Synopsis
An American housewife (Jennifer Jones) vacationing in Italy reluctantly decides to put an end to her brief affair with an Italian academic (Montgomery Clift). She flees to Rome’s Stazione Termini, where she bids him farewell, but he begs her to stay. The film’s plot is simple; its production was not. The troubled collaboration between director Vittorio De Sica and producer David O. Selznick resulted in two cuts of the same film. De Sica’s version, Terminal Station, was screened at a length of one-and-a-half hours, but after disappointing previews, Selznick severely re-edited it and changed the title to Indiscretion of an American Wife without De Sica’s permission. The Criterion Collection is proud to present both versions of this controversial release.
Cast
| Giovanni Doria | Montgomery Clift |
| Mary Forbes | Jennifer Jones |
| Paul | Richard Beymer |
Credits
| Director | Vittorio De Sica |
| Associate producers | Marcello Girosi and Wolfgang Reinhardt |
| Music | Alessandro Cicognini |
| Conducted by | Franco Ferrara |
| Photographed by | Aldo Graziati |
| Editing | Eraldo Da Roma |
| Miss Jones' costumes designed by | Christian Dior |
| Art director | Virgilio Marchi |
| Production manager | Nino Misiano |
| Technical associate | Richard Van Hessen |
| Camera operator | Sergio Bergamini |
| Assistant director | Luisa Alessandri |
| Unit manager | Roberto Moretti |
| Sound engineers | Bruno Brunacci and Alberto Bartolomei |
| Screenplay | Cesare Zavattini, Luigi Chiarini and Giorgio Prosperi |
| From a story by | Cesare Zavattini |
| Dialogue by | Truman Capote |
Disc Features
- Includes new digital transfers of both versions of the film: Indiscretion of an American Wife: Selznick’s 72-minute cut, including the Patti Page-performed overture “Autumn in Rome” and “Indiscretion”; Terminal Station (Stazione termini): De Sica’s original 89-minute version
- Exclusive audio commentary on Indiscretion by film scholar Leonard Leff (Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick)
- Original theatrical trailer
- Promotional materials
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
From the Current
Indiscretion of an American Wife &
Terminal Station
by
Aug 18, 2003
Vittorio De Sica was one of the world’s most celebrated filmmakers when, in 1952, David O. Selznick commissioned Terminal Station (Stazione Termini, 1954) from him and his screenwriting partner, Cesare Zavattini. The film would be a gallant experiment in combining Italy’s...
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