The Riddle of the Sands

Tony Maylam (and Christopher Challis - read his autobiography, "Are they really so awful") went all-out in this film to recreate a feel for Erskine Childers's slightly jingoistic novel, and for the joy of messing about in boats. The film achieves much of what it set out to do, but some extra elements grafted on to the original plot slightly spoil it for me.

The plot features Davies, an English amateur yachtsman (brilliantly played by Simon MacCorkindale) who stumbles onto something strange while pottering around the bleak Friesian coast in northern Germany. Mystified, he summons his old friend Carruthers (Michael Yorke) to help uncover the secret.

As a detective tale or spy story viewed through the eyes of either Davies or Carruthers, the film works. The few action sequences, which are almost always seen from the viewpoint of others, tend to fall flat and spoil the overall continuity. The subtitles to scenes in which characters are speaking in German are annoying, since almost everything is also translated verbally for the benefit of Davies who does not speak the language.

That said, this is quite a tense film, and gives a very true rendering of the novel.

The scenery and props are quite superb. Davies's yacht is a joy to look at from the outside and suitable poky in the interior shots. The flat coastal scenery is very atmospherically shot and the costumes are very good.

Except for a rather wooden "Kaiser Bill", the acting is excellent, though this is no less than one would expect from such as Alan Badel and Jenny Agutter.

This film is very enjoyable, but best watched with one's thinking cap on.

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.

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.

The Riddle of the sands is an espionage thriller, but it is also a coming of age story. Carruthers begins as a prat and little by little under Davies' gentle tutelage, he becomes a great human being and a man. The film draws this beautifully, and the three leads are adorable together. For people who like boats, it's a feast, and major actors of the film are the boats... Dulcibella is a great fictional heroine and she (and the others) are beautifully rendered here.

The music is haunting. Yes it doesn't move fast, but that's what sailing's about. It's a pleasure in a fast-moving world to imagine a time when things happened at sailboat speed.

The DVD print is crisp and clear, and there are no format problems A joy to watch!

The book is an absolute classic, but it is not a very easy one to adapt at all. While not quite succeeding, Riddle of the Sands is a very solid film. It is quite slow in places and the actor playing Kaiser is very wooden. However, the film is beautifully shot, with striking locations, interesting fashions and exquisite photography. Howard Blake's haunting score compliments the mood of the film brilliantly and the story and the script are very interesting. The sailing scenes are excellently done, and there is a fine cast, excepting Kaiser. Michael York and Simon McCorkindale are excellent, actually in regards to McCorkindale I don't think I have seen him this good before, while Alan Badel is appropriately sinister and Jenny Agutter provides an emotional weight that wasn't there in the book but was welcome here. So all in all, solid and worth watching. 8/10 Bethany Cox