The Return of the Soldier (1982)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Alan Bridges

Writers:

Rebecca West (novel)
Hugh Whitemore (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Kitty Baldry (Julie Chirstie) is a haughty society queen with a tunneled view of life. Kitty's complacency is rocked when her husband...

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

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
Vickery Turner	...	Jessica
Sheila Keith	...	Sister
Shirley Caine	...	Ward Sister
Emily Irvin	...	Young Jenny
William Booker	...	Young Chris
Valerie Aitken	...	Ballerina
Nicholas Franken	...	Young Civilian Gentleman
Robin Langford	...	First Young Officer
Stephen Finlay	...	Second Young Officer
Llewellyn Rees	...	Lord Lieutenant
Jeremy Arnold	...	Ballerina's Boyfriend
Allan Corduner	...	Pianist at Party (as Alan Corduner)
John Lonsdale	...	Groom
Robert Keegan	...	Chauffeur
Pauline Quirke	...	Girl Searching in Hospital
Cathy Finlay	...	Downstairs Nurse
Charles Morgan	...	Weeping Man
Gerry Cowper	...	Ward Nurse
Patrick Gordon	...	Wounded Officer
Larry Noble
Stephen Whittaker	...	Hostile Soldier
Kevin Whately	...	Hostile Soldier's Mate
Jack May	...	Brigadier General
Dorothy Alison	...	Brigadier's Wife
Norman Mitchell	...	Ernest
Martin Ransley	...	Young Man in Boat
Jane Laurie	...	Girl in Boat
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Derek Lyons	...	Hostile Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan Bridges

Writing credits
Rebecca West		(novel)
Hugh Whitemore		(writer)

Produced by
J. Gordon Arnold	....	executive producer
Barry R. Cooper	....	executive producer
John Quested	....	executive producer
Simon Relph	....	producer
Edward Simons	....	executive producer
Ann Skinner	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Rodney Bennett

Cinematography by
Stephen Goldblatt

Film Editing by
Laurence Méry-Clark

Casting by
Noel Davis

Production Design by
Luciana Arrighi

Art Direction by
Ian Whittaker

Costume Design by
Shirley Russell

Makeup Department
Ann Brodie	....	makeup artist
Carol Hemming	....	hair stylist
Susie Hill	....	hair stylist
Basil Newall	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Redmond Morris	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Allan James	....	assistant director
Peter Waller	....	second assistant director
Michael Zimbrich	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Jack Carter	....	construction manager
Dougie Cox	....	stand-by stagehand
Wally Fraser	....	stand-by carpenter
Gordon Harris	....	stand-by painter
John Hedges	....	carpenter
Michael Hedges	....	carpenter (as Mick Hedges)
Michael Jones	....	supervising painter
Derek Knowler	....	dressing props
John Manning	....	stand-by props
John Martin	....	stagehand
Philip McDonald	....	stand-by props (as Phil McDonald)
Cleo Nethersole	....	drapesman
George Peppiatt	....	dressing props
Jill Quertier	....	production buyer
Thy Richards	....	chargehand carpenter
Crispian Sallis	....	assistant art director
Thomas Tarry	....	plasterer
Charles Torbett	....	property master
Ken Wellands	....	painter

Sound Department
Keith Batten	....	boom operator
Taffy Haines	....	sound engineer
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Katrina Kane	....	assistant sound editor
Simon Kaye	....	sound loader
Stephen Spencer	....	dubbing assistant
William Trent	....	dubbing editor (as Bill Trent)

Special Effects by
Nick Allder	....	special effects
Martin Gutteridge	....	special effects
Garth Inns	....	special effects
Graham Longhurst	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Batt	....	grip (as Frankie Batt)
John J. Campbell	....	focus puller (as John Campbell)
Clive Coote	....	still photographer
Mark Cridlin	....	clapper loader
Martin Evans	....	gaffer
John Field	....	rigger
Paul Kenward	....	clapper loader trainee
Peter MacDonald	....	camera operator
Ray Meehan	....	best boy
Jimmy Worley	....	electrician
John Wright	....	stand-by rigger

