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 | woman | love | u boat | 

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Taglines:

To love a stranger is easy... To kill a lover is not.

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Genres:

Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

24 July 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

El ojo de la aguja

Filming Locations:

Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final cinema movie of actor Sam Kydd.

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Goofs

When Faber is trying to get into the house he says "I'm not going to hurt you Lucy, I promise, but I am coming in" we see him reaching up for the bolt as he finishes this line and his lips are not moving.

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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 Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004)

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Soundtracks

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by wedding guests with modified lyrics ("For They Are Jolly Good Fellows")

User Reviews

Somewhat unpromising but effective mixing of WW2 spy fare with an intense romantic thriller works superbly

Eye of the Needle is an oddly structured but nonetheless extremely effective film which in many ways is quite old fashioned in tone and feel,with the addition of a little 'modern'sex and violence. For almost the first half,the film is a fairly conventional but quite gripping spy thriller,as a German agent causes havoc in World War 2 England. There are few surprises,but Donald Sutherland is mesmerising to watch {even if his accent wavers} and the plot at least sounds almost plausible. The keen eyed,however,may spot mistakes in the period detail.

Then Sutherland is washed up on a Scottish island inhabited by a crippled man and his frustrated wife,and the film changes into an incredibly tense mixture of romance and thrills. Sutherland and Nelligan's affair may be basically sexual,but there is real chemistry between them and a real sense of desperation,of two lonely people throwing themselves together. The last half hour is real edge-of-the-seat stuff,perhaps almost bordering on psycho-thriller,but it really works.

Throughout the film Sutherland remains the villain and does do some nasty things,but it's a measure of his performance that occasionally we do come close to sympathising with him. Acting-wise though the film really belongs to Nelligan,a tragically underused and beautiful actress who has to go through the motions of loneliness and frustration,than lust,then fear,and eventually heroism,and does so superbly.

Aided tremendously by the last ever score from the legendary film composer Miklos Rozsa,who provides a moving love theme and some especially thrilling music for the last section of the film,Eye of the Needle perhaps shouldn't really work as well at it does,but that's a measure of it's quality.