The End of the Affair

When I saw that this movie was by Graham Greene, I expected a suspense story, maybe a spy story. So I wanted to warn people that this movie is nothing like that. It is about faith and God.

It is couched as a love triangle melodrama. This disguise is so well-wrought that it seems to have fooled a lot of people into thinking the movie is a love story. But all that is merely an excuse for the rather deep philosophical issues that the movie tackles.

In typical Greene manner, though, it is rife with unexpected plot twists. For example, just when I thought the movie was about to wrap itself up, it launched into the real reason for its existence, via a flashback into "what really happened" in Sarah's life. This is an unusual place in a movie to have a long flashback, it seems to me.

After this point, there is one change of direction after another. Up until the very last scene, the movie is quite ambiguous, and it is not at all clear whether Greene views belief in God as a bad, destructive thing or not. Even the last scene does not completely resolve this question.

Johnson has a particularly unusual part, his all-consuming passion for Sarah inadvertently causing her misfortune after misfortune. His understated guilt and horror each time he discovers the effects of his actions is an interesting part of the story.

The acting by the three mains, Kerr, Johnson and, surprisingly, Peter Cushing, is top notch. This movie is not "entertainment," however. It is an intellectual challenge, engaging the viewer to wrestle with issues most thinking humans must come to terms with at one time or another in their lives.

The dialogues between Johnson and Kerr remind me very much of a non-humorous presentation of the themes dealt with in "The Screwtape Letters," with Johnson (and Goodliffe) presenting all the rational, reasonable conclusions favoring atheism, but Kerr inevitably being drawn deeper and deeper into faith in God, more because of their efforts than in spite of them.

As has been demonstrated in other comments, this movie will not be enjoyed by those unwilling to examine their stances towards these fundamental issues of human existence.

This is the first version of the movie Neil Jordan remade in the late nineties.Based on a Graham Greene novel,it looks like a melodrama ( the chandelier scene is pure poetic melodrama) but with a strong metaphysical side.

The construction of the film is complex,showing the same events from two points of view.Sometimes you may lose the vital lead ,for a lot of important things are not necessarily on the screen.

If the movie is successful ,it's because of Deborah Kerr's extraordinary skills.She is sensational in her part of an unhappy woman,in search of something really worthwhile.Whereas Maurice (Van Johnson) is all passion and jealousy,her quest is much more demanding.

A lot of us have ,at least once in our lives,asked God for something.And if this wish comes true,is it proof positive that God exists?And if the person who prayed Him is an atheist?Does it mean that she has got to change her way of thinking? That she is indebted to Him?That's Sarah's moral dilemma ,lost between her love for Maurice and her moral concern,and trying to find her way ,helped by two men Father Crompton and Smythe.

Deborah Kerr's fans should watch this .

At the time,Edward Dmytryk had probably moral concern too.

Graham Greene's The End Of The Affair has Van Johnson coming over from America and Deborah Kerr returning to the United Kingdom for this British film with British supporting cast. Of all the Graham Greene work I've seen on the big and small screen this is the most overtly Catholic film I think was ever done.

Kerr is married to dull and earnest Peter Cushing and one night at a party during World War II she meets American writer Johnson who after being invalided out of the service stayed on Great Britain. Johnson intrigues and excites Kerr and the two of them are soon in love. Then the guilt starts. Guilt on Kerr's part, jealousy on Johnson's. Poor Cushing for most of the film he hasn't a clue.

After the beginning the two can never quite get together. Imagine Johnson who is the paramour hires a private detective to keep track of Kerr's movements to reassure Cushing. This is after things have cooled down. What a pair Johnson has. The detective is John Mills who I'm surprised is taking a small supporting role. He even takes along his young son Christopher Warbey for his surveillance work, the better that his subject doesn't think he's being followed. Besides he's breaking him into the business. The part must have intrigued Mills because he's the best one in the movie.

I suppose being a Catholic really helps understand all the subtleties in the story. I much preferred that other affair film Johnson did with Jane Wyman, Miracle In The Rain. No guilt, just people in love.

Cushing's character was odd. He was sweet but weak, the kind you feel sorry for. No grand passion was ever to be forthcoming with Kerr or anyone else he would have ever hooked up with.

The End Of The Affair is all right. The remake done in 1999 with Ralph Fiennes in the Van Johnson role was more explicit. If you like Graham Greene you'll like both versions.

Van Johnson is miscast but still surprisingly good as the loving/bitter writer who tells this story; Kerr is very good and Cushing is even better. In fact, Cushing is distinctly superior to Stephen Rea, who played the role of the husband in the 1999 version. Rea was mopey and morose, but Cushing is a mild man doing the best he can, a picture of unexpected courage -- and frailty. It's one of the best performances he ever gave; it's a shame it didn't lead to bigger roles.

The movie does not, cannot, express the passion so much a part of Neil Jordan's version; furthermore, it's talkier, and the talk isn't as good. It doesn't capture the period (World War II and just after) in the slightest, despite some newsreel footage, but otherwise London is presented very well in handsome black and white photography. It's an honest and respectable version of Greene's novel, but Jordan's is the classic.

Van Johnson is good as the brooding Maurice Bendrix, and Deborah Kerr is marvelous in the challenging, nuanced role of Sarah Miles. Realistic flavor of WWII London, haunting music, excellent direction and performances combine to make this a memorable, mature film that invites multiple viewings.