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
Post Mortem (Coward play) "the play is outstanding as a polemical, vitriolic attack on British disregard for World War I victims". When the play was staged in London in 1992, the critical response was mixed. "The Times" and "The Independent" were hostile. Benedict Nightingale of "The Times" wrote, "It is the sort of anti-war play you might expect from someone who never swapped a shot in anger and at some level feels guilty for having survived the slaughter: shrill, awkward... It is just the sort of didactic plod that Coward hated when others were writing; and with good reason. "The Independent" praised the production,