Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Julie Christie | ... | Kitty Baldry | |
Glenda Jackson | ... | Margaret Grey | |
Ann-Margret | ... | Jenny Baldry | |
Alan Bates | ... | Captain Chris Baldry | |
Ian Holm | ... | Doctor Anderson | |
Frank Finlay | ... | William Grey | |
Jeremy Kemp | ... | Frank | |
Hilary Mason | ... | Ward | |
John Sharp | ... | Pearson | |
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Elizabeth Edmonds | ... | Emery |
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Valerie Whittington | ... | Beatrice |
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Patsy Byrne | ... | Mrs. Plummer |
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Amanda Grinling | ... | Alexandra |
Edward de Souza | ... | Edward | |
Michael Cochrane | ... | Stephen |
Kitty Baldry (Julie Christie) is a haughty society queen with a tunnelled view of life. Kitty's complacency is rocked when her husband, Captain Chris Baldry (Sir Alan Bates), returns from the front during World War I 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 (Sir 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 for which he pines. Written by alfiehitchie
It's a perfect film, and Ann-Margret with little or no makeup, mousy brown hair and a -- to my ears -- perfect British accent might have been totally unrecognizable if I hadn't already known she was in the cast. I can't say I was totally surprised at how good she was, since I have liked all her performances since Carnal Knowledge (I could just weep over all the wasted years and crummy movies preceding it), but the way she held her own as an Englishwoman with the royalty of the British screen was pretty impressive.
Bates is utterly heartbreaking and Jackson is quite wonderful. She is at, almost, her least physically attractive, which adds to the poignancy. Christie on the contrary, as a selfish and shallow beauty, really IS a beauty in the film, still, which adds to the interest. She is being overlooked in favor of Jackson, to whom the years have not been kind.