The Triple Echo – 1972 | 97 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

A dark little cult yarn set in the idyllic countryside of wartime England. Michael Apted’s rather uneven World War Two romance can’t seem to strike a balance between sensitivity and ribald humour. However, excellent performances from the cast – particularly Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed – lift it well above average. This offbeat gender-bending rural tragedy was adapted from a novel by H.E. Bates.

Set in the remote Wiltshire countryside during WWII. Alice (Glenda Jackson), a lonely farm owner whose husband is interned in a Japanese POW camp meets a soldier, Barton (Brian Deacon), wandering across her farmland, despite her initial offhand approach she invites him in for tea. He becomes a regular visitor to the farm and the pair fall in love. In order to remain with Alice, Barton goes AWOL, and to avoid suspicion dresses in women’s clothes and poses as Alice’s imaginary sister. Barton’s role-reversal becomes so complete that the arrival of a loutish Military Police sergeant (Oliver Reed) inevitably leads to a tragic showdown when the over-confident deserter allows the sergeant to him out dancing.