Brief Encounter (1974, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren) – Classic Movie Review 13,411

The 1974 British-Italian TV film Brief Encounter is an appalling remake of the 1945 classic, this time starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren.

Director Alan Bridges’s 1974 British-Italian film Brief Encounter is an appalling TV remake of David Lean’s 1945 classic Brief Encounter from Noël Coward’s 1936 play Still Life, this time starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren.

Everything about it seems wrong. Richard Burton is plausibly cast but off form in the old Trevor Howard role of kindly doctor. Sophia Loren has simply alighted at the wrong station (Loren as Celia Johnson?) though they have adjusted the character to be an Italian-born woman who has lived in England for two decades.

In an odd name change, Sophia Loren plays Anna Jesson, whereas Celia Johnson played Laura Jesson in the original. Richard Burton plays Dr Alec Harvey, played by Trevor Howard in 1945.

The teleplay by John Bowen stays close to Noël Coward’s1945 movie script about a married middle-class suburban housewife who develops a crush on a married local doctor on her weekly shopping visits into the city. The two strangers meet in a railway station when a piece of dirt enters the housewife’s eye and the doctor helps her, and are angst ridden by an ensuing intense brief love affair.

It is evidence, if evidence is needed, that Coward is not actor-proof, though it takes a lot to mess up his work.

The film is set at the train station in Winchester but a different station sign saying Brockenhurst, briefly visible. Filming took place at Brockenhurst Station, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England.

It runs 103 minutes but the US TV version runs 74 minutes.

It premiered on US TV on 12 November 1974 as part of NBC’s Hallmark Hall of Fame series. A planned international cinema release was abandoned after poor reviews on US TV. in the UK, The Rank Organisation sold its theatrical rights to TV.

Filming locations: Winchester, Hampshire, England; Shawford, Hampshire, England; Brockenhurst Station, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England; New Forest, Hampshire, England; City Centre, Winchester, Hampshire, England.

Richard Burton was a last minute replacement for Robert Shaw who dropped out to make Jaws. Steven Spielberg was offering $50,000 a day pay against  producer Sir Lew Grade’s offer of $25,000. Robert Shaw had worked successfully with director Alan Bridges on The Hireling (1973) previously.

Sophia Loren’s office is at 3 The Square, Winchester, being used in the mid-2000s by the recruitment firm trading as CFR Global Executive Search.

The cast

The cast are Richard Burton as Dr Alec Harvey, Sophia Loren as Anna Jesson, Jack Hedley as Graham Jesson, Rosemary Leach as Mrs Gaines, Ann Firbank as Melanie Harvey, John Le Mesurier as Stephen. Patricia Franklin as Beryl Walters, Gwen Cherrell, Benjamin Edney, Madeleine Hinde, Brook Williams, Norman Mitchell, Mildred Shay, Christopher Hammond, Maggie Walker, Jack Harding, Ernest C Jennings, Patricia Franklin, Marco Orlandini, and Jumoko Debayo.

Brief Encounter is directed by Alan Bridges, runs 103 minutes, is made by Carlo Ponti Productions, Cecil Clarke Productions and ITC Films, is released by NBC (US), is written by John Bowen, is shot by Arthur Ibbetson, is produced by Carlo Ponti, Cecil Clarke and Duane C Bogie, is scored by Cyril Ornadel, and is designed by Peter Roden.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,411

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com