Film Snail

7.7

Brief Encounter

NR·1945·86m

Drama

Romance

Drama

Romance

Summary

Returning 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

Laura Jesson

Trevor Howard

Dr. Alec Harvey

Stanley Holloway

Albert Godby

Joyce Carey

Myrtle Bagot

Cyril Raymond

Fred Jesson

Everley Gregg

Dolly Messiter

Marjorie Mars

Mary Norton

Margaret Barton

Tea Room Assistant Beryl Walters

Wilfred Babbage

Policeman at War Memorial (uncredited)

Alfie Bass

Waiter at the Royal (uncredited)

Wallace Bosco

Doctor After Bobbie's Accident (uncredited)

Sydney Bromley

Johnnie, the Second Soldier (uncredited)

Noël Coward

Train Station Announcer (uncredited)

Nuna Davey

Herminie Rolandson (uncredited)

Valentine Dyall

Alec's Friend Stephen Lynn (uncredited)

Irene Handl

The Cellist and Organist (uncredited)

Dennis Harkin

Beryl's Man Stanley (uncredited)

Edward Hodge

Bill (First Soldier) (uncredited)

Frederick Kelsey

Man in Cinema (uncredited)

Jack May

Boat Rental Man (uncredited)

Avis Scott

Kardomah Waitress (uncredited)

George V. Sheldon

Clergyman - Train Passenger (uncredited)

Crew

Director

David Lean

Screenplay, Theatre Play

Noël Coward

Reviews

Geronimo1967

March 28, 2022

Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life" this is a super adaptation from David Lean as Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard meet in a railway station café and 90 minutes later we have been on a roller-coaster of emotions, all delicately and subtly discussed, as these two eminently middle class English people challenge their long established "civilised" values and conventions of behaviour. It's style is it's simplicity - the script is poignant and charming; if a little dated now. Stanley Holloway provides an occasional breath of air during this quite intense drama, and who can ever forget that Rachmaninoff is a huge star of this, too?