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Brief Encounter
Sign in to save1945 British film directed by David Lean
OverviewAI-generated
Brief Encounter is a 1945 British black-and-white romance and drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay was written by Lean, Noël Coward, Ronald Neame, and Anthony Havelock-Allan, who also served as producers. The cast features Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey. Sergei Rachmaninoff composed the music, and Robert Krasker served as director of photography. The narrative is set in England.
The film has a runtime of 86 minutes. It was distributed by Eagle-Lion Films and Netflix, with availability on platforms including HBO Max, Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, Criterion Channel, and FlixFling. Production companies involved were Cineguild and J. Arthur Rank Organisation. The capital cost was 1,000,000, while the budget was 1,200,000. It received the National Board of Review: Top Ten Films award and was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.
Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.7Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Cast
- Celia Johnson as Laura Jesson
- Trevor Howard as Dr. Alec Harvey
- Stanley Holloway as Albert Godby
- Joyce Carey as Myrtle Bagot
- Cyril Raymond as Fred Jesson
- Everley Gregg as Dolly Messiter
Themes
- infidelity
- farewell
- husband wife relationship
- narration
- marriage
- housewife
- duty
- black and white
- doctor
- love affair
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Key facts
- Directed by
- David Lean
- Screenplay by
- Noël Coward Anthony Havelock-Allan David Lean Ronald Neame
- Based on
- Still Life , 1936 play, by Noël Coward
- Produced by
- Noël Coward Anthony Havelock-Allan Ronald Neame
- Starring
- Celia Johnson Trevor Howard Stanley Holloway Joyce Carey Cyril Raymond
- Cinematography
- Robert Krasker
- Edited by
- Jack Harris
- Music by
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Distributed by
- Eagle-Lion Distributors
- Release date
- 26 November 1945 ( 1945-11-26 ) (London premiere)
- Running time
- 87 minutes
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $1 million or $1.4 million
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Original language
- English language
- Director
- David Lean
- Screenwriter
- Anthony Havelock-Allan
- Cast member
- Alfie Bass
- Composer
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Producer
- Anthony Havelock-Allan
- Cinematographer
- Robert Krasker
- Narrative location
- England
- Duration
- 85
- FilmAffinity ID
- 553666
- Distribution format
- video on demand
Show 8 more facts
- assessment
- Bechdel test
- review score
- 8.0/10
- capital cost
- 1000000
- publication date
- 1946-08-30
- title
- Brief Encounter
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
- color
- black-and-white
- distributed by
- Netflix
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
~23 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic tragedy film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life. The film stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in lead roles, alongside Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond, Everley Gregg and Margaret Barton.
Brief Encounter tells the story of two married strangers living in pre-World War II England, whose chance meeting at a railway station leads to a brief yet intense emotional affair disrupting their otherwise conventional lives.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Brief Encounter” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.