Brief Encounter (1945)
86%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
3 wins & 3 nominations total
Brief Encounter adds a small but valuable gem to the Lean filmography, depicting a doomed couple’s illicit connection with affecting sensitivity and a pair of powerful performance
Brief Encounter is the kind of movie that makes you want to curl up with a box of tissues and a pint of ice cream. It’s a classic love story that will have you feeling all the feels. The performances are top-notch, and the direction is masterful. Lean knows how to capture the nuances of human emotion, and he does it with elegance and grace. If you’re in the mood for a good cry, this is the movie for you. Just make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand.
Production Company(ies)
CNN Films, HBO Max Tremolo Productions,
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Company, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Criterion Collection
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Carnforth Station, Carnforth, Lancashire, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1946
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 26m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 1946 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 28, 2001
Genre(s)
Romance/Drama
Keyword(s)
Romance, Drama, David Lean, Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame, Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Cyril Raymond, Joyce Carey, Everley Gregg, Mono, Samuel Goldwyn Company, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Criterion Collection, 1945, 1h 26m, $3.99, Subscription, MPAA rating, 91%, 10,000+ Ratings, reviewed by Zadie Smith, Sophie Monks Kaufman, Kate Muir, Tom Huddleston, Keith Uhlich, Variety Staff, Kat Halstead, Film Daily Staff, Mattie Lucas, Rachel Wagner, Josh Larsen, MFB Critics, starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Cyril Raymond, Joyce Carey, directed by David Lean, written by Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame, produced by Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame, box office performance
Worldwide gross: $87,103
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,563,994
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,485
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 170,556
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Trevor Howard – Dr Alec Harvey
Stanley Holloway – Albert Godby
Cyril Raymond – Fred Jesson
Joyce Carey – Myrtle Bagot
Everley Gregg – Dolly Messiter
Director(s)
David Lean
Writer(s)
Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame
Producer(s)
Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
3 wins & 3 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (4)
Lean’s sad, buttoned-up account of unconsummated love is about all of us and our cautious natures.
January 17, 2018
Zadie Smith
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Romance and goodness are evoked with equal power and from these conflicting impulses, voluptuous demons spring eternal.
November 9, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Sophie Monks Kaufman
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
One of cinema’s classic love stories.
November 5, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
One of the most vivid, impassioned and painfully believable love stories ever committed to celluloid.
November 2, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Tom Huddleston
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Sheer perfection-the gold standard of tragic romances whose influence can still be seen to this day.
October 9, 2012 | Rating: 5/5
Keith Uhlich
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Cyril Raymond manages to invest the stodgy character with a lovable quality.
November 6, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
For a movie where it appears that very little happens, this classic 1940s British romantic drama packs an almighty emotional punch.
April 6, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kat Halstead
Common Sense Media
Rate this offering as one of the better British films.
February 1, 2021
Film Daily Staff
The Film Daily
Lean solidified his mastery of emotional intimacy even without the epic scope, and crafted what many consider to be one of his finest achievements.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
If it was made today it would probably be tawdry and tasteless but here it strikes just the right note.
May 14, 2019 | Rating: 7/10
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
…captures roiling emotions with elegant panache.
August 31, 2018 | Rating: 4/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
This is a poet’s film, harsh, cruel and lovely. There have been few better British films than Brief Encounter even at a time when our studios are taking their place in the vanguard of this great contemporary art.
January 23, 2018
MFB Critics
Monthly Film Bulletin…
Plot
At a café on a railway station, housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard). Although they are both already married, they gradually fall in love with each other. They continue to meet every Thursday in the small café, although they know that their love is impossible.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No specific tidbit is given about someone in the cast.
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