Opening out a Noel Coward play for the screen, Lean made his international reputation with this love story that touched a chord with the British public because it was so true, and with the world because it was so British. It takes a sincere and direct if downbeat angle on the frustrated liaison between a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) and a married doctor (Trevor Howard) who meet by chance in the tearoom of a railroad station. Neither is enormously attractive, they just bring out the best in each other, so why not a future? Ah, but this isn't the movies (that would be Flames of Passion, “coming shortly!” to their dank matinee rendezvous). Weepies have the redeeming quality of a good cry; sensible Brief Encounter didn't even offer that distraction. The film lasts in our imagination for entirely different reasons: it's its own tight little island of artistic construction built around the comings and goings of trains, teacups, and dreams.