The Astonished Heart (film) The Astonished Heart (film) The Astonished Heart is a 1950 British drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Celia Johnson, Noël Coward, and Margaret Leighton, and is based on Coward's play "The Astonished Heart" from his cycle of ten plays, "". Inspired by the great success of the 1945 film "Brief Encounter", which also had been adapted from "Tonight at 8:30", Coward agreed to have "The Astonished Heart" produced as a motion picture. As with the previous film, Coward also wrote the screenplay. Production began in 1949 and featured not only Noël Coward in one of his rare film
Cultural impact of Noël Coward Fever", "Private Lives", "Design for Living", "Present Laughter" and "Blithe Spirit", have entered the regular theatre repertoire. His stage and film acting and directing career spanned six decades, and his cabaret performances were very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama "In Which We Serve". Many of Coward's plays were adapted for film. Coward was knighted in 1969 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. A statue of Coward was unveiled by the Queen Mother in the foyer of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane