BY LEE PFEIFFER
Twilight Time has released the 1969 British anti-war comedy/drama "The Virgin Soldiers" as a limited edition (3,000 units) Blu-ray. Adapted from the 1966 novel by Leslie Thomas,who based the tale on his personal experiences while serving in Malaya in the early 1950s when British troops were called into action to quell political unrest and violent uprisings. The film has been compared to Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" which was released the following year and which focused on American forces serving in the Korean War. Both films were riding the wave of anti-Vietnam War protests and their geographical locations could easily be swapped for those in Vietnam. Additionally, the two movies both have a similar tone in that they mix a cynical, comedic view of life in the military with morbid scenes that display the carnage of the conflicts. In "M*A*S*H" the human toll of war is confined to scenes in the operating room where over-stressed surgical teams try to save the lives of those who were badly wounded. In "The Virgin Soldiers", the horrors of war come late in the film with a surprise attack by insurgents on a train carrying soldiers to an location where they were supposed to enjoy some leave time. But there are major differences in the way the story lines are presented. The Altman film dealt primarily with the antics of a trio of wiseguy anti-Establishment types while "The Virgin Soldiers" chronicles the personal experiences of a private, Brigg (Hywel Bennett) and a young civilian woman, Phillipa Raskin (Lynn Redgrave), who is forced to live on a military base where her father (Nigel Patrick) serves as the R.S.M. Most of the screen time is devoted to the Brigg character as he tries to get through his obligatory stint in National Service unscathed. The film presents the usual scattershot collection of men in the regiment as an eclectic bunch ranging from cowards to unlikely heroes. There is even an openly gay couple, which defies credibility since homosexuality in British society was considered to be a criminal act at the time.
The early part of the movie depicts the young soldiers as untested, naive and afraid of actually going into combat- all perfectly human concerns. They are also bored on the base due to lack of female companionship and are desperate for sex with any available woman. Amidst an atmosphere in which his fellow soldiers brag about their sexual conquests, Brigg nervously tries to arrange losing his virginity while posing as an experienced lady's man. He tries to satiate his sexual desires with a local hooker,
Juicy Lucy (winningly played by Tsai Chin), whose heart of gold extends
to giving credit on account to any soldier who suffers impotence from
performance anxiety. The unit's sergeant, Driscoll (Nigel Davenport), instills military discipline in his charges while also acting as a father figure, recognizing that these frightened young men are far away from home and are facing a conflict in an exotic land that they don't even understand. A parallel plot centers on the miserable existence of Philippa whose father is a strutting misogynist and comically inept figure. Her mother (played by Redgrave's real-life mum Rachel Kempson) is a dippy eccentric whose primary focus seems to be on the well-being of her pet goldfish. Phillipa is much-desired by every soldier on the base, given the lack of females in their vicinity. They view her as a sultry woman of the world when, in fact, she, too, is also a virgin, much to the consternation of her father, who constantly derides her for not yet having taken up with a man. He even chides her by telling her that the local gossip speculates she might be a lesbian. Phillipa is emotionally alone in the world in a location she can't relate to and doesn't want to be in, much like the young recruits on the base. She refuses to be a temporary bed mate for soldiers who are moving on.
"The Virgin Soldiers" marked the directorial debut of John Dexter and
he does a fine job of mixing pathos with horror. A fun-filled ad-hoc game of kicking a soccer ball on a beach turns to unexpected disaster, for example, in one of the film's most disturbing scenes. The comedic sexual
escapades of the soldiers dominate most of the film but the climax
finds a truly exciting and graphic pitched battle taking place when
guerillas derail the train, which tests each soldier in terms of their
own ability to face death in a courageous manner. Some do and some
don't. A boastful and obnoxious sergeant is found cowering in the
toilet, for instance. (The scene is reminiscent of the horrific train attack sequence from
"Dark of the Sun" (aka "The Mercenaries", which was released the
previous year.) There is an inconsistency in attempting to blend
the experiences of Brigg and Phillipa and it's the latter whose screen
time suffers and the character sometimes feels like an after-thought. Still, in a
testosterone-packed scenario, it was unusual in 1969 to even address the
viewpoint of a female. The performances are all marvelous
with Bennett perfectly cast as the everyday guy who grapples with lack
of sexual confidence while all the while trying to present the image of a
Casanova. Bennett was making a splash in the late Sixties in films such
as "The Family Way" and "Twisted Nerve". He seemed poised for major
stardom but it never happened and this fine actor passed away in 2017
without having his considerable talents fully utilized by the film
industry. Similarly, Redgrave was red-hot following the smashing success
of "Georgy Girl" but major stardom eluded her. She's excellent in "The
Virgin Soldiers" as is Nigel Davenport, who gives one of the best
performances of his career as the world-weary, charismatic WWII veteran
now shepherding a new batch of recruits through the trials of yet
another violent conflict.
"The Virgin Soldiers" is off-beat and largely forgotten by most
movie-goers which is why the Twilight Time release is so welcome. It has
a great transfer, an isolated track for Peter Greenwall's musical
score, the original American trailer and a collector's booklet with the usual,
highly informative liner notes by Julie Kirgo. Highly recommended.
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