Eye of the Needle (1981)

A ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.

Director:

Richard Marquand

Writers:

Ken Follett (based on the novel by), Stanley Mann (screenplay)

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Stephen MacKenna

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Sutherland	...	Faber
Stephen MacKenna	...	Lieutenant
Philip Martin Brown	...	Billy Parkin
Kate Nelligan	...	Lucy
Christopher Cazenove	...	David
George Belbin	...	Lucy's Father
Faith Brook	...	Lucy's Mother
Barbara Graley	...	David's Mother
George Lee	...	Constable
Arthur Lovegrove	...	Peterson
Colin Rix	...	Oliphant
Barbara Ewing	...	Mrs. Garden
Chris Jenkinson	...	German SS Officer
William Merrow	...	German Radio Operator
Patrick Connor	...	Inspector Harris

Storyline

A German spy carrying information that will reveal the target of Operation Overlord becomes involved with the wife of a crippled man on an isolated island off the Scottish coast while he waits to be picked up.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | german | love | u boat | murder | 

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Taglines:

Codename: "The Needle". Only one person can stop him: The woman who loves him !

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Genres:

Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donald Sutherland's character is named "Faber". Three years earlier, in "Animal House", he portrayed a professor at a college called "Faber".

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Goofs

While in the taxi, approaching the railway station, you can see double yellow lines through the car window. Double yellow lines were first introduced in 1958.

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Quotes

Faber: [calling on radio to submarine] Singvogel. Hier ist die Nadel. Kommen.
["Songbird. This is the Needle. Come."]

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Alternate Versions

NTSC DVD R1 and PAL DVD R2, have different endings. European PAL DVD version ending is approx. 1.5 minutes longer. In the last scene, the helicopter arrives and lands, there is a conversation with the commander about the radio transmission being interrupted and finally the child arrives and reunites with his mother. it's sort of a happy end. This ending was cut from NTSC DVD version.

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Connections

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)

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Soundtracks

When My Little Pomeranian Met Your Little Pekinese
(1933) (uncredited)
Written by Jack Little, Ira Schuster and Dave Oppenheim

User Reviews

No matter how far you are,the war will be in your doorstep

It starts as a conspiracy movie.A man who is a spy of Nazis working for England.Then his identity comes clear and with important informations our man starts to escape.The chase begins.

Movie is really successful about giving audience the pressure of the timeline.But the most important thing is this movie holds the tension into the lives of people who has no connect with the war.Spy hides in the home of a family which lives in an island,far from war.They don't know who he is and police don't know where he is.So movie adds new level of adventure to its structure and gets some kind of thriller atmosphere.Will the secrets be in the hands of Nazis and what will be the end of the family.

Donald Sutherland plays a classical performance.The director does a good job about creating the tension.And the most beautiful thing is the movie itself.It has all the 70's spy movie genre and cinematography and holds the 'danger to the civil' factor besides all super-power states relationships.

And my conclusion for this movie is simple:No matter how far you are,the war will be knocking your door;in one way or another.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

24 July 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eye of the Needle

Filming Locations:

Connel Bridge, Argyll & Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$17,583,634

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,583,634

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kings Road Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1