorite climbing areas where I had done first solo ascents and taught him to climb; Yosemite, Tetons, and Bugaboos.
During an outing at Stony Point, Mike and Jeff and I came up with the idea of doing a movie about rock climbing. I was the only experienced climber involved with filming 'Solo'. We learned film making together and I taught them to climb, and eventually carried a 16mm movie camera everywhere we climbed.
Dave Adams at Pyramid films was persuaded to provide us with cartons of expensive Kodak film, which was well beyond our means. When Dave liked what we brought back from the mountains, he would give us another box of film. Initially all the hard climbing was done by me filmed by Mike or Jeff. But as Mike improved, he stole the limelight, and little of the footage of me escaped the editing bin. I filmed him climbing, with one or another friend along to provide him a hidden belayer. I was usually soloing nearby with heavy camera gear.
Eventually Dave Adams assigned us a talented young film editor for the overwhelming task of trying to make a movie out of a big bin full of uncoordinated film. Tim Huntley was the one who really made a movie out of the mess, occasionally begging us to go back to some weird place for a pick-up shot so camera angles wouldn't completely clash in the edit.
At the time 'Solo' was released I happened to know a famous jazz musician who introduced me to the UA VP of Production. I went in alone and screened 'Solo' for the UA VP and he immediately offered me $1.2M funding for a feature film based upon it. However he also recommended I make the film as an independent to avoid the 'Hollywood sex and violence flavor' and preserve the artistic approach of 'Solo'. I had already written a screen play for a feature film called 'Up' that built upon my experiences in Camp 4 and Yosemite.
Mike and I went back to UA together and approached Clint Eastwood's office. I was a fan of Trevanian's books and mentioned the Eiger Sanction novel.
Mike and I had a falling out around this time, but a minor awkwardness was my still owning rights to the 'Up' screen play registered at the Screen Writers Guild.
Mike redid the credits for 'Solo' assigning me little credit. Then he made a film called 'How Solo was Made' that makes no mention of me and assigns all the climbing glory to himself...
I went on to other things in life with few regrets. Mike went on to build a career in film making. All the best to him...
|
|
Allen Hill
Social climber
CO.
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 10:10pm PT
|
|
|
Fogarty
climber
BITD
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:04pm PT
|
Tom, I thank you for your share of the film solo. I remember in 1977 watching this great film, at the time I had climbed in Josh for the first time in 1976. This film along with the vertical world of Yousmite shaped my whole life and for that I thank you.
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:05pm PT
|
hey there say, all... very interesting, thank you for sharing...
:)
|
|
middle joe
Trad climber
OC
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 30, 2013 - 04:59pm PT
|
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Great back-ground story.
|
|
Evel
Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 05:26pm PT
|
SOLO Man I bet I've seen that thing 50 times! It played for years at the old Seneca Rocks visitor center. Standard rainy day fare. The frog in the pocket still cracks me up!
|
|
Double D
climber
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 08:10pm PT
|
Wow, interesting read Tom... thanks for posting.
|
|
Onewhowalksonrocks
Mountain climber
In the middle of the ocean
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 09:15pm PT
|
REALLY!
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
socal
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 09:22pm PT
|
George Kennedy was deposited on the summit via Helicopter.
So how did Clint get there? Did he jug/top rope? Or was he placed by chopper as well?
The climbing scenes were well executed. Cheers to the folks that made this movie work.
Loved Eastwood in the baby blue construction hard hat while the others wore Joe Browns (?)
It would be interesting to read more insights from those involved in filming this.
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 09:32pm PT
|
the frog was the frog's idea...i've written about that elsewhere on ST
that was filmed on the south face of Little John at the base of El Cap
when i first did that route years earlier, there was a little frog that preceded me up the crack until the crack widened and he went back deep inside to a little rain puddle
...we probably made a dozen tries with each of a dozen frogs to get that simple shot...as each frog repeatedly jumped out over Mike's shoulder and sailed down to the boulders at the base...
"Hey Kenji, are there any more frogs down there?!"
(strong Japanese accent) "Yes! All alright!"
Jeff and Ken Misoguchi were belaying and picking up frogs and putting them back into the aquarium...and sending up a jar on a haul line with the next star candidate...who were all recruited at the Laguna Beach Pet Store...
It would be great to do a remake of the Eiger Sanction, I've worked on lots of movies, but never a climbing movie ironically.
I also wrote a screen play about Camp 4, but it never got picked up.
Seems like people are really more interested in comic books and vampires anyway.
an intriguing idea and with interesting possible implications giving people everything they think they want and more...i've been wandering back into filming lately and we have a couple of Red cameras set up in the living room...let's talk about it...
