Indiscretion Of An American Wife
So many tales have been written about the production of Vittorio De Sica's "Indiscretion of an American Wife," otherwise known as "Terminal Station" in its director's cut. It was an Italian and American co-production between De Sica's company and David O. Selznick's. Selznick was displeased with De Sica's vision for the project, even going as far as to write him 40-page letters every day about the changes he thought needed to be made. De Sica didn't speak any English, which made things even tenser. After some lukewarm previews with De Sica's intended version, Selznick took over and cut it from 89 minutes down to 64 minutes and released it as "Indiscretion of an American Wife."
But even despite Selznick's efforts to make the film more relatable and streamlined to Americans, De Sica's neorealist techniques and dedication to showing wounded love flailing in real-time make the original director's cut a minor gem. The new Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and their Studio Classics label has a new 4K restoration of the American release and a new 2K restoration of De Sica's intended cut. Both have prominent film textures and sport pretty bold contrast, although "Terminal Station" gets the brunt of nicks and bumps. I can only imagine that's because the restoration has been done from the surviving film elements, which probably have seen better days since 1953.
The plot of "Indiscretion of an American Wife" is simple, as it concerns a vacationing American woman named Mary Forbes (Jennifer Jones) and the end of her affair with the Italian academic Giovanni Doria (Montgomery Clift). After Mary breaks off the affair and goes to Rome's Stazione Termini to go back home, Giovanni tries to get her to stay and the once-happy couple wanders the station questioning their lives.
Critic Fernando F. Croce once said that "Trains and train stations are cinematic things..." That not only properly summates both versions of this film, but even speaks to why the story works so damn well. In train stations, the lives of many are in flux. As Mary and Giovanni vacillate between love and hate, they're surrounded by many other little stories that De Sica is equally invested in. His tried and true visual economy, along with a few peripheral stories, flesh this film out to be more about the enormity of life than anything else. Clift, in particular, is strong as the helpless lover clinging on because he doesn't want to be left alone. This is boldfaced wounded masculinity par excellence, and this portrayal isn't something that was natural when considering Clift's more famous roles.
As for special features, the new Blu-ray includes an eight-minute prologue with Patti Page singing "Autumn in Rome" and "Indiscretion." These performances were produced by Selznick to accompany the US release of De Sica's film. Other special features include:
�Theatrical Trailer
"Indiscretion of an American Wife"
Blu-ray
$29.95
https://www.klstudioclassics.com/product/view/id/6764