The Passionate Friends

Watch: The Passionate Friends

5/17/19491h 31m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Their affair took on a life of its own. ~

Overview:

A woman is torn between the love of her life, who's married to someone else, and her older husband.

Director:

David Lean

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$350,000.00

Revenue:

$225,000.00

Key words:

forgiveness
switzerland

Cast

Ann Todd

~ as ~

Mary Justin

Claude Rains

~ as ~

Howard Justin

Trevor Howard

~ as ~

Prof. Steven Stratton

Betty Ann Davies

~ as ~

Joan Layton

Isabel Dean

~ as ~

Pat Stratton

Wilfrid Hyde-White

~ as ~

Lawyer

Arthur Howard

~ as ~

Smith - the Butler

Guido Lorraine

~ as ~

Hotel Manager

Marcel Poncin

~ as ~

Hall Porter

Natasha Sokolova

~ as ~

Chambermaid

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
7
Ann Todd puts in quite a strong performance in this quite sensitively presented drama as "Mary", a lady contentedly if not ecstatically married to financier "Howard" (Claude Rains). One afternoon she bumps into "Prof. Stratton" (Trevor Howard) and that rekindles memories of a pre-war romance. When her husband has to go to Switzerland on business, she accompanies him and yes, you've guessed, she encounters "Stratton" again - though this time her husband spots her distress when they part and she is rumbled. This is another solid effort from David Lean that allows the performances to develop at their own pace; the characters each have flaws and strengths and his adaptation of this lesser known HG Wells story is quite a poignant and characterful look at how the choices we make evolve and change over time. The title is a bit misleading - for passion is really the one thing that is truly absent throughout, but Rains and Howard - two distinctively different style of actors work well as the foils to Todd's uncertain and needy "Mary" who is probably far more excited by the idea of love rather than actually experiencing or enjoying it. I could have done without her narration - it distracted me from an otherwise superior drama that is certainly a delight to watch, if not necessarily one with characters to admire.