Eiger Sanction

Eiger Sanction, released in 1975, is a thriller based on a novel by Trevanian. The film is directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, a professor of art history, who previously led a secret life as a hired assassin in an international intelligence organization.

Hemlock's days of studying art take him back to his old life when he is blackmailed into carrying out one last murder "a Sanction". The victim is one of three men about to climb the Eiger, a beautiful but very difficult mountain in the Swiss Alps. Hemlock is an experienced mountaineer but soon discovers that he does not know which of the three men climbing the Eiger is his target.

One wonders if a combined spy and climber thriller can really work, but where the story falls short, it is well covered by the breathtaking photography and the wonderful views of the Eiger and other parts of the Jungfrau massif. Even though the movie is now a few years old, it is clearly worth seeing.