Noel Coward’s The Astonished Heart

The Astonished Heart was made in 1949 and released to movie houses in March 1950.  I find it very interesting that this movie was a commercial failure because I consider it one of the best classic films I have ever seen.  The Astonished Heart really is a good movie and I recommend it.  This movie is based on a ten cycle play titled Tonight At 8:30, written by Noel Coward.  The 1945 movie Brief Encounter was also adapted from the play Tonight At 8:30.  Brief Encounter, however was a success at the box office, so go figure.

The Astonished Heart stars Noel Coward in one of his rare appearances on screen.  Noel Coward plays the part of Dr. Christian Faber.  The movie also stars Celia Johnson as Barbara Faber, Margaret Leighton as Leanora Vail, Joyce Carey as Susan Birch, and Graham Payne as Tim Verney.  The movie was directed by Terence Fisher.




The Astonished Heart begins near the end of the story and is told in flashbacks.  When the movie starts Barbara is making a phone call to someone named Leanora telling her to come right away because something has happened  to Chris and he is asking for her.  You have no idea who Chris is or why Leanora is upset.  From there the story unfolds has Barbara sits by the window looking out into the rainy night.  




One rainy day while out shopping, Barbara Faber runs into her friend Leanora from her school days.  The two women have not seen each other since graduation seventeen years earlier, but they pick up where their friendship left off as if the many years had not passed.  Barbara invites Leanora to her home where she is introduced to Barbara’s husband Dr. Christian Faber.  Dr, Faber is a noted psychiatrist.  Upon meeting Barbara’s husband Leanora takes an immediate dislike to Christian because he barely acknowledged her before leaving the room.  Leanora is a very beautiful woman who is used to men reacting positively to her.  When Christian barely noticed her Leanora was inwardly bothered by it and it didn’t matter that Christian is Barbara’s husband.  What mattered to Leanora was that Christian is a man and he should have been taken in by her just as any man would.  Leanora decides to get back at Christian by making him fall in love with her. 
 
      
Christian and Barbara have been married for twelve years and he loves his wife.  The couple live an ordinary life but it is a happy one.  Barbara leaves for an extended visit to take care of her and dos not return for some time.  As a result Barbara cannot attend a play she was scheduled to see with Leanora, so Barbara calls Christian and asks him to give the tickets to their friend Tim so they he can take Leanora to see the play.  Tim has already left to go elsewhere though.  Christian cannot find anyone else to take Leanora to the play so he feels obliged to take his wife’s place.  BIG MISTAKE!

   
Christain has such a great time out with Leanora that he takes her out again.  Leanora has completely charmed Christian and she is doing it on purpose to get back at him for brushing her off when they initially met.  At first Christian is having fun with it, but then he ends up falling very deeply in love with Leanora.  Christian cannot stay away from her and looks forward to spending his evenings with her.



Christian is keeps falling more deeply in love with Leanora and cannot be without her.  Every time Christian is with Leanora she is looking even more lovely, casting her spell over him.  I started to wonder when the heck Barbara was coming home.  I understand that Barbara  went off to take care of her mother, but it wasn’t as if it were a life or death illness.  Barbara should have returned home a lot sooner 



Noel Coward was openly gay in real life, but I think he played the part of a man obsessed with a woman very well.  The kissing scenes in this movie are not what we are used to seeing today, but still done very well for that time period.  I read one review where the person did not think Noel Coward was right for this role, but I totally disagree.  I loved Noel Coward as Christian Faber.  If this movie is ever remade I would LOVE to see Richard Armitage cast as Christian and Romola Garai as Leanora.   



Barbara FINALLY returns home.  When she arrives Christian is not at home which is very unusual.  Barbara checks Christian's appointment diary to see if it can tell her where he is, and this is Barbara’s first clue that something is terribly wrong.  

Christian comes home very late one night after spending the evening with Leanora.  Barbara confronts Christian and he does not deny anything.  What is really strange about Barbara though is that she is acting really calm and collected.  Barbara even tells Christian to go away for a while and take Leanora with him and get it out of his system.  I could not believe it.  Barbara was distressed, of course, but she did not yell, scream or even cry, which is very bizarre.  Christian is very apologetic about what happened, but the fact is he is madly in love with Leanora and he can't help how he feels now.   Christian takes up his wife’s offer to go away with Leanora to see if their relationship would eventually fizzle out.  Barbara also decided to go away for awhile.  I thought to myself, didn’t Barbara already go away and that is how Christian got into this mess?  Barbara’s entire behavior is so weird.  My LEO pride would never allow me to throw a tantrum either if, God forbid, I found out that my husband was in love with another woman.  However,  there is no way I would suggest that he go away with the other woman to get it out of his system. 

