Brief Encounter (1974 film) Brief Encounter (1974 film) Brief Encounter is a 1974 British-Italian television film starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, adapted from the play "Still Life" by Noël Coward. The plot of the film is about two strangers, both married to others, who meet in a railway station and find themselves in a brief but intense affair. The material was previously the basis for the David Lean film "Brief Encounter" (1945). Burton was cast at the last moment, after Robert Shaw dropped out. The film had its premiere on U.S. television on 12 November 1974 as part of the "Hallmark Hall of
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