The Riddle of the Sands

1979
PG
1h 42m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Jenny Agutter, Michael York, Wolf Kahler, and Simon MacCorkindale in The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

In 1901, two British yachtsmen visiting Germany's Frisian Islands accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.In 1901, two British yachtsmen visiting Germany's Frisian Islands accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.In 1901, two British yachtsmen visiting Germany's Frisian Islands accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Trivia
The author of the novel, Erskine Childers, was a British Army veteran of the Boer War and World War I. He became an Irish nationalist and revolutionary leader. He was later executed during the Irish Civil War on November 24, 1922. His son Erskine Hamilton Childers served as the fourth President of Ireland from June 25, 1973 until his death on November 17, 1974.

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. She is clearly seen throwing the coat into the boat before rowing away.

Quotes
Davies: Do you realize that England has not defenses at all facing Germany? No North Sea fleet? And all her naval bases are in the south: Portsmouth, Chatham.
Carruthers: Historical accident.
Davies: Oh quite! But now it's not France whom we have to guard against. Germany is growing stronger every single day, and very soon, her navy will rival ours.

Crazy credits
Opening credits prologue: Frisian Islands, Germany 1901

Connections
Featured in Wonderland: Episode #1.4 (2022)

User reviews42

Review

Featured review

7/10

Not totally faithful to the book, but still a good adaptation

It is needless to say that the book is much better. It's a real classic spy story. But the movie adaptation was quite a surprise. It obeys the storyline of the book, but: (1) the first part of the novel is totally left out; and (2) the last 15 minutes are in many ways somewhat different from the novel. Nevertheless, these changes are quite understandable: they make the movie more agile, more suitable for the screen.

The main characters are very faithful to the novel. British actors are very good, well casted and well characterized. German actors are somewhat stereotyped, but go along. Fighting scenes, more often than in the book, could have been better performed. Scenery is beautiful.

For a 1979 movie, I should say it deserves a seven. Had it been filmed in the 21st Century, I think it could have another 20 to 30 minutes – so as to better explore the feelings of the main characters (as the book does in its first part).