Accident

Dirk Bogarde - Stephen
Stanley Baker - Charley
Jacqueline Sassard - Anna
Michael York - William
Vivien Merchant - Rosalind
Delphine Seyrig - Francesca

Accident was Joseph Losey's second collaboration with playwright Harold Pinter - four years on from The Servant. This adaptation of Nicholas Mosley's novel again stars Dirk Bogarde (who considered it his finest role) as Stephen, an Oxford don recounting the lurid background to an ‘accident’ that killed one of his students. The story is told through a series of flashbacks and detached recollections to examine the character’s thoughts and actions. Late one night in his country home, Stephen hears a crash and rushes outside to discover two of his pupils trapped inside a crashed car. William is dead, and his fiancée Anna (Jacqueline Sassard) is in shock but otherwise unscathed. Stephen takes Anna back to his house and calls the police to report the crash, concealing the fact that she was with William. After the police have departed the scene Stephen reminiscences back to when he first met William and Anna at school. Later Stephen recalls inviting Anna and William to his house for lunch, where they meet his wife, Rosalind (Vivien Merchant), and colleague Charley (Stanley Baker).

Stephen travel’s to London and meets with some television producer’s, and whilst there visit’s his ex-lover, Francesca (Delphine Seyrig), returning home, Stephen is shocked to find Charley and Anna sleeping at his house - Charley confesses to having an affair with Anna. Charley's wife, Laura (Ann Firbank), finds out about the affair and Stephen tries to assure her that it's nothing more than a fleeting whim. Later, Anna tells Stephen that she and William are going to be married, and asks him to break the news to Charley. Later Stephen and his children play on the front lawn, as they return inside their house, the sound of a car crash is heard. There's a certain analysis about the unfolding tale, detailing both Stephen’s and his colleague Charley’s infatuation with Anna; but there’s a real darkness lurking beneath the study of love and jealousy centred around one woman.