Katharine Hepburn had little reason to remember this film with fondness: her on-camera dip in a Venetian canal left her with a permanent eye infection. Still, this poignant, intimate romance - - atypically directed by David Lean - - inspired one of Hepburn's finest performances, her lonely spinster throbbing with regret as she begins a holiday affair with Rossano Brazzi. Beautifully shot by Jack Hildyard, it's a prototype Shirley Valentine - - only less crass and more subtle.
