The Deadly Affair – 1966 | 115 mins | Drama, Spy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Downbeat but absorbingly complex espionage drama adapted from John Le Carré’s Call for the Dead. Sidney Lumet handles the bleak atmosphere and performances with taut proficiency, and Freddie Young’s impressive low-key photography further adds to the mood of grim isolation. Lumet manages to wring out emotional strands from the twisting web of intrigue and nail-biting set pieces. The international cast is headed by an excellent performance from James Mason as the world weary Home Office intelligence officer, and strong support comes from Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell, Harriet Andersson and Harry Andrews.

British intelligence officer Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is sent to investigate an anonymous letter sent to the foreign secretary accusing top-level Foreign Office employee Samuel Fennan (Robert Flemyng) of communist sympathies. When the officer commits suicide, Dobbs is sent to investigate and suspects it may be murder involve Elsa Fennan (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor and the dead man’s widow. Dobbs presses for an inquiry; however, he is taken off the case. Rather than bow to pressure from his superiors, Dobbs resigns and enlists the aid of retiring Inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews). Complicating matters is the arrival of Dieter Frey (Maximilian Schell), an agent who is a former friend of Dobbs and having an affair with his wife Ann (Harriet Andersson). Though Dobbs is weary of the espionage game, he finds himself more thoroughly immersed in learning the identity of the foreign agent responsible for the murder of the diplomat.