David Lean’s historical epics – Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Bridge on the River Kwai – tend to dominate the conversation, but this short-lived romance, told in flashback, works on you like a whisper. Released in 1945 and scripted by Noel Coward, it stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard as two strangers who meet at a train station and fall in love. Trouble is, they’re both married to other people. Their would-be affair gets derailed by a distinctly English reserve, but what Lean conveys so beautifully is their inner roil and ache. He may have been a master of widescreen moviemaking, but this compact, devastating love story is just as essential a piece of Lean’s legacy. – Kimberley Jones
