The Return of the Soldier (1982)

Kitty Baldry (Julie Chirstie) is a haughty society queen with a tunneled view of life. Kitty's complacency is rocked when her husband, Captain Chris Baldry (Alan Bates), returns from the ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan Bridges

Writers:

Rebecca West (novel), Hugh Whitemore

Stars:

Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson, Ann-Margret

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julie Christie	...	Kitty Baldry
Glenda Jackson	...	Margaret Grey
Ann-Margret	...	Jenny Baldry
Alan Bates	...	Chris Baldry
Ian Holm	...	Doctor Anderson
Frank Finlay	...	William Grey
Jeremy Kemp	...	Frank
Hilary Mason	...	Ward
John Sharp	...	Pearson
Elizabeth Edmonds	...	Emery
Valerie Whittington	...	Beatrice
Patsy Byrne	...	Mrs. Plummer
Amanda Grinling	...	Alexandra
Edward de Souza	...	Edward
Michael Cochrane	...	Stephen

Storyline

Kitty Baldry (Julie Chirstie) is a haughty society queen with a tunneled view of life. Kitty's complacency is rocked when her husband, Captain Chris Baldry (Alan Bates), returns from the front during the First World War shell-shocked and suffering amnesia, not knowing who she is and determined for a reunion with Margaret Grey (Glenda Jackson), a working class lover from his past. Kitty employs psychiatrist Dr. Gilbert Anderson (Ian Holm), to help unscramble her husband's feelings for the women in his new disoriented life including his all-too caring cousin Jenny (Ann-Margret), but ultimately comes to realize that the man she knew is unreachable, as dead as the past he pines for.

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Plot Keywords:

amnesia | based on novel | independent film

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some violent images and language

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

A katona hazatér

Filming Locations:

Firle Place, West Firle, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barry R. Cooper Productions, Brent Walker Pictures, Skreba Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first film in the U.K. to be rated with the new PG certificate

User Reviews

Dull, Dull, Dull

The cliché of the shell-shocked soldier home from the war is here given dull treatment. Pity a splendid cast, acting to the limits of their high talents, can't redeem 'The Return of the Soldier' from its stiff-collared inability to move the viewer to emotional involvement. Best moments, as another reviewer noted, come when Glenda Jackson is on screen; but even Jackson's crackling good cinematic power can't pull this film's chestnuts from its cold, never warmed hearth. Ann-Margret, she of sex-kitten repute and too often accused of lacking acting ability, finds her actual and rather profound abilities wasted here - despite her speaking with a nigh-flawless Middlesex accent. The hackneyed score, redolent of many lackluster TV miniseries' slathered-on saccharine emotionalism, is at irritating odds with the emotional remoteness of the script, blocking, and overbaked formalism of the direction; except for its score and corseted script and direction, 'The Return of the Soldier' has all the right bits but it fails to make them work together.