The Passionate Friends

The Passionate Friends is a 1949 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean. The film is based on The Passionate Friends A Novel, a 1913 story by H. G. Wells. It describes a love triangle in which a woman cannot give up her affair with another man. The film was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival.

The narrative then goes into the past and tells of the love between Mary and Steven. While Mary loves Steven, she refuses to marry him, believing that a marriage of love would be too stifling, while Steven tells her that two people in love should want to belong to each other. Mary insists that she wants only to belong to herself and runs away as Steven tells her that her life would then be a failure. She then marries Howard, who gives her affection, stability and security. When they meet again nine years later on New Years Eve, Steven is with histhen girlfriend while Mary is with Howard. Howard dryly pretends not to recognise Steven So the enemy wouldnt know he was being observed.Steven later pursues Mary again and almost persuades her to change her mind and leave Howard. While Howard accepts his wifes socialising with Steven, he notices they have forgotten their tickets for the theatre. They then lie to him when he inquires of their evening. In a dramatic scene Steven tells Howard Mary is in love with him and Howard should step aside, while Mary asks him to leave so she can talk things over with Howard. ........

Source: Wikipedia