Lieutenant Morris Schaffer
If he has to, Schaffer wouldn't hesitate to kill, although his acts of violence is hihgly exaggerated in the motion picture. In the novel he is described as a pleasant and respectful being. All the way through the mission, Schaffer thinks Smith is out of his mind, and he never gets a thing. Eventually, Schaffer falls in love with Heidi during the operation, and in the end of the novel, they kiss each other for the first time.
Overview
- Name Morris Schaffer
- Rank Lieutenant
- Nationality American
- Role description Major role
- First appearance 00:02:56 (In the airplane)
- Actor Clint Eastwood
Background
Morris Schaffer is of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and Smith's second-in-command at this mission. His military knowledge is impressive and Smith's descripition of Schaffer as a full-blood murderer isn't wrong. Although from Montana, Schaffer detests horses, and doesn't want anything to be mentioned about the disastrous beasts.
Comments
The difference between Clint Eastwood's impression of Lieutenant Schaffer and the later character Dirty Harry is not big: he kills alot, speaks little and is generally acting tough. But Eastwood also makes something more out of this character. Schaffer is cool and he is fun to watch. He gives the impression of someone pulled into the jam by mistake, but decides it's better to fight and do it good than complain about it. But Eastwood's Schaffer also lacks the heart and sensitivity of the Schaffer in the novel, and that is one thing we miss a little.
Favourite scene
During their escape, Schaffer confronts a number of Germans, and eventually realizes that he can shoot at them from behind the corner without exposing himself...
Favourite line
Lieutenant Morris Schaffer: Second rate punk, ha?
Major John Smith: All I could think of from the spur of moment.
Lieutenant Morris Schaffer: Thanks! That even makes it worse.
Major John Smith: Sorry.
I often ask myself though,could anyone other than Clint have looked so cool in a Nazi uniform? HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clint Eastwood really is coool in German uniform!!
I really enjoyed the book, but clint did a very good job in the movie!!
I have never read the book, but i thought clint played a convincing top class fighter.
Clint has always been a convincing actor for military roles, remember the military is primarily a follow orders not give them operation. He gives more to a character with his gestures and posture than most actors can with a script full of dialogue.
He does similarly in roles like Heartbreak Ridge, Firefox, The Beguiled, etc. His dialogue is small compared to the other actors. Actions speak loader than words.
Also, the great orator in WED was without a doubt Richard Burton. Any verbal battle would never have gone Clint’s way. Better to fight the battles you can win, and in this case he did just that.
Clint in the movie is great and his dialogue delvery is awesome.
The name Clint Eastwood for me is a movie itself.
I love him!
apart from kelly in kelly’s heroes possibly the coolest role that he’s done!!! anyone who can kill that many germans and not get fazed when they start chuckin grenades at him is pretty damn good. favourite line “we got company”
clint eastwood is one of my favourite actor.he is one of the living legends of hollywood.his ruthless facial expressions make him a perfect choice for the character he plays in the movie.
To bad actors in this day and age can’t hold a candle to like of Eastwood
ok, my father took me to see this movie when i was 10, and all he ever said from that point on was “count how many germans clint eastwood kills”. someone said 99. just like the classic movie scarface where it is documented how many times f-word is spoken, how many germans does schaffer the assasin kill? as in his westerns, clint, the master of character understatement.
A previous poster has commented on how many Germans Eastwood/Schaffer kills in this movie. whenever I watch this movie I always wonder how many rounds Schaffer fires from his machine gun — in reality he would need surely need a small truck to carry that amount of ammunition.
Excellent Movie, I still have this movie on Laser Disk and watch it with Pro-logic sound system.
IT WAS SAID,THAT CLINT DID’NT LIKE THIS ROLE.SEEMS ME TO THE WAY HE HANDLED IT I’D SAY HE TRULY ENJOYED IT.AND SO DID I.MAYBE THEY CAN MAKE A STORY ABOUT SMITH&SCHAFFER IN A POSTWAR MISSION GOD BLESS THE LATE MR.BURTON.
AND HAVE CLINT DIRECT IT.
Who is cooler than Clint Eastwood?
Clint eastwood is as cool as a cucumber in all his films a brilliant actor and director
Clint Eastwood is the best action hero that has ever been around!!!
I was six, sitting between my dad and grandad at the drive-in, in 1969 when I first saw this epic.I just saw it again recently on DVD and one of the best memories I have of them, (now passed on)came back to me. It sucks getting old! I miss them and Burton too. WED is my alltime favorite,Clint too!
no matter what movie u put clint eastwood in he always goes action hero
facial expressions, big cool guy prescence, and cool prescise delivery of no nonsense lines…awesome…
imádom az egyik nagy kedvencem milliószor meg tudnám nézni.
makes Indiana Jones look like an accurate account of (pre) WW2. If Lee Marvin, Chuck Bronson and Tele Savalas had been around also, the war would have been over by Xmas 39!