David Lean Directs Noël Coward Packaging
April 02, 2012
Film Info
- United Kingdom
- 1945
- 86 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.37:1
- English
- Spine #76
After a chance meeting on a train platform, a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) enter into a muted but passionate, ultimately doomed, love affair. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded setting, swooning Rachmaninoff score, and pair of remarkable performances (Johnson was nominated for an Oscar for her role), David Lean’s film of Noël Coward’s play Still Life deftly explores the thrill, pain, and tenderness of an illicit romance, and has influenced many a cinematic brief encounter since its release.
Cast
| Laura Jesson | Celia Johnson |
| Dr. Alec Harvey | Trevor Howard |
| Fred Jesson | Cyril Raymond |
| Albert Godby | Stanley Holloway |
| Myrtle Bagot | Joyce Carey |
| Beryl Waters | Margaret Barton |
| Stephen Lynn | Valentine Dyall |
| Dolly Messiter | Everley Gregg |
Credits
| Produced by | Noël Coward |
| Director | David Lean |
| From the play Still Life by | Noël Coward |
| Adapted by | David Lean, Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Director of photography | Robert Krasker |
| In charge of production | Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Art director | L.P. Williams |
| Film editor | Jack Harris |
| Music | Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 |
| Played by | Eileen Joyce and with the National Symphony Orchestra |
| Conducted by | Muir Mathieson |
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