Terminal Station

Infobox Film
name = Terminal Station


image_size =
caption =
director = Vittorio De Sica
producer = Vittorio De Sica
writer = Cesare Zavattini (story)
Luigi Chiarini
Giorgio Prosperi
nowrap|Truman Capote (dialogue)
narrator =
starring = Montgomery Clift
Jennifer Jones
Richard Beymer
music = Alessandro Cicognini
cinematography = Aldo Graziati
editing = Eraldo Da Roma
Jean Barker
distributor = Columbia Pictures
De Sica Productions
Selznick International Pictures
released = flagicon|Italy April 2, 1953
flagicon|USA May 10, 1954
runtime = 89 mins (original)
63 mins (edited)
country = USA / Italy
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:24775
imdb_id = 0046366

"Terminal Station" ( _it. Stazione Termini) is a 1953 film English language film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman.

The film is based on the story "Stazione Termini" by Cesare Zavattini. Truman Capote was credited with writing the entire screenplay, but later claimed to have written only two scenes ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 244] . The film was an international co-production between De Sica's own company and the Hollywood producer David O. Selznick, who commissioned it as a vehicle for his wife, Jennifer Jones.

The production of the film was troubled from the very beginning. Carson McCullers was originally chosen to write the screenplay, but Selznick fired her and replaced her with a series of writers, including Paul Gallico, Alberto Moravia, and Capote ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 244] . Disagreements ensued between De Sica and Selznick, and during production, Selznick would write 40- and 50-page letters to his director every day, even though DeSica spoke no English. After agreeing to everything, De Sica has said, he simply did things his way ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 244] .

Montgomery Clift sided with De Sica in his disputes with Selznick, claiming that Selznick wanted the movie to look like a slick little love story, while De Sica wanted to depict a ruined romance. "Love relationship are ludicrous, painful, and gigantically disappointing. This couple loves each other but they become unconnected." ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 245]

During the filming, Jones lamented the recent death of her former husband, actor Robert Walker, and badly missed her two sons, who were in school in Switzerland ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 246] . She had been married to Selznick less than two years at that point, and they were having difficulties in the marriage.

The original release of the film ran 89 minutes, but it was later re-edited by Selznick down to 64 minutes and re-released as "Indiscretion of an American Wife" (and as "Indiscretion" in the UK). Clift declared that he hated the picture and denounced it as "a big fat failure." ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 246] Critics of the day agreed, giving it universally bad reviews ["Montgomery Clift," by Patricia Bosworth, p. 244] .

The two versions have been released together on DVD by The Criterion Collection.

A 1998 remake of the film was made for television under the title "Indiscretion of an American Wife".

References

External links

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* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=202&eid=321&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by David Kehr]