All Slights Deserved

When Italian neorealist director Vittorio De Sica agreed to work with David O. Selznick it was probably a disaster waiting to happen. Although the legendary producer had enjoyed great success with work such as Gone With the Wind , Selznick was also an infamous control freak, often clashing with his directors (including frequent collaborator Alfred Hitchcock) over control of the final edit. For De Sica, whose Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. had brought world renown, one suspects the motive was mainly financial. Why else agree to shoot a film in English when you can scarcely speak a word of the language? Add to that Selznick's requirement his wife Jennifer Jones lend her attractive but insipid presence in the lead role and the term 'Faustian pact' springs to mind. Yes, Indiscretion of an American Wife is an inconsistent and disappointing slice of fifties cinema. The plot could almost be sumarised as the final station scene of Brief Encounter stretched out to (barely...