''Brief Encounter'' is a 1974 British-Italian television film starring Richard Burton and

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

, adapted from the play ''

Still Life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

'' by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

. The plot of the film is about two strangers, each married to another, who meet in a railway station and find themselves in a brief but intense affair. The material was previously the basis for the

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

film '' Brief Encounter'' (1945). Burton was cast at the last moment, after Robert Shaw dropped out. The film had its premiere on U.S. television on 12 November 1974 as part of the ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in t ...

'' series on NBC. The two lead roles were cast with "wild disregard for suitability" according to Brian McFarlane, who has described the film as "a total disaster." Originally intended to have a television screening in the United States, followed by a cinema release in the rest of the world, its poor reception in New York led to the international plans being abandoned. Rank, who owned the theatrical rights in the UK, sold them to television.David Shipman ''The Great Movie Stars, Volume 2, The International Years'', London: Macdonald, 1989, p.335 According to David Shipman, reviewing Burton's career in ''The Great Movie Stars'', this remake was "widely viewed as a ludicrous undertaking."Shipman, p.85

Cast

* Richard Burton as Alec Harvey *

as Anna Jesson *

Jack Hedley Jack Snowdon Hawkins (28 October 1929 – 11 December 2021), better known as Jack Hedley, was an English film, voice, radio, stage, character, theater, screen and television actor best known for his performances on television. His birth name n ...

as Graham Jesson * Rosemary Leach as Mrs Gaines *

Ann Firbank Ann Firbank (born 9 January 1933) is an actress of film, television, and stage whose career extends from 1956. One of Firbank's more notable roles is her 1971 portrayal of Anne Elliot in the serial ''Persuasion'', an adaptation of Jane Austen's ...

as Melanie Harvey * John Le Mesurier as Stephen

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brief Encounter 1974 television films 1974 films British television films Films directed by Alan Bridges Italian television films Films shot at Pinewood Studios 1970s English-language films