The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

In the early years of the 20th Century, two British yachtsmen (Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale) stumble upon a German plot to invade the east coast of England in a flotilla of ... See full summary »

Director:

Tony Maylam

Writers:

John Bailey (screenplay), Erskine Childers (novel),

Stars:

Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Simon MacCorkindale

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michael York	...	Charles Carruthers
Jenny Agutter	...	Clara Dollmann
Simon MacCorkindale	...	Arthur Davies
Alan Badel	...	Dollmann
Jürgen Andersen	...	Cmdr. von Bruening (as Jurgen Andersen)
Michael Sheard	...	Boehme
Hans Meyer	...	Grimm
Wolf Kahler	...	Kaiser Wilhelm II
Olga Lowe	...	Frau Dollmann
Ronald Markham	...	Withers

Storyline

In the early years of the 20th Century, two British yachtsmen (Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale) stumble upon a German plot to invade the east coast of England in a flotilla of specially designed barges. They set out to thwart this terrible scheme, but must outwit not only the cream of the German Navy, but the feared Kaiser Wilhelm himself.

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Plot Keywords:

england | invasion | agent | male rear nudity | baltic sea | 

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Taglines:

Men can disappear without a trace...and their secrets with them.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

1979 (UK)

Also Known As:

A homokpart rejtélye

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Finance Consortium, Rank Organisation, The, Worldmark

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The author of the novel, Erskine Childers, was a British Army veteran of the Boer war and World War I. Amazingly, he became an Irish nationalist and revolutionary leader. Even more amazingly, he became so fervently anti-British that he was arrested and executed by the fledgling Irish Free State during the Irish Civil war in 1922.

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Goofs

When Clara visits just after the attempted ramming she is wearing a hat and coat. When she leaves and rows away she is just wearing a dress without the coat and hat.

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Connections

Version of Das Rätsel der Sandbank (1987)

User Reviews

Relaxed and beautifully shot adaptation of a classic novel.

In 1901 English amateur yachtsman Arthur Davies is exploring a chain of islands off the German coast, attempting to update navigation charts for the area in which treacherous sandbanks abound. He becomes suspicious of a mysterious German called Dollmann, who apparently is running a salvage operation on one of the islands, and does not welcome Davies' interest in his activities. Davies summons the help of his friend Charles Carruthers, who works in the Foreign Office, to get to the bottom of the curious goings on.

This is an admirable attempt to film Erskine Childers classic novel. It manages to combine the laid back feel of amateur yachting with an intriguing mystery. Simon McCorkindale and Michael York blend together very well as the two English gentlemen turned amateur sleuths. They are complimented by the excellent and much missed Alan Badel as the sinister Dollmann, and Jenny Agutter as his daughter Clara. Much of the film's appeal is due to the exquisite cinematography of veteran Christopher Challis. He manages to evoke a strong sense of time and place with good location work, and is helped in this by solid production design and an enchanting musical score. My only real criticism is that sometimes the suspense sequences could have been more tightly constructed without compromising the genteel atmosphere of the piece.

It would be nice to see this appear on DVD at sometime in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio to really appreciate the photography (BBC2 do at least broadcast it in 1.78:1). However, the film was produced by Rank, and I fear that Carlton will hold the distribution rights. Anyone who has ever purchased one of their DVDs will attest to the utter contempt that they appear to have for the format. Films are usually released in 1.33:1 full frame no matter what their original ratio, and in the case of 'The Eagle Has Landed' there are also some 12 minutes of the film missing! With these points in mind it doesn't bode well. If you haven't seen 'The Riddle Of The Sands' try and catch it next time round on TV. You may be pleasantly surprised by it.