Indiscretion of an American Wife

Vittorio De Sica, in his first English language film, has tried to convert a simple emotional conflict into another of his Italian art masterpieces, and he has failed. He has failed because his picture did not include anything more substantial than a few lines of sentimental dialogue and a series of tormented expressions.

Working with a cast of two actors and a group of irrelevant extras wandering about Rome's Statione Terminal, De Sica has omitted any of the action and incidents which could produce an effective picture. In place of these ingredients, the director substituted Jennifer Jones as a confused Philadelphia housewife who is desperately trying to break off an affair with her Italian lover, Montgomery Clift.

Miss Jones sighs and pants in her usual professional manner, and the sluggish script calls for nothing more. Clift's lot is no better; his expressive face is overtaxed in ninety minutes of repetitious closeups.

De Sica's use of the everyday drama of a railroad station--a pregnant woman and a traveling class from a deaf and dumb school--occasionally brightens the submerged conflict. It is a losing cause, however, for he has stretched one poignant incident past the breaking point into a full-length feature.