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 09:53pm PT
|
So,.. whatever happened to the frog?
A modern Eiger Sanction would really need a winter ascent given the melt off that has occurred.
|
|
TradEddie
Trad climber
Philadelphia, PA
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:11pm PT
|
Best climbing movie of all time. Apart from "Nordwand", that is.
TE
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:13pm PT
|
we used over a dozen frogs in 'Solo', living in an aquarium at our house in Flintridge
by the end of the movie they had mostly escaped into various nooks and crannies of Yosemite...
you've probably heard their descendents singing at night...acclaiming the fame of their ancestors...
if you'll notice, most of the filming for 'Eiger Sanction' was done on the lower reaches of the mountain, except for the required vertigo shots from the railroad tunnel...paraphrasing the Tony Kurz story in The White Spider book...
Jeff Lowe's film-in-progress 'Metanoia' about his solo winter first ascent on the Eiger takes a serious look at the climbing challenges with Uli Steck high on the mountain in some spectacular shots
Jeff's Metanoia route is rather close to the mythological route proposed in the 'Eiger Sanction' movie...perhaps he could be persuaded to sell some outtakes for the remake...sort of like the submarine shared between 'Das Boat' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:26pm PT
|
To film the frog one must use the ice trick.
Put the frog on ice.
Just before you need the the frog in the shot take it off the ice.
Frog just sits there and drools.
As it warms up then it jumps.
Heh heh.
We used this trick on the lizards too .....
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:28pm PT
|
I've done Totem Pole twice.
One time I landed on top by helicopter for Canon comercial.
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:32pm PT
|
To film the frog one must use the ice trick.
Put the frog on ice.
Just before you need the the frog in the shot take off ice.
Frog just sits there and drools.
As it warms up then it jumps.
Heh heh.
We used this trick on the lizards .....
i bow to your superior wisdom (not sure we could afford to buy ice back then)
i wonder if that would work when we want to film you some time...
although i can attest from personal observation that it certainly didn't work on Coz after sharing a cold wet night with him and Walt on Camp Six of the Nose
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:44pm PT
|
Tom
When we had lizards on ice Hoover said they look too cold almost frozen.
"We need to warm them up" he said.
So we took the lid off the small ice chest and left them at the base.
We're up there about 100 feet filming when suddenly Hoover calls for the lizards.
I think he sent Bill Russel to get a couple of lizards and bring em up.
I look down and Bill is chasing these lizards around down there, LOL.
We forgot about them and they got too warm and all escaped and ran away. Hahaha
I think we captured a couple of them and still got the money shot.
It was too funny ......
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 11:27pm PT
|
Thanks to Tom---and all that posted.
I was astounded to be reminded, in the long Movie link thread, an image appears of my old friend, British Climber/photographer John Cleare, who worked on the Eiger film crew, and also got a bit part as an obnoxious British tourist.
John Cleare, one of the two climbing cameramen, played the part of the English tourist. An Australian woman who was the nurse on the crew played his wife, with George Kennedy at the telescope, watching Eiger climbers.
|
|
moacman
Trad climber
Montuckyian Via Canada Eh!
|
|
|
Apr 30, 2013 - 11:36pm PT
|
The Eiger Sanction also had a few climbers worthy of mention that helped with the film....Chic Scott, Hamish Mcinnes, Norman Dhyrenfurth and Dougal Haston...Just thought I'd throw that in for a bump....
Stevo
|
|
Mark Not-circlehead
climber
Martinez, CA
|
|
Hey Coz,
Ever consider a independent film for your C4 screenplay? I've been considering it for years, with another collaborator. PM me if interested in discussing.
|
|
jopay
climber
so.il
|
|
Speaking of films why oh why didn't someone make a film based on Jeff Long's "Angels of Light".
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
Boy, that'd be a real cliffhanger.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
^^^
Hilarious...!
The back story on all that would be an interesting tale...seems like it dragged out for a long while...
|
|
middle joe
Trad climber
OC
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2013 - 02:52pm PT
|
I'd only seen the edited for TV version before last night. Watched the "R" version and really enjoyed the silent trainer George. There are a few "Opps's" in the movie, like Clint moving from lead to top rope during the same conversation, but overall pretty realistic for the time..
|
|
Oscar
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
|
|
I think Messner and Habler had something to do with Eiger Sanction. Am I right?
|
|
geiger
Trad climber
Doylestown pa
|
|
Solo was my the first climbing flick I saw. I used it in my classroom to talk about personal accomplishments and goals - a good reason for me to keep watching it. Eiger Sanction next became my climbing flick of all times. No need for a remake! It is a classic unto itself. Did Mike Hoover help do some rigging for one of the river movies with Meryl Streep?
