After her husband is captured during WWII, homesteader Alice is forced to maintain their land herself. One day, a wandering soldier named Barton stops by the farm and the pair begin a relationship. When the military police pass through the area looking for deserters, Barton is forced to disguise himself as a woman to stay with Alice. But he soon catches the eye of a sergeant posted nearby.
Acting
Glenda Jackson's raw, guarded desperation carries every frame.
Direction
Apted builds unbearable tension from silence and sideways glances.
Costume
The disguise isn't played for laughs—it's terrifyingly fragile.
Director
Michael Apted
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on H.E. Bates's novella; the title refers to a military bugle call signifying retreat, mocking Barton's failed escape from himself.
Released the same year the UK partially decriminalized homosexuality, making its portrait of gender transgression and state violence uncomfortably timely.
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