The Passionate Friends

The Passionate Friends is a 1949 David Lean film starring Claude Rains, Ann Todd and Trevor Howard. Essentially a psychological drama, it retreads the same ground as Lean's earlier Brief Encounter, albeit in a very different way.

Mary Justin and Steven Strafford were lovers when they were at college. However, Mary rejects Steven's proposal of marriage, claiming that she can't bear the thought of belonging to another person, and that romantic love is too intense. Time passes, and they both marry other people - Mary choosing to marry her husband Howard (Rains) for both affection and material purposes, of which Howard himself is fully aware. The film tracks their lives as their paths cross again twice more.


 * Anguished Declaration of Love:
 * Cry Into Chest
 * Despair Event Horizon: Two of these occur, and they are particularly important in this film, as they reveal two big truths.
 * Driven to Suicide:
 * Did You Think I Can't Feel?:
 * Flashback: Loads. To the point that some critics found it confusing.
 * Gold Digger: Mary. Howard is perfectly cognisant of this, and it doesn't bother him. His reasoning is that he enjoys his status and money, so why wouldn't someone else?
 * Happily Married
 * Ice Queen: Mary
 * Interrupted Suicide
 * Love Hurts
 * Love Triangle: Mary, Howard and Steven.
 * Marry for Love: Exactly what Mary refuses to do.
 * Mistaken for Cheating
 * Oblivious to Love:
 * Oh Crap: Happens to Howard, who then manufactures one of these moments for Mary and Steven.
 * Sexless Marriage: The film hints as this. An early scene shows us separate beds for Mary and Howard, although this was the norm at the time.
 * Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids: This is Howard's point of view.
 * Unreliable Narrator: Mary's lack of emotional self-knowledge means that her take on events must often be carefully assessed. The film itself will sometimes point this out by showing something quite different from Mary's words.
 * Your Cheating Heart