Circle of Deception – 1960 | 100 mins | War | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Downbeat WWII espionage drama co-written by Nigel Balchin. By 1960, dramatic tales of WWII had fallen out of fashion and this melodrama sacrifices much of the suspense by using a flashback framework. American actor Bradford Dillman produces an agonisingly intense and convincing performance, whilst there’s strong support from Harry Andrews and Robert Stephens.

Prior to the Allies’ landing in Normandy, cold-blooded British Intelligence officer Capt. Thomas Rawson hatches a cynical plan to send a sacrificial lamb agent to Northern France – supplied with false information, Rawson hopes the agent is captured and breaks down under interrogation. Rawson’s assistant, Lucy Bowen (Suzy Parker), is given the unedifying task of using her femininity to assess the specially selected volunteer, Canadian lieutenant Paul Raine, but love begins to blossom between the two. When Raine finally heads for France, a guilt-ridden Lucy resigns from her post.

Raine is parachuted into France and eventually captured by the Gestapo. Raine falls into the clutches of Capt. Stein (Robert Stephens), who hands the agent over to Van Horst to be subjected to sadistic interrogation and torture techniques. He breaks down under interrogation but is rescued by the French resistance. After the war, filled with self-loathing for having been a coward who cracked to the enemy, he retires to drink away his life in Tangiers.