Drama based on the novel by HE Bates, starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. During the Second World War, a woman whose husband is a prisoner of war falls in love with a young soldier stationed nearby. He subsequently deserts and she disguises him as her sister to protect him from the military authorities. But then a bull-necked sergeant arrives on the farm.
Adapted from a novel by HE Bates and set on a remote farm in 1942, this unlikely drama might have provoked a few unintentional smirks if it hadn't been so sensitively played by Glenda Jackson and Brian Deacon. Michael Apted's careful direction makes the ruse of disguising deserter Deacon as Jackson's sister seem almost credible, while his re-creation of the tranquil wartime countryside makes the abrupt intrusion of vulgar sergeant Oliver Reed all the more foreboding. The bawdy tone of the later stages is as unnecessary as it is unwelcome, but it doesn't detract too much from what has gone before.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Alice Charlesworth | Glenda Jackson |
| Sergeant | Oliver Reed |
| Barton | Brian Deacon |
| Subaltern | Anthony May |
| Stan | Gavin Richards |
| Christine | Jenny Lee Wright |
| Corporal | Kenneth Colley |
| Shopkeeper | Daphne Heard |
| First girl | Zelah Clarke |
| Compère | Colin Rix |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Apted |
