The Deadly Affair

If you enjoy bleak British spy films made in the 1960's then this movie will be right up your street, as they don't come any bleaker than this one. James Mason stars as Dobbs a British Intelligence Agent who is investigating the apparent suicide of a Civil Servant with whom he had spoken with only the day before. The bleakness begins from the very start of the film when Dobbs, in the pouring rain, goes to see the civil servant's wife who is played by Simone Signoret. As the investigation proceeds we also witness the marriage situation of Dobbs (sadly not a happy one). Harry Andrews plays a retired police Inspector who is helping Dobbs with his enquiries and their investigations take them to some rather grim areas. We also encounter a very seedy character called Scarr played by comic actor Roy Kinnear. Lynn Redgrave briefly appears in this film as a member of a drama group. It was about the same time that Mason and Redgrave also starred together in Georgy Girl - a much different film. Overall, I thought it a very good drama with the bleakness adding to the atmosphere of the movie.

... based on a book by John Le Carre, directed by Sidney Lumet. Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is an aging agent with the British Home Office. He knows his wife (Harriet Andersson) is having an affair, but he has more pressing matters at hand: a politician has committed suicide shortly after being questioned by Dobbs about his college-era communist leanings. The higher-ups don't think it was suicide, so Dobbs, with the assistance of a retired Scotland Yard inspector (Harry Andrews), is ordered to look into it.

Also featuring Simone Signoret as the dead man's widow, Maximilian Schell as an old friend of Dobbs', Kenneth Haigh, Roy Kinnear, Max Adrian, Lynn Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, and David Warner. This was another of Le Carre's George Smiley books, but due to rights issues the names were changed. Director Lumet presents a drab, gray London that perhaps fits the dour tone of the story but doesn't invite much audience enthusiasm. I was very impressed with Andrews as the tough cop, and Signoret as the Holocaust-surviving widow. The Quincy Jones soundtrack jars badly against the onscreen action.

A gloomy (and gloomily lit) but very interesting spy thriller of the 60's,with a fine performance by James Mason(as Charles Dobbs,but George Smiley in all but name),and good support from Simone Signoret(convincing as a Concentration Camp survivor),Harry Andrews,Kenneth Haigh,Roy Kinnear and Max Adrian.As an answer to the artificial,antiseptic glamour of the James Bond extravaganzas,THE DEADLY AFFAIR works very well for the most part,with an intelligent script compensating for the occasionally over-prolonged and too static dialogue exchanges between the principals.The production is set,deliberately,in dismally unattractive,murky interior and exterior locations around London,though this oddly gives the film more atmosphere,and is also helped by a haunting score by Quincy Jones,one of the best and most criminally underrated of his career.

The film only drags a little in a sub-plot involving Mason's nymphomaniac wife,played somewhat uncomfortably by Harriet Andersson.The film would have worked equally well if not better had Ms Andersson been a decent,devoted spouse,and Maximillan Schell is given little to do as an old wartime colleague (and as it turns out,yet another of Mrs Dobbs' lovers) of Dobbs.But for the most part,American Sidney Lumet does a first-class job as an outsider's look into British/European espionage,and it grips solidly throughout.

RATING:7 and a half out of 10.

It is surprising that a film made in London during the late 60s wouldn't expose at least a part of the swinging town it was.In fact it exposes a dark, terribly somber atmosphere. Mr. Freddie Francis' wonderful photography and Lumet's masterful direction of the terrific cast makes this adaptation of the John Le Carre novel both interesting and thoughtful. It succeeds in showing, as Lumet aimed, life's disappointments... it seems that bitterness, vengeance and discontent are the motivations to all characters.

It's a simple plot that unravels with so much complexity, you will be amazed. A British Intelligence Agent tries to solve the mystery involved behind one of his colleagues' apparent suicide. Soon his wife comes along and... well, you really don't want me to tell you... :)

It also features one of the greatest soundtracks in film history, with a smooth use of Quincy Jones' bossa nova theme song, which Astrud Gilberto sings in the movie's most fierce love (?) scene.

The only reason I have cable is for Turner Classic Movies, and the chance to see, uncut, unedited, uninterrupted; flicks like this. The film is as stated very leisurely paced, but good (bordering on great) performances, a taut, very adult script, and an absolute joy of a soundtrack by the great Quincy Jones keep you watching. Makes this a leisurely stroll you enjoy taking. Listen to the music in the scenes between James Mason and his erstwhile wife [I won't even tell you what's going on between those two, it's just one of the most understated treatments of this subject, and that understatement gives it an outrageous power, as you are just completely agape at James Mason's... restraint] , Quincy is doing magical things. A movie where the parts, make the sum worth watching. Recommended.