 
Christian and Leanora go away together and seem to be having a wonderful time.  Eventually though, Leanora starts seeing another man.  Christian senses something is wrong in their relationship and catches Leanora telling lies.  Leanora admits that she is seeing a male friend of hers.
 
Christian is eaten up with jealousy now.  Leanora has become his entire world and he cannot live without her.  One night Christian and Leanora have it out one final time.  The scene is really pathetic and sad.  You can clearly see that Christian is emotionally falling apart and about to have a nervous breakdown.  Christian desperately wants Leanora to love him but she doesn’t and admits it to Christian.  Christian has to face the fact that his life is now ruined.  He cannot go back to Barbara because his love for Leanora is branded in his heart.  In a complete mental daze, Christian goes out into the night wondering around aimlessly for hours.  What happens next takes you back to where the movie started and you find out what happened to Christian.  You will have to watch the movie yourself if you want to know.  The Astonished Heart is a very tragic film that shows how fragile human emotions can be. 
 

   
Dr. Christian Faber was a very self assured and strong man before Leanora appeared in his life.  It is not nice to play with a person's feelings.  I've known people (men & women) who found themselves in situations like this.  Do not play around with people's emotions and psyche like this because the effects can be tragic as it is in this movie.
   

 Margaret Leighton

Margaret Leighton looks a lot like Ruth Warrick in this movie and I had to look at the credits again to see who was playing Leanora Vail.

 Noel Coward

 
Noel Coward came up with the name for this movie from the following Bible verse. 

“The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness and astonishment of heart.”
—Deuteronomy 28:28.

Brief Encounter (1945) - Love It!

This movie review is one that I am most happy to write.  Noel Coward's Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean has to be one of the best movies I have seen.  This movie was originally released on November 26, 1945 in the United Kingdom.  It was released in America on August 24, 1946.  The movie stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.  The screenplay was written by Noel Coward who based it on his book Still Life.  Unfortunately this movie was not available for streaming on Netflix, so I streamed it from Amazon instead.   

Brief Encounter is about a married man (Dr. Alec Harvey) and a married woman (Laura Jesson) who meet in a train station and happen to naturally fall in love with each other without ever intending to.  Having an affair was not on their minds when they met.  It all happened quite innocently and in a very non-sordid kind of way.  There is no meeting in hotels to have sex or anything like that.  Laura and Alec simply met at a train station and from there, their paths kept crossing.

       

Celia plays the part of Laura Jesson.  Celia is perfect in the role.  Her large expressive eyes are revealing.  She actually reminds me of the way Daniela Denby-Ashe used her large expressive eyes in North and South, and all of a sudden I began to think that Daniela and Richard Armiatge would be perfect in a remake of Brief Encounter.

Trevor Howard plays the part of Dr. Alec Harvey and he gave an awesome performance.  Trevor Howard is handsome, but in a non-conventional way.  The delivery of his lines was off the chart.  The way Trevor kept uttering "I love you" was PERFECT.  Trevor Howard spoke those words of love so softly and with such tenderness, yet with such profound conviction and surety.

The above screen-cap shows the first meeting of Laura and and Alec.  Laura was watching the express train go by when something flew into her eye.  Alec comes to her aid and manages to get the grit out of her eye.   Laura is a suburban housewife who takes the train into town every Thursday to go shopping, stop at the library for a book and then take in a movie at the cinema before returning home.  Alec goes into town every Thursday to consult at a local hospital. 

After running into each other again at a restaurant Alec asks to join her at her table since there are no other tables available.  After lunch Alec asks Laura if he can join her at the cinema.  Many people watching this movie would probably say that their love began to unfold from this point, but I say that it began to unfold the day he helped her get the grit out of her eye.  It was not in a way that was conscious to either of them though.  This is one of the things that makes this love story so sweet.  I would also have to say that the love they had for one another was not what either of them ever experienced with their respective spouses.  It was a first for both of them.  I am sure that Laura loved her husband, but I don't believe it was in the same way.  Laura was content in her marriage but something was missing and she did not know that until she met Alec.  I would say the same for Alec, otherwise their hearts would not have been open to one another.     
   

