Steven: Do you remember once, I asked you how you could love me and yet marry someone else?

Mary: Yes, I remember.

Steven: Your marriage was bound to be a failure.

Hide your wives when Trevor Howard is near- LOL! I heard about this film on a podcast just 2 wks ago; it is one of the fave classics of critic Angelica Jade Bastien. It’s based on the 1913 novel The Passionate Friends by H. G. Wells (who is more known for his sci-fi work). The film was directed by David Lean; he made Brief Encounter (1945) which co-starred Trevor Howard. Many critics/viewers have commented that this tale expands on the themes of Brief Encounter (and we get to see the POV of the husband).

Mary: I’m not a very good person, Steven. I wanted your love – and I wanted Howard’s affection and the security he could give me.

Steven: I can give you security too, and more than affection.

Mary: You don’t really know me at all. My love isn’t worth very much.

This emotional, intelligent, and visually interesting classic film is told through flashbacks. The first is when the two lovers are single and committed to each other. Somehow they broke up and went their separate ways. Several years later, Mary (Ann Todd) is married to a wealthy/older banker, Howard Justin (Claude Rains), when she meets Steven again. They see each other for about a week, then Howard (returning from a business trip) finds out re: their affair. Despite hints to the contrary, Mary decides to stay w/ her husband! Now (9 yrs. later), Mary and Steven (now an accomplished professor) meet by chance at a resort in the Swiss Alps. Steven has (finally) married and has two young kids. They spend a day together (boating, hiking, and a picnic). Unexpectedly, Howard arrives back at the hotel early to find that his wife is out. He is furious when he sees Mary with Steven; Howard is determined to divorce her and name Steven as the co-respondent (possibly ruining his life)!

Film is a dramatized reality and it is the director’s job to make it appear real… an audience should not be conscious of technique.

I think people remember pictures not dialogue. That’s why I like pictures.

I like making films about characters I’d like to have dinner with.

Always cast against the part and it won’t be boring.

-Quotes from David Lean re: filmmaking

Who said Brits don’t know romance!? I esp. liked the scenes in Steven’s apt. when they have a lunch (which he cooks); it’s a cute/domestic situation. The book Mary finds on Steven’s shelf and reads from is Patterns of Culture (1934) by Ruth Benedict (1887-1948), an American anthropologist/folklorist. It is the first book from which Mary and Steven quote after dinner (“In the beginning, God gave to every people a cup of clay, and from this cup they drank their life.”) The second book that they quote from (“From the music they love you should know the texture of men’s souls.”) is taken from English novelist/playwright John Galsworthy’s The Man of Property (1906), the first in a series of three novels and two interludes comprising the The Forsyte Saga (1922). The actual quote is: “By the cigars they smoke, and the composers they love, ye shall know the texture of men’s souls.”

What sets this film apart is that it also has empathy for the husband in the love triangle (which you rarely get to see)! Rains does a fine job (as usual), BUT he gets to show his romantic side. Mr. Justin knows he’s in a marriage of convenience, then he finds himself falling in love w/ his wife (which he didn’t expect). Also, he has an important job which requires him to travel often; sometimes Ann goes along. He also has a personal secretary, Miss Layton (Betty Ann Davies); she sees some of the drama (real, yet awkward). We get to see a woman’s POV (get inside her head); this is rare for a classic film! There are several moments when the camera lingers on Todd’s face, spending extra time on her thinking/emotions. Todd (in her early 40s) has great chemistry w/ Howard (who is charming and warm). Her hairdos and variety of outfits are V classy/beautiful. The music really suits the movie. Check this movie out!