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
Did Mike Hoover help do some rigging for one of the river movies with Meryl Streep?
Mike doesn't rig.
He hires riggers to do it for him. I did for him for 20 some years.
He's a camera man, director and producer.
|
|
TripCheq
Mountain climber
Pennsylvania
|
|
"I think Messner and Habler had something to do with Eiger Sanction. Am I right? "
They are in a photo in the locations link. Near the bottom of the page, there is a photo labeled: Clint Eastwood and some of the Cast outside the Hotel Bellevue des Alps." Reinhold is next to Clint and Peter is on the right. Dougal Haston is behind...man there are some worthies in that photo!
|
|
bookie
climber
|
|
|
May 10, 2013 - 02:59am PT
|
Messner and Habeler had been waiting all that summer for a break in the weather to do a speed climb on the Eiger. When the day arrived, Messner's wife Uschi drove them to Grindenwald in his VW. They did the climb in 12 hours, and were down at Kleine Scheidegg about lunch time. The film crew was there so their photo was taken all together and appears in Habeler's book Lonely Victory.
I just saw another stealth climbing classic on TV tonight, Elvis Presley in Fun in Acapulco, one of his musicals, released in 1963, 5 days after JFK was shot, and which became the biggest grossing movie musical that year.
There is a scene where "Elvis" free solos a real but not too steep cliff from the beach, maybe one long pitch. The stunt-man was obviously a graceful, experienced rock climber. The scene was shot at a distance, so you can't see his face, and all he was wearing was a bathing suit and shoes, as was Elvis in his closeups. The climber double is not listed in the credits either on Wikipedia or IMDB. Does anybody know who it was? And where it is, as Elvis himself never went to Mexico in the making of the movie!
|
|
duncan
climber
London, UK
|
|
|
May 10, 2013 - 03:27am PT
|
"I think Messner and Habler had something to do with Eiger Sanction. Am I right? "
They are in a photo in the locations link. Near the bottom of the page, there is a photo labeled: Clint Eastwood and some of the Cast outside the Hotel Bellevue des Alps." Reinhold is next to Clint and Peter is on the right. Dougal Haston is behind...man there are some worthies in that photo!
Messner and Habeler had been waiting all that summer for a break in the weather to do a speed climb on the Eiger. When the day arrived, Messner's wife Uschi drove them to Grindenwald in his VW. They did the climb in 12 hours, and were down at Kleine Scheidegg about lunch time. The film crew was there so their photo was taken all together and appears in Habeler's book Lonely Victory.
Can anyone find the photo of Messner and Habeler in gucci guides sweaters posing in front of the north face after their ascent? It reportedly inspired the famous Bridway, Westbay and Long NIAD shot.
|
|
Woz
Trad climber
NSW, Australia
|
|
|
May 10, 2013 - 08:39pm PT
|
Can't offer Habeler & Messner in Gucci under Eiger, but have them in Fila under Everest. Think it appeared eons ago in Mountain magazine. Not sure who the photographer was.
|
|
Dangerous Dan
Mountain climber
Bodega Bay, CA
|
|
|
May 10, 2013 - 09:42pm PT
|
I attended Dougal Haston's International School Of Mountianering in Leysin SU in summer of 1974. He and Bev Clark were hired to do the stunt climbing and rigging for the movie. I was lucky enough to have done a few minor climbs with Haston after the school, and he asked me if I would like to come to Grindlewald- Klein Schidegg in Sept (where I was going to live with a Swiss friend (Hans "Jonnie" Weismuller) who was in charge of the Olin Ski Co. then. I was in Deuxx Alpes France training for the freestyle (Marlboro sponsored) circuit and broke my leg...thus ending my dream come true job offer, as I had to fly home and have my leg re-btoken thanx to the shoddy job of setting the broken tibia & fibula the frog doctors did. Another american who was hired on by Dougal ended up being killed by rockfall as I remember.
|
|
Dangerous Dan
Mountain climber
Bodega Bay, CA
|
|
|
May 10, 2013 - 10:10pm PT
|
I attended Dougal Haston's International School of Mountaineering in Leysin, SU in summer of 1974. Was lucky enough to some post school climbing with him in Leysin area and Chamonix, alongb with his close friend and climbing partner Bev Clark (a wild character of the highest degree). I was goig to be living and working in Grindlewald - Klein Scheidgg in Sept. Dougal had told me I could help he and Bev in ridgging for a Clint Eastwood movie they had been hired to do. That dream-come true was shattered along with my left tiba & fibula in a freestyle-ski training accident in Deux Alpes, France that July 14. As I remember, another American climber hired to help with the cam-platform rigging was killed by rock fall during filiming. One of my most prized possesions is my autographed copy of "In High Places" - by Dougal Haston.
