The Riddle of the Sands (lm)

The Riddle of the Sands is a 1979 British spy thriller

based on the novel of the same name by Erskine Childers.
Set in 1901, and starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale, it concerns the eorts of two British yachtsmen to avert a German plot to invade England.[3]

Tony Maylam and Desmond Challis formed a production

company to make the lm and succeeded in raising the
nance from the Rank Organisation, who had recently
decided to get back into lm production. Additional nance was provided by the National Film Finance Corporation. It was the feature lm debut for both Challis and
Maylam.[5]

Plot

The script was basically faithful to the novel although

some details and the ending were changed. Maylam
thought the novel had a rather more anti-climatic ending, and we felt a more up-beat ending was essential for
a feature lm. But we feel it is still very much in the
Childers style.[4]

Carruthers, an ocial in the British Foreign Oce, is

invited on a yachting holiday by his old friend Arthur
Davies. Davies explains he has an agenda - while boating
around the Frisian Islands he came across an old sailor,
Dollman, and his beautiful daughter Clara. He says he Among the changes were the inclusion of the Kaiser and
believes some men tried to kill him.
the fate of the character of Dollman (in the original novel
Carruthers and Davies discover the Germans are planning he drowned himself; in the movie he is mortally wounded
after being shot, then killed when the Germans ram his
to invade Britain.
yacht.) Maylam:
The lm ends with a German ship ramming and destroying Dollmans yacht, killing Dollman and his wife. Clara
The failing of the book is that Dollman falls
gives evidence about Dollmans treachery to Davies and
apart as a character in the last chapter. In one
Carruthers, who make their report to the foreign oce.
breath hes a total opportunist who would do
anything for his grand plan. The next moment
hes a defeated man. I believe he was an oppor2 Cast
tunist to the bitter end. Oh, the purists will have
a go at me, denitely, but in all other respects
Michael York as Charles Carruthers
we've strived to remain faithful to the book.
Without bastardising the story, we're making
Simon MacCorkindale as Arthur Davies
the characters more dened and the ending is
now much more believable and exciting.[5]
Jenny Agutter as Clara Dollmann
Alan Badel as Dollmann

3.2 Filming

Michael Sheard as Boehme

The movie was lmed in Holland, West German and

Bushey Studios, Hertfordshire, England. Many scenes
were shot on the Frisian Islands on the North Sea coast
of Germany and the Netherlands, the same locale as in
the book.

Hans Meyer as Grimm

Wolf Kahler as Kaiser Wilhelm II
Olga Lowe as Frau Dollmann

The unit was partly based in the town of Enkhuizen in

the Netherlands; although that town had no relevance to
3 Production
the novel, its harbour provided easy access to the Zuider
Zee where the unit could shoot sailing sequences all day
unhampered by tidal delays. Many of the crew lived on
3.1 Development and scripting
board a cruiser during the shoot because it was cheaper
Several producers and directors had tried to make a lm than staying in local accommodation, of which there was
based on the novel but the Childers family had not wanted a shortage.
to sell the rights. This ceased to be a problem when the Several scenes were also shot in the German village of
Greetsiel. The sequence of Carruthers and Davies navinovel passed into the public domain.[4]
1

gating their way between sandbanks in the Frisian Islands

was shot on Frensham Ponds in Surrey with the aid of
nine large fog machines; this was done because the tidal
blows and sands of the Frisian Islands would have made
actually lming there very dicult.[5]
While lming on the boat playing the Medusa, cinematographer Christopher Challis and camera operator
John Palmer would hold the camera in place with slings
of rope and elastic, soaking up the ships motion and allowing the operator free rein. This technique was developed by Challis and Palmer when they made The Deep
(1977).[5]

EXTERNAL LINKS

The New York Times called it a slow but aable period piece[10] while the Los Angeles Times said it has
the quaint, old fashioned sound of a Hardy Boys mystery
about it which plays like a slightly more lethal boys adventure story.[11]

5 References
[1] Screen: Yachtsmen Vs. Kaiser in 'Riddle' By JANET
MASLIN. New York Times (1923-Current le) [New
York, N.Y] 06 Jan 1984: C8.

Davies boat, the Dulcibella, was converted from an Isle

of Wight lifeboat.

[2] Alexander Walker, National Heroes, Harrap, 1985 p 208

The movie was Tony Maylams feature lm debut. He

said during lming:

[4] 'Riddle of the sands lm coming. (1979, Feb 22).

The Irish Times (1921-Current File).
Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/528566974?
accountid=13902

So much rests on this picture. Its very important to prove myself. I owe a big debt to
people like Alan Parker and Ridley Scott, who
proved to the lm establishment that a young
lm director can get it all together and deliver. If this is a commercial and artistic success it can only help my generation of lmmakers. My motto is compromise under pressure.
One hopes one doesn't have to compromise too
much. But lets face it, the whole of lifes a
compromise.[5]
During lming, Michael York took an option for the lm
rights on a biography on Erskine Childers, The Zeal of
the Convert by Burke Wilkinson. This lm was never
made.[6]

4
4.1

Reception
Box oce

[3] Cult Movie Reviews: The Riddle of the Sands (1979)".

[5] Strife on the ocean wave. (1978, May 06). The

Guardian (1959-2003). Retrieved from http://search.
proquest.com/docview/186007243?accountid=13902
[6] Actors option on Childers biography. The Irish Times
(Subscription required.). 9 February 1979. p. 7. Retrieved
11 June 2014.
[7] John Huxley. Losses of 1.6m sound the knell for cinema production. Times [London, England] 7 June 1980:
17. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
[8] French, P. (1979, Apr 29). Living in a kind of Eden. The
Observer (1901- 2003). Retrieved from http://search.
proquest.com/docview/476493011?accountid=13902
[9] Dreams of the west, nightmares of the city. (1979,
May 03). The Guardian (1959-2003). Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/186169126?
accountid=13902
[10] , J. M. (1984, Jan 06). Screen: Yachtsmen vs. Kaiser in
'riddle'. New York Times (1923-Current File). Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/122383024?
accountid=13902

The lm was not the hoped for success at the box ofce and was one of the last movies nanced by the Rank
Organisation.[7] It was not released in the US until 1984.

[11] Benson, S. (1984, Mar 23).

MOVIE REVIEW.
Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File). Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/153807020?
accountid=13902

4.2

6 External links

Critical

The critic from the Observer called the movie an affectionate, commendably straight adaptation... the excitement somewhat abates in the perfunctorily handled
scenes ashore... the cinematographer Christopher Challis uses the Panavision screen to ne dramatic eect.[8]
The Guardian also praised the cinematography but complained the set pieces are none too convincing and the
whole regrettably lacks the eye for detail that could have
made it into an entirely convincing period piece.[9]

The Riddle of the Sands at the Internet Movie

Database
New York Times review: The Riddle of the Sands
(1979)
The Riddle of the Sands at TCMDB
The Riddle of the Sands soundtrack at Howardblake.com

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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