''Brief Ecstasy'' (also known as ''Dangerous Secrets'') is a 1937 British drama film directed by

Edmond T. Gréville Edmond T. Gréville (born Edmond Gréville Thonger; 20 June 1906 – 26 May 1966) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was married to the actress Vanda Gréville. Career Gréville began his career as a film journalist and critic. ...

and starring

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, for his performance in the film ''Wat ...

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Antho ...

Linden Travers Florence Lindon-Travers (27 May 1913 – 23 October 2001 Ronald Bergan ), known professionally as Linden Travers, was a British actress. Early life and career Travers was born in Houghton-le-Spring, City of Sunderland, County Durham, the ...

and

Marie Ney Marie Ney (18 July 1895 — 11 April 1981) was a British character actress who had an acting career spanning five decades, from 1919 to 1969, encompassing both stage and screen. Early life Ney was born in London, and as a young child, went with ...

. It was made at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

Plot

Cast

a Professor Paul Bernardy *

as Jim Wyndham *

as Helen Norwood Bernardy *

as Martha Russell *

Renee Gadd Renee Gertrude Gadd (22 June 1906 – 20 July 2003) was an Argentine-born British film actress. She acted mostly in British films. Early life Gadd was born on a ranch in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1908 to immigrants from Jersey. Her father, Tal ...

as Marjorie * Fred Withers as Gardener * Howard Douglas as Coleman *

Fewlass Llewellyn Fewlass Llewellyn (5 March 1886 – 16 June 1941) was an English actor, playwright and theatrical producer. Previously an engineer, he made his stage debut in 1890, and appeared in various film roles, often as authority figures. A play he co-wro ...

as Director of Steel Company *

Peter Gawthorne Peter Gawthorne (1 September 1884 – 17 March 1962) was an Anglo-Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in the films of Will Hay and other popular British comedians of the 1930s and 1940s. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-up ...

as Chairman of Steel Company *

Norman Pierce Norman Pierce (5 September 1900 – 22 March 1968) was a British actor. He was born in Southport, Lancashire. He died in Helions Bumpstead, Essex, England on 22 March 1968 at the age of 67. He played pub landlords and barmen in a number of d ...

as Landlord

Reception

Writing for '' Night and Day'' in 1937,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

gave the film a good review, expressing admiration for producer Perceval's ability to "wring twenty shillings' worth out of every pound" and director Gréville's recognition that for a film whose subject is sexual passion "the story doesn't matter; it's the atmosphere which counts". Greene praised Gréville's "wanton and vivid" depictions of "undifferentiated desire" as well as his French education in "photograph nga woman's body - uncompromisingly", and noted that "the film at its finest ..generalizes", and "there isn't, thank God, any love in it". (reprinted in: )

References

External links

* 1937 films Ealing Studios films British drama films 1937 drama films Films set in London Films set in England Films set in India Films directed by Edmond T. Gréville British black-and-white films Films scored by Walter Goehr 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-film-stub