Mr McCorkindale - wearing the mother of all moustaches - is a keen yachtsman exploring the sands off the Friesian Islands.An archetypal Edwardian Gentleman with all the vices and virtues of his class. No apparent means of support unlike his fellow Oxford Man Mr York who is Something in the Foreign Office and rushes to his aid when he receives a telegram about some Germans not being quite "The Thing".Together they uncover a dastardly Hun plot to invade England,led by Queen Victoria's nephew. Clearly a precursor of the better known "The 39 Steps","The riddle of the sands" is as eerie as the creeping fog that regularly envelopes the Friesians,luring ships to their doom.The movie is a mixture of pastels and greys,the dockside buildings,churches,bars,a rare splash of muted colour. Mr McCorkindale's yacht is a thing of beauty indeed in this age of carbon fibre,the train clean and shiny,the waiting rooms reassuringly fugged with smoke.It is a fine evocation of an era when it was indeed the first prize in the lottery of life to be born an Englishman. Elegant and beautifully paced,one of the last of the Rank productions, "The riddle of the sands" deserves to be far better known. From the slough of despond that was 1970s British Cinema it rises and shines.

Coming 3 years after the even more insipid 'Logan's Run', Micheal York and Jenny Agutter are paired-up again in more conservative dress, but this time they're in the past instead of the future.Under wicked Kaiser Wilhelm, the Germans are plotting a covert sea-borne invasion of Britain. An English holiday-maker accidentally stumbles upon their scheme whilst sailing.It's a very slowly evolving drama, played almost as shallowly as the waters they navigate. Fay Mr York may be handsome in an artist's model sort of way but never passes for an action man. His effeminate voice certainly doesn't help. Jenny Agutter does her usual pose of fresh-faced innocence with which she was invariably been typecast. I met her a few months ago in Camberwell, and apart from a few eye-lines hasn't changed all that much.Unlike most of the genre, ie; spying, sabotage, etc; the pace is largely unhurried, with none of the untimely shocks or bloody murders one usually associates with the genre. The relaxed and rather light-hearted way in which the story unfolds seems to hark back to a more civilised time. The whole production is reminiscent of 'The Railway Children', as though primarily aimed at kids. It's not just as if the plot is set in the early part of the 20th century, but is being narrated from the same perspective. That's cleverly done (if it was intended) but even for 1979 vintage the style requires a little getting used to. It's constantly on the edge of becoming boring - which is what sailing is like if you're used to powerboats. Though it usually manages to right itself before complete capsize.Photography is sympathetically worked, giving an excellent sense of obscurity. And combined with the reflective music score together they lend the movie a 'water-colour' feel.Compared to modern productions with their frenetic cut-and-cut-again editing, confrontational in-you-face drama, and flair for the overstatement, the movie really does seem like a postcard from the past. But that's not to say it isn't engaging and a pleasure to see.If it's on the telly (typically Saturday afternoon) and I've nothing else to do then I can't help watching it. Though I'm never quite satisfied with it at the end. It seems to lack something, but I don't know quite what. Maybe I've just watched too many 'action' movies.

Erskine Childers tale of a an attempt to invade England was made into a movie in 1979. Its just come out as a region 2 DVD and I'm in heaven. The plot concerns a British sailor on holiday off the coast of Germany hunting duck and charting the sands that are forever shifting around the small islands there. Stumbling upon something that doesn't feel right he calls a friend from the Foreign Office to come and join him. Soon the pair are off on a grand adventure, the likes of which they don't make any more (nothing blows up and their are no car chases). Very much an old school adventure film, this was painfully dated the instant it came out as Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit and Alien ruled the roost. No matter I love this film. It has the feel of the works of Robert Lewis Stevenson or any of the great adventure writers that NC Wyeth illustrated. Slow and deliberately paced it never lets you get bored, since revelations and bits of action happen at just the right time. I love that much is made of skills that don't involve shooting things. Finely crafted and perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon, this is one of my favorite movies.

This must be one of my favourite films. It is so beautifully made and features a wonderful cast. Simon MacCorkindale is really great alongside Michael York who always puts is a great performance. Jenny Agutter is so beautiful and works so well beside the two male leads. This film captures the whole period very well and is a real boys own adventure sort of film. Alan Badel is great as Dollman as is Olga Dowe as his cranky wife Frau Dollman. She is the perfect foil for the beautiful Agutter. The baddies in this film are really great. What a shame we don't see more performances from Juergen Andersen, Michael Sheard, Hans Meyer and Wolf Kahler. I particularly like the scene where Michael York is in town having his breakfast. It is delightful and sums up his stiff upper lip Englishness. The village where he breakfasts is also truly delightful. Don't miss the beautiful scene on the beach with Agutter either. Do see it as you will enjoy the journey if you like romantic adventure films. It is beautiful.