Lifelong surprise at a Brief Encounter

 
Stiff upper lip: Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard
The Weekender

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The star of Brief Encounter was always surprised that the tiny wartime movie had become a classic, her daughter says.

Actress Lucy Fleming, whose mother Celia Johnson starred as the housewife Laura in the film regularly voted one of the most romantic of all time, said: “I remember her saying about 10 years before she died [aged 73 in 1982] that it was odd that this little film she made during the war had become a classic. But she was terribly proud of it.”

Ms Fleming, 67, will introduce the film, which co-starred Trevor Howard, at three special screenings tomorrow and on August 22 and 29 with accompaniment by the London Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love.

The film, which follows the stiff-upper-lip near-romance between two married people who resist having an affair, was directed by David Lean in wartime Britain.

Ms Fleming said: “Obviously it’s very old-fashioned but it appeals to people still. I think it’s just a little gem — but I’m a bit biased.”

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