I first saw the 'Riddle of the Sands' when attending a summer school at York University in the late 70's and have to admit being instantly captivated by it! My wife and two daughters joined me for the following week in which we had a great time exploring the old city and its hinterland. Finding that the film was also being shown during this week at the University, we all went to see it. My initial impression was reinforced and my family all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I then read Childer's book!
With the passage of time, the film occasionally appeared on TV during the following decades and I became more and more frustrated. Either I found it on TV too late to record, missing the start, or I did not have a video tape available when I learned it was being shown.
Lately I have been able to obtain a DVD of the film and can now enjoy it whenever I have the urge. And this is frequently.
The cast is excellent. The filming beautiful. The soundtrack haunting.
The book, too, is excellent! Childers is not a historical novelist. He was a contemporary. Very much a man of his time. As they say. He walked the walk. He talked the talk. And, if they had had them at that time, he, I'm sure, he would have worn the 'T' shirt too! As it was, he probably wore the 'Old School Tie'. Being very much a part of the 'Establishment'.
Some commentators have suggested that people did not talk the way Childer's suggested. A rather sad reflection of the present times and its current values and perceptions!
Imagination is a timeless gift. And Childer's had it to the full.
Get the film then read the book. Or vice-versa. Your choice. But do both and enjoy the many and repeated pleasures I, and I'm sure many others, have experienced,