The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Retirement never quite sticks for a man with one last score to settle. Clint Eastwood directed and stars in "The Eiger Sanction," a 1975 spy thriller adapted from Trevanian's bestselling novel, which makes up for its slow pace with a breathtaking climax on the treacherous north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps. Eastwood plays Jonathan Hemlock, a college art history professor and collector of rare paintings who once worked as a hired assassin for a secret government agency. Its sinister, reclusive chief (Thayer David) lures him back to avenge the murder of an old friend, then blackmails him, by threatening to expose his illegally acquired art collection, into a second "sanction." His target is one of the climbers on an international team attempting the Eiger, though Hemlock doesn't know which one. An accomplished climber himself, he trains in Monument Valley with his old friend and mentor (George Kennedy), who joins the expedition as ground crew leader. Shifting loyalties, apparent betrayals and growing paranoia fuel the suspenseful finale on the sheer mountain face, a memorable sequence in which Eastwood performed his own climbing stunts. The plot of double-crosses and intrigue was meant to blend Eastwood's screen persona with the globe-trotting adventure of the James Bond films, and for the most part it works, with some first-class thrills. Jack Cassidy is sly as a flamboyant former colleague turned enemy, though his character now comes across as a dated caricature. John Williams supplies the score. A young climber on the film's crew died during the production.