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Linda Burtenshaw	....	assistant costume designer
Nic Ede	....	wardrobe master (as Nicolas Ede)
Catherine Halloran	....	wardrobe mistress (as Cath Halloran)

Editorial Department
Bryan Oates	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Marcus Dods	....	conductor
John Richards	....	music recordist

Transportation Department
Tommy Lee	....	unit driver
Colin Morris	....	unit driver
Bill Wilmott	....	unit driver

Other crew
Joanna Campling	....	publicist
Len Cave	....	production accountant
Jack Churchill	....	assistant accountant
Vicki Deason	....	production assistant (as Vicki Manning)
Josie Fulford	....	continuity
Diana Hawkins	....	publicist
Alan John	....	cashier
Asad Qureshi	....	production runner
Maggie Southam	....	secretary to producer
Guy Travers	....	location manager

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• European Classics (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Company (1982) (UK) (theatrical)
• Aquarius TV (2001) (Greece) (TV)
• F.J. Lucas (Brazil) (VHS)
• Malofilm Distribution (Canada)
• Video Gems (1987) (UK) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Effects Associates

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  lighting

MPAA:

Rated PG for some violent images and language.

Runtime:

USA:99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Barry R. Cooper Productions

Trivia:

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

A Psychological Drama of Great Poignancy

This is one of the most beautiful, and heartbreaking, films that I have ever seen. The story of a shell-shocked soldier who, in order to escape the horrors of the war in which he has been involved (WW I) retreats to some inner world of the past. He loses all sense of reality, and becomes entrenched in a time before his marriage, the loss of his child, and the pressures of adulthood. Played by the magnificent and tragically departed Alan Bates, the title character Captain Chris Baldry, takes refuge in a love that existed twenty years before, when he was a young man with his life in front of him. The object of his affection, Glenda Jackson, is now a middle aged woman, but he sees her with the eyes of love, and she is for him the youthful beauty with whom he fell in love decades ago. His wife, a brittle and uncaring Julie Christie, wants him to regain his sense of the present, because she misses her social status. His first love does not initially believe that he should be roused back to consciousness, because she wants him to remain in a happy, albeit unrealistic state. His cousin (played by an unusually good Ann-Margret), a woman who has loved him in secret since the days of their shared childhood, is in a middle place between the two, wanting him back, and yet appreciating the fact that his unawareness and his psychological trip backward in time is bringing him a sort of peace.

Ultimately, the women join forces and realize, with the help of a psychiatrist, that the man they love must be roused from his reverie. The final scene, in which he is brought face to face with reality, is wrenching and difficult, and Sir Alan is able to show with the straightening of his shoulders and the stiffness of his gait that he has returned, sadly, to the present. It is an unspeakably sad performance, of great beauty.

I was reminded, when watching this film, of another film which focused almost entirely on character as opposed to action: "Charly" a film based on the book "Flowers for Algernon" In that movie, which garnered an Academy Award as Best Actor for Cliff Robertson, depicted how an individual who has been moved into a different reality (a retarded man becomes, for a short while, intellectually gifted)can capture a few moments of happiness, which must be sacrificed when he returns to his prior state.

Similarly, the film 'Awakenings' with Robert De Niro tells the story of a man who languished in a coma for many years, and was allowed, through the use of an experimental drug, a few weeks of happiness, a few brief moments to experience life, before the veil of unconsciousness was once again drawn over him when the drugs stopped working.

These stories of people who find happiness in small, short snippets of time, are incredibly moving, and underscore the brevity of life, and the importance of living each moment to its fullest extent.

The Return of the Soldier is truly a tour de force, very sad, very beautiful, and incredibly well-acted. I would strongly recommend it to admirers of Alan Bates, and all those who want to be deeply engaged by a film.