|
|
TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
|
|
|
May 11, 2013 - 01:57am PT
|
Brenda Venus is an actress, author, ballet dancer, director, and producer. In June 1976 Brenda Venus met the famed writer Henry Miller. He became her mentor and she his muse. Over 4,000 pages of letters were written by Henry Miller which were later collected into the book, "Dear, Dear Brenda" – The Love Letters of Henry Miller to Brenda Venus(ISBN 0-688-02816-0).[1] In addition, she is the author of "Secrets of Seduction for Men" (ISBN 9780452286429) and "Secrets of Seduction for Women" (ISBN 9780760790700). Her books have been translated into 37 languages[citation needed]. Publishers William Morrow and E.F. Dutton sent her on a worldwide publicity tour making various appearances on TV, radio and press interviews. For over 6 years, Venus wrote a column for Playboy and freelanced for Cosmopolitan, Details and Esquire.
|
|
RasVegas
Trad climber
Goodyear
|
|
|
May 22, 2013 - 06:18pm PT
|
Truly one of my favorite movies of all time! Once I saw it...that was it. I would devote my early life to climbing. Now I'm too jacked up to do it any longer, which really sucks. But I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world.
Peace and be safe everybody!
|
|
Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
|
|
|
May 22, 2013 - 06:30pm PT
|
The crew member killed during the filming was David Knowles from the UK, not the US. He was an active climber (I believe he had previously climbed the North Face)who was brought on to help safe-guard the film team and was killed by rockfall.
|
|
rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
|
May 23, 2013 - 01:06am PT
|
The film "Solo" on youtube; poor quality, but I too remember that frog that got a free ride. big effect on my psyche as a teen.
|
|
Al_Smith
climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
May 23, 2013 - 10:46am PT
|
More on the tragic death of David Knowles from an account by Mike Hoover in American Cinematographer in 1975.
"Tuesday, [August] the thirteenth [1974], was also cold, clear and beautiful. By 9:30 the chopper had moved all 14 of us up to the West Ridge of the Eiger. Today we would finish one of the most difficult set-ups in the picture. Not bad.
By three we had finished on the face and had begun to film up on the flat area above, ascending the ropes back to the top for a sync scene where we establish that the German is a careless fool and that the Frenchman is a damaged careless fool. Then I remembered that we didn’t get the POV of the falling fake rocks that just miss Eastwood and hit Montaigne. So I had to go back down on the face and Dave [Knowles] volunteered to go onto the wall with me to help, while everyone else began to fly out in the chopper.
So the two of us rappelled down to our position on the wall and clipped into a group of pitons. I think we both were glad to get out onto the peaceful wall and let the others hustle all the junk back down in the chopper.
The shot was rather simple, Martin drops the foam rocks down on us and Dave bats any away that might hit the lens. Perfect, but really scary-looking through the camera as the rocks bomb down, I just can’t keep from flinching. Finished.
I suggest to Dave that he go on back up while I coil the ropes, put the camera away and take out the pitons but he says no and that he’ll stay and help So we joked and began to clean up. He told me about working with the BBC, I think on the “Old Man of Hoy.” One day he was carrying a very expensive video camera that was turned on and he didn’t know it. So the camera was transmitting back to the control truck while he was stopping on a tiny ledge to pick some exceptionally beautiful wildflowers. The guys back in the control truck were going crazy as he put the camera down on a ledge balanced some three hundred feet above the smashing surf. We were both laughing when we heard the sound of a big rock falling from above
It sounds real close and I instantly cover and crouch into the wall as close as possible, I hide my hands so as not to lose any fingers. Feel pretty good. It smashes into the small of my back and I almost black out as a smaller shower of rocks continues. I feel a weight on top of me. I can’t move my legs, so pinch them and am so happy to feel the pain. Dave must be okay, But he’s on top of me—hanging upside-down—dead.
He must have looked up right into it. I’m sure he never felt anything and was happy when he passed away—and it was so quick that there was no fear at all.
[Producer Robert] Daley and Eastwood talked about stopping production, but what for? We all knew that serious accidents were a real possibility before we started. But on the second day?
My pelvis had a small crack and all the surrounding muscles were smashed so I was out of action for about ten days."
|
|
| Messages 1 - 51 of total 51 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!