The Human Factor – 1979 | 115mins | Drama, Thriller | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Otto Preminger’s final feature is a restrained but well crafted espionage thriller based on a novel by Graham Greene, adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard. Preminger’s direction tends to lack verve and tension, removing what should be the human factor of a moral dilemma of loyalty. The star-studded cast includes Richard Attenborough, Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, Ann Todd and Iman, but it’s Robert Morley who stands out from the crowd as a ruthless doctor. The convoluted and underdeveloped plot hinges on tacit Cold War approval for the apartheid regime in South Africa.

A low-ranking worker in the African section of the Foreign Office is acquiescent in supplying relatively unimportant information to the Eastern Bloc. Lowly Secret Service desk clerk Castle (Nicol Williamson) is accused of leaking information to the Russians due to his wife (Iman) being smuggled out of Apartheid-era South African by Communist friend, but suspicion also falls on his unmarried office colleague Davis (Derek Jacobi). Their bosses, Tomlinson and Percival (John Gielgud and Robert Morley), prepare a lethal mixture for the mole and its Colonel Daintry’s (Richard Attenborough) task to point the finger. When a South African official (Joop Doderer) pays a visit to Britain to work on a new project, Castle’s secrets begin to unravel and his life is changed forever. The double-agent is forced to defect to Russia, leaving behind him a hesitant wife and child.