Brief Encounter (1945)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

(more)

Release Date:

24 August 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Tagline:

A story of the most precious moments in woman's life!

Plot:

Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Railway Station | Railway | Doctor | Housewife

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 10

9:00 AM

TCM

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	...	Beryl Walters, Tea Room Assistant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wilfred Babbage	...	Policeman at War Memorial (uncredited)
Alfie Bass	...	Waiter at the Royal (uncredited)
Wallace Bosco	...	Doctor at Bobbie's Accident (uncredited)
Sydney Bromley	...	Johnnie, Second Soldier (uncredited)
Nuna Davey	...	Herminie Rolandson, Mary's Cousin (uncredited)
Valentine Dyall	...	Stephen Lynn, Alec's 'Friend' (uncredited)
Irene Handl	...	Cellist and Organist (uncredited)
Dennis Harkin	...	Stanley, Beryl's Man (uncredited)
Edward Hodge	...	Bill, First Soldier (uncredited)
Jack May	...	Boat Rental Man (uncredited)
Avis Scott	...	Cardova Waitress (uncredited)
George V. Sheldon	...	Clergyman, Train Passenger (uncredited)
Richard Thomas	...	Bobbie Jesson (uncredited)
Henrietta Vincent	...	Margaret Jesson (uncredited)

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits
Noel Coward		(play "Still Life") uncredited
Anthony Havelock-Allan		uncredited
David Lean		uncredited
Ronald Neame		uncredited

Produced by
Noel Coward	....	producer
Anthony Havelock-Allan	....	producer (uncredited)
Ronald Neame	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Krasker

Film Editing by
Jack Harris

Art Direction by
Lawrence P. Williams		(as L.P. Williams)

Production Management
Anthony Havelock-Allan	....	in charge of production
E.J. Holding	....	production manager (as E. Holding)
Ronald Neame	....	in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Pollock	....	assistant director
Victor Wark	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
G.E. Calthrop	....	artistic supervisor: Noel Coward
William Kellner	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Elven Webb	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Herbert Westbrook	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Desmond Dew	....	sound recordist
Stanley Lambourne	....	sound recordist
Harry Miller	....	sound editor
Peter Davies	....	dubbing sound camera (uncredited)

Special Effects by
George Blackwell	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Charles Staffell	....	back projection (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
B. Francke	....	camera operator
Jim Body	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Alan Bryce	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Arthur Ibbetson	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Ronald Neame	....	director of photography: additional photography (uncredited)
E. Owen	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Margery Saunders	....	associate editor
John Cooke	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Winston Ryder	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
John Hollingsworth	....	associate musical director (uncredited)
Percival Mackey	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Maggie Unsworth	....	continuity (as Margaret Sibley)
Renée Glynne	....	production secretary (uncredited)
T. Tomson	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cineguild

Distributors

• Eagle-Lion Distributors Limited (1945) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Associated British Film Distributors (ABFD) (1948) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Park Circus (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• C-Sales (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Carlton International Media
• Carlton Visual Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Epix Media (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• F.J. Lucas (Brazil) (VHS)
• LW Editora (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (video)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Other Companies

• National Symphony Orchestra  musicians (as The National Symphony Orchestra)

Also Known As:

Noel Coward's Brief Encounter (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Spain:13 (DVD rating) | Australia:G | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:AL | Finland:K-16 | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #11819, Adult Audience) | Ireland:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Cineguild

Trivia:

Laura borrows books by Kate O'Brien. Kate O'Brien (1897 - 1974), was an Irish novelist and playwright.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Laura enters the apartment, the pattern of water marks on her back changes.

Quotes:

Fred Jesson: [playing the crossword puzzle] You're a poetry addict. See if you can help me over this. It's Keats. 'When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face / Huge cloudy symbols of a high _______.' Something that's seven letters.
Laura Jesson: Romance, I think. I'm almost sure it is. 'Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.' It will be in the Oxford Book of English Verse.
Fred Jesson: No, it's right I'm sure. It fits in with 'delirium' and 'Baluchistan.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ratatouille (2007)

Soundtrack:

Piano Concerto No. 2

Simple, Honest, and Unforgettable.

It really pleases me to see the very positive responses here to this gem of a movie. I recently read Kevin Brownlow's epic, detailed biography of David Lean, and I'm less mystified as to how Lean went from intimate character dramas such as this one, and even GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST, to the big-screen epics which placed far more emphasis on scenery and very little on character. Lean had great problems with intimacy, and much preferred grandeur (he virtually abandoned his son, and didn't meet one of his grandchildren until she was about 30). I'm not knocking the epics, because I've enjoyed them as well, but at the end of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA one knows about as much about Lawrence as one did about 3-1/2 hours earlier. ..unlike Alec and Laura in this film, whom we know very well after 1-1/2 hours, or Pip and Miss Havisham in EXPECTATIONS, characters who leapt off the screen and endeared themselves to us (it also helped that some really gifted actors & actresses played these roles).

I never tire of BRIEF ENCOUNTER - it's one of the screen's great romances, perhaps because it doesn't quite end "happily ever after". It remains simple, honest, and unforgettable.