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Terminal Station

 

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Terminal Station



 
 
Terminal Station is a 1953 film
1953 in film

The year 1953 in film involved some significant events....
 English language
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica

Vittorio De Sica was a critically acclaimed Italy Italian neorealism film director and actor....
. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival
1953 Cannes Film Festival

The 6th Cannes Film Festival was held on April 15-29, 1953 in film....
.

Production
The film is based on the story Stazione Termini by Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini

Cesare Zavattini was an Italian people screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealism movement in Italian cinema....
. Truman Capote
Truman Capote

Truman Capote was an United States writer whose short stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "non-fiction novel"....
 was credited with writing the entire screenplay, but later claimed to have written only two scenes. The film was an international co-production
International co-production

In filmmaking, an international co-production is a film made by production companies from different countries. Due to the expense of filmmaking, many films made outside the United States are international co-productions....
 between De Sica's own company and the Hollywood producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick, born David Selznick , was one of the iconic Hollywood film producer of the Golden Age. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind which earned him an Academy Awards for Best Picture....
, who commissioned it as a vehicle for his wife, Jennifer Jones.

The production of the film was troubled from the very beginning.






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Encyclopedia


Terminal Station is a 1953 film
1953 in film

The year 1953 in film involved some significant events....
 English language
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica

Vittorio De Sica was a critically acclaimed Italy Italian neorealism film director and actor....
. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival
1953 Cannes Film Festival

The 6th Cannes Film Festival was held on April 15-29, 1953 in film....
.

Production


The film is based on the story Stazione Termini by Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini

Cesare Zavattini was an Italian people screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealism movement in Italian cinema....
. Truman Capote
Truman Capote

Truman Capote was an United States writer whose short stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "non-fiction novel"....
 was credited with writing the entire screenplay, but later claimed to have written only two scenes. The film was an international co-production
International co-production

In filmmaking, an international co-production is a film made by production companies from different countries. Due to the expense of filmmaking, many films made outside the United States are international co-productions....
 between De Sica's own company and the Hollywood producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick, born David Selznick , was one of the iconic Hollywood film producer of the Golden Age. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind which earned him an Academy Awards for Best Picture....
, who commissioned it as a vehicle for his wife, Jennifer Jones.

The production of the film was troubled from the very beginning. Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers

Carson McCullers was an United States writer. She wrote novels, short stories, and two plays, as well as essays and some poetry. Her first novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the U.S....
 was originally chosen to write the screenplay, but Selznick fired her and replaced her with a series of writers, including Paul Gallico
Paul Gallico

Paul William Gallico was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. He is perhaps best remembered for The Snow Goose, his only real critical success, and for the novel The Poseidon Adventure, primarily through the 1972 film adaptation....
, Alberto Moravia
Alberto Moravia

Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle, was one of the leading Italy novelists of the 20th century. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism....
, and Capote. 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
Montgomery Clift

Edward Montgomery Clift was an United Statesn film actor. He was known for his brooding, sensitive, working-class character roles, and received four Academy Award nominations during his career....
 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."

During the filming, Jones lamented the recent death of her former husband, actor Robert Walker
Robert Hudson Walker

Robert Hudson Walker was an United States actor....
, and badly missed her two sons, who were in school in Switzerland. 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." Critics of the day agreed, giving it universally bad reviews.

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

The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes "authoritative" consumer versions of "important classic and contemporary films," first on Laserdisc, and then on DVD, Blu-ray and downloading online....
. A 1998 remake of the film was made for television under the title Indiscretion of an American Wife.

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