Eye of the Needle (1981)

To kill and love during WW2 with Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan

A German spy in Britain (Sutherland) has strategic info on the D-Day landing in 1944. As he tries to elude the authorities, he stumbles on a couple living remotely near the coast (Nelligan and Christopher Cazenove). Will he make it out? Who will live and who will die?

"Eye of the Needle” (1981) is a war drama/thriller, but not a conventional war movie. The plot has similarities to “The Eagle Has Landed” (1976) with the same actor as the spy (Sutherland). It’s almost as if they’re the same character. The difference is that “Eagle” features military combat whereas this one is decidedly a spy-on-the-run flick with the thrills thereof.

Like “Eagle,” this is easily one of Sutherland’s top movies. The British scenery is awesome, the palette is colorful, the adventure is compelling, the drama/romance is good and the suspense is off-the-charts in the final act.

There are elements of “The Eagle Has Landed,” “The Heroes of Telemark” (1965) and the later “The House on Carroll Street” (1988). If you like these flicks, this is a must; it’s as good or better than any of ’em.

The film runs 1 hour, 52 minutes, and was shot in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, which is located in southwest Scotland, including Oban, nearby Connel Bridge and the Isle of Mull. Studio stuff was done in England in the greater London area, as well as the airport scene filmed at Blackbushe Airport.

GRADE: A-