Review of Indiscretion of an American Wife

Introduction

Whilst staying in Rome with her sister, Mary (Jennifer Jones), a married housewife from Philadelphia, had an affair with Giovanni (Montgomery Clift). She is all set to begin the long journey home, but then Giovanni arrives at the station, asking her to stay and prompting much soul-searching on her part. The film takes place almost in real-time during the hour she spends in the station.

`Indiscretion of an American Wife` was adapted from the story `Terminal Station` by Cesare Zavattini, with dialogue by Truman Capote and directed by Vittorio De Sica, who made the brilliant `Bicycle Thieves`.

Video

Beautifully photographed and well transferred onto DVD.

Audio

A nice, clear Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack and a very good score.

Features

None - but this is a vanilla disc.

Conclusion

With a scenario similar to Noël Coward`s `Brief Encounter`, names like Vittorio De Sica and Truman Capote attached to it and with Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift in the leads, `Indiscretion of an American Wife` has a lot going for it, on paper. In reality, it`s not as good as it should have been, perhaps a result of De Sica`s inability to speak English to his American leads, perhaps because the story and film is so short, hampering character development. Despite this, Jones and Clift give excellent performances, especially in the last 20 minutes when the film really gets going and the tension builds to a shattering climax.

I was constantly reminded of `Brief Encounter`, a superior film in every way. This is the sort of film that would have a matinee showing on terrestrial TV - easy watching, handsomely photographed and well acted melodrama, which I happily sat through, but am in no rush to watch again.

This is one of a series of low-price DVDs from Fremantle Media, with no extra features, subtitles or scene selections. If the film interests you, then the £4.99 RRP (and available for less), means it`s perhaps worth a punt.