This collection brings together three of Coward's most important
screenplays - In Which We Serve (1942), Brief Encounter (1945) and
The Astonished Heart (1950). The collection features the shooting
scripts for each film alongside contextual notes for each play, and a
general introduction, by Barry Day.
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In Which We Serve* earned Coward an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 as
well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film. The film
remains a classic of wartime British cinema.
Brief Encounter, the most famous screenplay in this collection, is
based on Coward's 1936 one-act play Still Life. It remains one of the
greatest love stories of all time, coming second in a British Film
Institute poll of the top 100 British films.
The Astonished Heart tells the story of a psychiatrist's growing
obsession for a good-time girl and the resulting tragedy this leads to.
This collection features a foreword by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator
Emeritus, Film, at New York's MoMA, and an eight-page black and white
plate section of production stills.