Brief Encounter (1945) Movie Review: David Lean

Brief Encounter (1945) with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.

Brief Encounter (1945) movie review: Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are sympathetic adulterers in David Lean’s masterwork

Brief Encounter one-line synopsis:

• A housewife (Celia Johnson) and a married doctor (Trevor Howard) have an adulterous – if platonic – affair.

The Pros:

• Shadow-bathed, smoke-enshrouded railway stations (cinematography by Robert Krasker) to the strains of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Enough to turn the jadedest among us into a wide-eyed romantic.
• David Lean’s delicate, compassionate direction; and Lean, Ronald Neame, and Anthony Havelock-Allan’s sensitive adaptation of Noël Coward’s play Still Life. No Hollywood ending here, and no syrupy, cutesy moments, either. Just as important, neither the director nor the screenwriters are ever either judgmental or condescending toward their characters.
• Best Actress Oscar nominee and New York Film Critics winner Celia Johnson’s performance as Brief Encounter’s adulterous but sympathetic, stiff-upper-lipped but passionate, gloriously happy but guilt-ridden, and most sad-eyed housewife in all of England. Just as effective is Cyril Raymond’s outstanding supporting turn as her husband.
• Historical curiosity: The friend’s apartment scene – in which the adulterous couple’s love affair almost gets physical – inspired Billy Wilder’s The Apartment.
• The film’s final moment, featuring the line “Thank you for coming back to me.” When you watch Brief Encounter, it’ll make heart-smashing sense to you.

The Cons:

• No actual cons, really. That said, the humorous bits featuring Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey wouldn’t be missed if they disappeared, while Trevor Howard doesn’t fully convey his character’s passion or inner turmoil. That’s why Brief Encounter rests squarely on the long eyelashes of its female star.

The Question Mark:

• Did the husband know? I’d say he did. In fact, I’m sure he did. Others are just as sure he didn’t. According to a friend who knows Brief Encounter co-screenwriter Ronald Neame, the future director of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Poseidon Adventure said that No, the husband didn’t know. I say he did.

In Sum:

• Brief Encounter is a masterful, deeply moving love story for adults.

Brief Encounter (1945) cast & crew

Director: David Lean

Screenplay: David Lean, Ronald Neame & Anthony Havelock-Allan
Source: Noël Coward’s play Still Life

Cast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond.

“Brief Encounter (1945) Movie Review: David Lean” notes

*last modified in June 2026.