Brief Encounter is a 1974 British-Italian television film starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, adapted from the play Still Life by Noël Coward.

[citation needed] The film had its premiere on U.S. television on 12 November 1974 as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series on NBC.

[1] The two lead roles were cast with "wild disregard for suitability," according to Brian McFarlane, who has described the film as "a total disaster.

"[2] Originally intended to have a television screening in the United States followed by a cinema release in the rest of the world, its poor reception in New York led to the international plans being abandoned.

[3] According to David Shipman, reviewing Burton's career in The Great Movie Stars, this remake was "widely viewed as a ludicrous undertaking.