THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS

This David Lean romance seems to have been swept under the carpet and yet it may be his most underrated masterpiece, (it's infinitely preferable to such elephantine fare as "Ryan's Daughter" and "Doctor Zhivago"). It marked the first time Lean would abandon the studio for more exotic locations, (in this case, the Swiss Alps), and seems designed as a vehicle for his wife, Ann Todd, who is outstanding as the respectable English wife who dallies with an old flame who happens to check into the room next door at the hotel she's staying in while on holiday. He's Trevor Howard and it's as if this is what might have happened in "Brief Encounter" had the lovers a bit more chutzpah.
Howard, too, is superb, (he always was; he remains one of the most underrated of all the great actors), and Todd's husband is the consistently excellent Claude Rains at his very best. As a tale of a genteel marriage threatened by genteel adultery it's beautifully done and why it isn't more highly appreciated is something of a mystery. If, like me, you believe Lean to be one of the great directors then this is essential viewing.