Teresa Reviews “The Case of the Discontented Soldier” (1982)

Teresa reviews “The Case of the Discontented Soldier” (1982) from “The Agatha Christie Hour” and found it a charming romp, although she wished the couple had exhibited better chemistry.

Fidelity to text: 3 treasure maps
The film is greatly expanded over the short story by adding street urchins and giving Ariadne Oliver far more screen time.

Quality of film on its own: 3 1/2 treasure maps
There’s a lot of story packed into 52 minutes but it didn’t sparkle as much for what is, at heart, a romantic thriller.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movies on her podcast.

You never know what you’ll get with a Parker Pyne story. He’s a retired government statistician who uses his knowledge to stave off ennui and benefit mankind. As a “Detective of the Heart,” he’s all over the map in Agatha’s 14 stories about him. He solves marital issues, boredom with life, existential despair, and the occasional odd crime.

He’s got a staff, giving Agatha opportunities to work out various supporting character types. He also hires performers as needed to ensure total client satisfaction. He owns property for use in staging his scenarios.

His primary assistant is Miss Lemon. She’s the ideal secretary, ultra-efficient and devoted to running the office. Hercule Poirot later hires her, and it’s no wonder she works so well for him. She’s used to an eccentric boss.

As we saw in “The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife,” Parker Pyne has a lounge lizard on call, Claude Luttrell, to seduce the ladies as needed. In this episode, we’re introduced to his counterpart, the woman of mystery Madeline de Sera, who ascertains the workings of a gentleman’s heart.

He’s also got an advisor on dramatic yet believable scenarios, the famous novelist Ariadne Oliver. She doesn’t appear until the dénouement, but she devised the plot involving treasure maps, kidnapping, near-death escapes, and rescuing damsels.

There’s a lovely moment at the end when Pyne asks that next time she create a more original plot. “No,” she tartly replies. People expect treasure maps, sinister solicitors, kidnappings and hair-breath escapes. “They know where they stand” with this. Create something original, and they become confused and unhappy. This is how she’s published 40 bestsellers translated into 20 languages.

Lally Bowers plays Ariadne and she’s pitch-perfect. It’s a shame that The Agatha Christie Hour didn’t film the other Parker Pyne stories featuring her, so we can watch Agatha developing her alter-ego onscreen. Or you can read the Parker Pyne stories.

As I said, the stories are all over the map as Agatha tested different genres and tropes and played with the question of “what is a detective.” She was always cutting edge.

She also had a sense of humor, and thus we come to this story’s hero, Major John Wilbraham. His problem is that his life is over. He retired from the Army and left Kenya, returning to a typical English village in the middle of nowhere. It’s empty, blah, gray, nothing will happen.

Forever after her round-the-world cruise in 1922, Agatha remained fond of Africa. You can safely assume that if she portrays a retired officer positively, he served in Africa. If he’s a pedantic bore who deserves to get murdered, that military man spent his time in India.

Major John (William Gaunt) is alone, isolated, surrounded by strangers who either see him as husband number 3, or as that outsider. He’s only got his noble dog at his side, and while Wally is a good listener, he doesn’t keep up his end of the conversation. Wally, a handsome golden cocker spaniel, is portrayed by Walter Gaunt. Walter Gaunt is William Gaunt’s dog, acting alongside his master in this and other roles. It explains why Wally is so attentive to Major John. He’s not acting! He really is the only person who genuinely cares about Major John.

Major John sees Parker Pyne’s newspaper advert (“Are You Happy?”) and takes a chance. Pyne correctly diagnoses the problem. He explains that retired empire builders get bored. They’ve lost their purpose in life. Ergo, adventure and a purpose must be found. It won’t be found in that boring little village. A check for 50 guineas is handed over on the promise that Major John will be happy within six weeks or his money back.

Madeline de Sera enters and Pyne asks Major John to take her to lunch. She’s a femme fatale, way out of his league, intimidatingly sultry, and not the kind of girl he pines for. Madeline, like Miss Lemon, is better at sizing up Major John’s romantical aspirations than Parker Pyne is.

Then we meet Freda Clegg. She’s a lonely young woman, making her way alone in the world, although she’s not quite alone. She’s got a nosy landlady and two street urchins who take an interest in her welfare.

She receives a visit from a strange solicitor from Australia pursuing her for information about a mysterious legacy left by her sea-captain father. She willingly hands over her father’s papers and he leaves. I can’t imagine why she would do that. Not only does she know nothing about him, but the solicitor had a terrible Australian accent. Clearly, she needs a man to take charge of her.

Fortunately, she’s about to meet Major John in dramatic fashion. The solicitor sent her to a mysterious, abandoned house where she was set upon by thugs. (Not thugs directly connected to Africa as in the short story. These are London thugs). Major John overheard her cries for help and sprang into action like a knight of olde. The thugs flee, and Freda was overwhelmed, grateful, and very effusive.

You can tell that Major John, while acting properly modest, is very pleased with himself and who wouldn’t be? He rescued a damsel! Even better, exactly the kind of damsel he pines for.

Then, to add frosting to his cake, Freda still needs his help. They have a lovely lunch, they talk about her mysterious assailants, return to her flat, and discover that she’s been robbed. Adventure! Life! Color! have returned to Major John’s life. The sprinkles on his frosted cake arrive when he deduces that Freda still has what the solicitor wanted and discovers the map her father concealed inside a blown-out ostrich egg. And he can read it, because it’s in Swahili, the language he learned in Kenya.

Could a man be happier? Well, sure. The hidden map is a treasure map, leading to a cache of ivory.

Freda and Major John separate for the evening, each back to their lonely lodgings.

Their plans for the next day are disturbed when they receive a letter, supposedly from the other. Major John discovers Freda held captive in the rundown house where he rescued her from the thugs. He stops paying attention to his surroundings, gets coshed in the head, and awakens tied up in the cellar with Freda. The villainous solicitor tells them their fate, turns on the taps, and leaves them to drown. Major John rises to the occasion, burns the ropes tying his wrists together, and then, to add cake to his ice cream, heroically rescues Freda again.

A month later, we see them in Kenya. There’s no ivory cache. Nonetheless, champagne with cake and ice cream, Major John found the girl of his dreams, she’s found her dream man, they’re in Africa with Wally, and all ends happily. If only, Major John thinks, he hadn’t wasted 50 guineas on Parker Pyne. But he is happy just like Pyne promised, so he magnanimously forgives him, even if the old man had nothing to do with it.

The episode works pretty well, although I would have liked more chemistry between our leads. I would have liked seeing much more of Ariadne Oliver. She steals the scene even more than Wally did.

If you like Teresa Reviews “The Case of the Discontented Soldier” (1982), read more of her Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.