Laura's husband (Fred Jesson) obviously cares about Laura and loves her, but he is not attentive.  After dinner they sit together in the family room but he is busy doing crossword puzzles and not really listening to his wife while she talking to him.  Fred seems like a good man but one without passion. 
  

 

As Alec and Laura began spending every Thursday together their love for one another was embedding itself within the fabric of their beings.  
  

I love this scene when Alec decides to face the truth that he is in love with Laura and tells her.  

  "Dr. Alec Harvey: I love you. I love your wide eyes, the way you smile, your shyness, and the way you laugh at my jokes.
Laura Jesson: Please don't.
Dr. Alec Harvey: I love you. I love you. You love me too. It's no use pretending it hasn't happened cause it has.
Laura Jesson: Yes it has. I don't want to pretend anything either to you or to anyone else. But from now on, I shall have to. That's what's wrong. Don't you see? That's what spoils everything. That's why we must stop, here and now, talking like this. We're neither of us free to love each other. There's too much in the way. There's still time, if we control ourselves and behave like sensible human beings. There's still time."

One of the things that I love about this movie is that both Alec and Laura keep in mind that in the midst of their love they are married to other people and having an affair is wrong.  Their love is real and from the heart and soul, but other people have to be considered.  Alec and Laura both have two children as well.  Neither wants to hurt their spouses and children.  Feelings of guilt and shame are felt by both of them. 
      

After having dinner together they run into one of Laura's friends.  Laura had no idea that the two women were also in the restaurant and saw her with Alec.  Laura is very uncomfortable and has a hard time forgetting the incident.  
  

Alec arranges for them to have a private rendezvous at a colleague's apartment.  Alec's colleague returns home earlier than expected.  Laura runs out the back door but Alec's colleague figures out what was going on after seeing Laura's scarf left on his couch.
 

There is such wonderful chemistry between Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.
 

Alec and Laura finally agree that because of their responsibility to the families they already have their love is doomed and they must part.  Alec decides to take a position in South Africa.  Extreme distances is the only way they will be able to stay away from one another.  They decide to meet one last time the following Thursday.

Alec is willing to forego the job in South Africa and stay with her if Laura wants him to, but Laura insists that he is doing the right thing.  Neither of them wants to hurt their families.
 

Their last day together is bittersweet and sadly interrupted by one of Laura's gossipy neighbors who intrudes on the last few moments they will ever be together in life.
 

When Alec walks out of Laura's life and goes to catch his train Laura is traumatized.  
 

 

I love how this movie was directed and how the story unfolded.  It starts at the end and is told through Laura in the first person.  Laura is confessing to her husband in front of him in her mind.  

A good part of the movie takes place in the train station.  It is always night time and very few people are around which sort of symbolizes where their love is going.....(nowhere).  The railway station scenes were mostly filmed at Camforth railway station in Lancashire.  The refreshment room at the station was a studio creation.  Other parts of the film were shot around London.  


I cannot recommend this movie enough.  I loved the way the subject matter was handled.  I think it is handled very sensitively and tastefully.  Alec and Laura were also two very respectable people.  They did not fall in love after screwing one another which is what would probably happen if this movie was being made today.  A remake of Brief Encounter was made in 1974 starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren.  I will be streaming that version too and reviewing it on my blog.  

Here are some more memorable lines from the movie:

"Dr. Alec Harvey: I do love you, so very much. I love you with all my heart and soul.
Laura Jesson: I want to die. If only I could die...
Dr. Alec Harvey: If you'd die, you'd forget me. I want to be remembered.  "


 Dr. Alec Harvey: Could you really say goodbye? Never see me again?
Laura Jesson: Yes, if you'd help me.
Dr. Alec Harvey: I love you, Laura. I shall love you always until the end of my life. I can't look at you now cause I know something. I know that this is the beginning of the end. Not the end of my loving you but the end of our being together. But not quite yet, darling. Please. Not quite yet.
Laura Jesson: Very well. Not quite yet."

    

 Celia Johnson, David Lean and Trevor Howard on the set of Brief Encounter.

Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.