Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953)

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This natural setting (all in a train station) is so typical of those great Vittorio De Sica films that I have come to love so much over the years. So, if you love De Sica's films, please don't overlook this one.There are some great scenes here with real suspense. It is amazing how powerful a movie can be, even though it is only 1 hour long. It is my understanding that this is an Italian movie with only 3 actors speaking English: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, and Richard Beymer (between The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and West Side Story (1961). I think the other characters' English may have been dubbed. It is also interesting that Jennifer Jones is directed by De Sica here and shortly after that they were co-starring in A Farewell to Arms (1957).

Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953)This is such a contained, focused film, and demands so much of its two actors, every little nuance matters in a kind of exciting dramatic way. The closest thing this compares to, as two lovers or would be lovers talk in a train station, is Brief Encounter (1945), and that's a masterpiece of acting and cinema both.Here, with Montgomery Clift and Jennifer Jones, it comes close. I found the slowness of it magical, and the filming, in the ultra modern station, very beautiful. If director Vittoria De Sica clearly has a different style than David Lean (though both pile on the romanticism), the effect is still one of longing and loneliness. The weakness here, most of all, is simply the writing, which is so important when two people are sitting around in conversation most of the time.Oddly, and sadly, it was the producer (Selznick) who got in the way. He was married to Jones at the time, and she was unhappy both during the filming and in her marriage. She also seems to be overacting sometimes--she can be marvelous, and nuance magnified might be exactly what was needed, but it often seems distracting. Clift, for his part, liked De Sica and he did what he could with what he had to work with under the director. It was Selznick who interfered with De Sica, and who altered the script using a series of screenwriters, and even though Truman Capote was one of them, the whole thing was hampered.The fact it is still a marvelous film is something to wonder at. Flawed, yes, but short and intense and it has a special feeling that Hollywood (and British counterparts) were unable to pull off. The whole atmosphere and mood are enough alone to make it worthwhile. I saw the short version, and I think it's probably plenty, but if you find the original, with 20 minutes extra, and you like this one, give it a try.

A married American woman has an affair with an Italian man while visiting her sister in Rome. This short film (a longer director's cut now exists) focuses on the last few hours spent at a train station as the woman is returning home. De Sica creates some striking imagery but the script is too slight to let the characters or the plot develop. Apparently producer Selznick cut the film to stress the romance and to make Jones (his wife then) look good. Clift plays a brooding, hot-blooded Italian but isn't given much to do. Both Jones and Clift have quirky mannerisms that seem well suited to the roles of the angst-ridden lovers. An interesting curiosity piece.

The film starts out beautifully, thanks to director Vittorio De Sica, and camera-persons Aldo Graziati and James Wong Howe. Jennifer Jones (as Mary Forbes) is an unhappily married woman who has been visiting her sister in Rome; there, she has had an affair with half-Italian Montgomery Clift (as Giovanni). Ms. Jones and Mr. Clift, have, from the looks of things, fallen madly in love during the liaison. Unfortunately, "Indiscretion of an American Wife" (aka "Stazione Termini"), set exclusively in a Rome train station terminal, never progresses from its initial visual stimulation.Jones and Clift are worth watching, especially if you are a fan; however, their relationship does not exactly enchant. Although it would, admittedly, alter De Sica's artistic intention, some scenes of their initial meeting, and attraction, would have helped. The fact that Clift swats Jones rather forcefully suggests some cruelty in their relationship; additionally, Clift sometimes looks at Jones with a touch of madness in his eyes. The two seem to inhabit a slightly demented world of their own; but, not enough of their background is known to make it interesting. Richard "Dick" Beymer (who'll later be "Tony" in "West Side Story") is an unexpected highlight as Jones' overprotective young nephew Paul, who hangs out at the train station. ***** Indiscretion of an American Wife (4/2/53) Vittorio De Sica ~ Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Richard Beymer, Gino Cervi