(John Dexter, 1969)
Release date: 22 July 2024
Standard Edition Blu-ray

Set in Singapore in the early 1950s, this impressive adaptation of Leslie Thomas’ best-selling, scandalous novel centres on a group of naïve, young British Army recruits billeted to Malaya who have no experience of either love or war.

Both affectionate and affecting in its look at young men in wartime, the film has a wonderful cast which includes Lynn Redgrave (Georgy Girl, The National Health), Hywel Bennett (The Family Way, Twisted Nerve) and Nigel Davenport (The Third Secret, The Mind of Mr. Soames), along with early appearances from Christopher Timothy, Wayne Sleep, James Cosmo – and a young David Bowie. Genuine and heartfelt, The Virgin Soldiers is an insightful and hugely underrated British comic drama.

INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• The Virgin Actors (2019, 29 mins): Roy Holder and Christopher Timothy recall their experiences on location
• Some Confidence (2019, 8 mins): writer Ian La Frenais discusses his contributions to the screenplay
• 16mm Location Footage (1967, 14 mins): rare and previously unseen material shot during location scouting
• Operation Malaya (1953, 67 mins): David MacDonald’s acclaimed feature-length docudrama on the Malayan Emergency
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
• Isolated music & effects track
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing