Geheimkommando R.O.T.S.

The people who commented obviously loved it so much. So did I. No movie can be perfect, and anything with a strong nautical theme is very, very hard to get looking right. Look at all the pirate movies where it is obvious that a period ship, recreated at huge expense, has its sails hanging slack and is being propelled through the water by engines. There was a Columbus movie not long back where the bottom edge of a sail was flapping round his face while he said something deep and meaningful.

RofS is one of the few films that manage to sustain realistic nautical action and atmosphere right through. My only very minor quibble was that in the scene below decks where Clara puts on the kettle, there is far too much space above her head. But that could not detract from the "awkward English chap" conversation Arthur has with her.

Of course anything with Jenny Agutter in it is a good movie, but with Jenny and sailing boats as well, this is one to love.

If you've read the book you'll realise that it couldn't be made into a 90 minute or so film. Bits have to be cut and some scenes adapted so that the film contains a flowing understandable narrative. Often this is not particularly successful. Riddle of the Sands suffers to some extent in this way. Nevertheless this is a pretty good attempt at transferring the book to film. Michael Yorke and Simon McCorkindale are right for the parts they play. Neither are my favourite actors but I don't think many others would have portrayed the characters, warts and all, as realistically. The supporting cast are where the real strength of the film lies. Hans Meyer as Grimm is wonderfully sinister, as indeed is Michael Sheard as Boehme. Alan Badel was one of the best actors ever and his portrayal of Dollman is flawless. Jenny Agutter as Clara also shines. The music by Howard Blake deserves mention because the soundtrack is so important when setting the mood and, besides, the recurrent theme is a very nice piece of music. This is a slow-paced film but is nonetheless a powerful and well told story. If you want fast action and explosions everywhere give it a miss and head for some standard Hollywood identikit action film. If you want a well made story set in beautiful surroundings with good understated performances and a decent soundtrack try and hunt down a copy of the video or catch it on one of its rare TV showings.

It's probably impossible to transfer the cozy atmosphere of Erskine Childers's book to the screen, but Maylam's attempt is a creditable one. The Dutch and German villages, the sand banks, the coastline, all in muted browns and greys, look every bit as dull as you'd expect them to, but we begin to see their attraction; and something of the feeling of day-to-day life on a boat is conveyed to us. A nice score by Howard Blake helps give us the measure of things.

It's what we COULD have expected to survive transition to the screen - excitement - that's most really lacking. Childers's novel was (so everyone says) the first modern spy story. In addition to a love of the sea it also conveys a sense of menace, a feeling that something of importance hangs on the riddle of the sands, which the film, blandly paced and having to resort now and then to first-person narration, doesn't. It's still pleasing enough, especially if you've read the book and the film isn't giving away any of its secrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed this old-fashioned spy yarn based on a novel by Erskine Childers. The story is simplicity in itself: a quintessentially British yachtsman, Arthur Davies, is exploring off the coast of Germany when he uncovers some strange activity. He calls in his upper-crust friend, Carruthers, and the two soon find themselves out of their depth and caught up in some sinister events.

Okay, so there isn't much story to go along with, and the story that there is is rather predictable. That's beside the point: RIDDLE OF THE SANDS is a strongly visual film that conveys the joys of being free on the oceans, as well as the pleasure of a world that was a lot simpler than ours. It's well-shot throughout with an infectious charm, and as the two leads, Simon MacCorkindale and Michael York have a wonderfully deadpan chemistry.

The thriller and spy aspects, although relatively mundane by modern-day standards, are interspersed well with the rest of the story, and Jenny Agutter turns up as lovely as ever. There are some well-handled set-pieces dotted throughout - the atmospheric journey through the fog, the hide-out in the loft, the dinner scene - and if the film doesn't perhaps excite you as it might, then it leaves you with a warm and cosy feeling afterwards, like the effect of sitting by the dying-down remnants of a roaring fire.

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.