edwagreen I have seen better but this is somewhat of an energetic spy film where inspector James Mason comes away from an interview with a man in his security department suspected of being a Communist, fully contented with the interview, only to have the man commit suicide later.Mason is immediately suspicious that this was not exactly murder and interviews the grieving widow, Simone Signoret, who portrays a holocaust survivor. When her story has cracks in it, Mason and others come to a surprising revelation.While this is going on, Mason's marriage to a much younger woman seems to be deteriorating and when Maximilian Schell, an old friend of his from the war years, enters, Schell confesses his love for Mason's wife.Wait until you see who the real culprit is as the bodies begin to pile up.Mason is his usual stand-offish self which he was so good at and Signoret sets the mood of a grieving holocaust survivor wishing to make the world a better place.

ildimo1877 Being one of the less familiar entries in the Lumet canon, The Deadly Affair is a superior John Le Carré spy cold war drama, based on his first published novel "Call for the Dead". The author's ability to infuse his characters with the necessary humanity, the flaws and melancholy of living in a world rapidly evolving beyond their control always does it for me and the same happens here. Mr. Lumet captures cold war London, describes the routine of decidedly unglamorous government agents (think 007 in reverse), tormented by nymphomaniac wives, sleepiness (…) and, typical of Le Carre, confronted with the emotional frustration of questioning old friendships. Few abrupt "Roeg-ish" cuttings aside, this one gains from its splendid Freddie Young photography, the exceptional production design and the jazzy Quincy Jones soundtrack. Performances vary from the (usual) delight in watching Mason, to the magnetic (Signoret) and the downright awkward – Ms. Andersson (Bergman's one time muse) may be a wisely twisted choice but acts unconvincingly hysterical. Genre fans expected.

Robert J. Maxwell This was released in 1967. It was a decade for spy stories of varying quality, beginning probably with the wildly success James Bond series. Everyone read Ian Fleming's spy novels. President Kennedy was said to be a fan.John Le Carre's spy novels, from one of which this film is derived, were generally gloomier and more serious than Ian Fleming's. Nobody could take Rosa Klebb seriously, but here is Simone Signoret as the sullen widow of a man in British intelligence who appears to have committed suicide but whom the protagonist, agent James Mason, believes to have been murdered.It takes Mason the entire length of the film to pin down the murderer among the ensemble cast. It's something of a clotted plot, with friends or former friends working for and against each other. Unlike the Bond movies, you never quite know what's up and the end comes as something of a surprise.Nor does it have Ian Fleming's sometimes reckless humor. You won't find many tag lines here. "The name is Bond -- James Bond." Or "shaken, not stirred." And none of the girls are named Thumper, Bambi, or Pussy Galore. Director Sidney Lumet doesn't entirely eschew comedy. (If he did, it would be murky indeed.) But, a few witty exchanges aside, the only funny part is in a theater rehearsal of the first witches' scene in "MacBeth." The cauldron doesn't bubble. And when the crew finally gets the dry ice into it, the fire goes out.A particular annoyance: the Big Reveal comes during the performance of a tragedy. A king is stomped to death with a table, and one of his murderers murders another murderer immediately afterward. Okay. I'm sitting there trying to identify which of Shakespeare's plays this is. There's plenty of Grand Guignol in Billy Shakespeare but if my life depended on it I can't remember anyone being killed by a table. A butt of malmsy, heads lopped off, eyes gouged out -- yes, but no tables. Nor could I identify a single line of the play. That's because the skanks were performing Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II" without having even hinted at it. It would have ruined the movie for me had it not come so near the climax. I've been told I missed the shot of the poster announcing the title of the play. That's not good enough. It cost them one star off my review.Speaking of kings, Freddie Young's photography is princely, if consistently dark. The music is by Quincy Jones, a terrific musician, whose score emerges here as Bossa Antigua. Simone Signoret has what may be the best role as a pathetic middle-aged woman broken by her experiences in a concentration camp. But Max Schell is equally good in a complicated role. Everything he does seems to be outstanding. And what long, delicate fingers he has, like a spider's legs but more coordinated and more expressive.There have been more entertaining movies in the genre but this one isn't bad if you have a modicum of patience.

blanche-2 James Mason, Maximillian Schell, and Simone Signoret star in "The Deadly Affair," a 1966 Sidney Lumet film based on the John LeCarre novel, "Call for the Dead." It's a George Smiley story, but the character names are changed because of rights issues.James Mason is Charles Dobbs, a British agent who wants to know why a government employee committed suicide after he received security clearance. The government had received an anonymous letter about him having ties to Communism. Dobbs interviews him and learns that the man was interested in Communism as a young man only and gives him clearance. He then learns the man committed suicide. Not satisfied with the verdict, Dobbs leaves his job in order to investigate further. Meanwhile, he has problems at home with his sex addict wife (Harriet Andersson), who is involved in an affair with an old friend from the war (Schell).This is a very dark drama set in England, which looks mighty bleak in this film. Mason plays the world-weary Dobbs very well. Signoret is excellent as the victim's wife, a concentration camp survivor. She's an intriguing character, but in the end, it's not a very big role.Mason is ably supported by Harry Andrews, Kenneth Haigh, and Robert Flemyng. The climax of the film takes place at a strong performance of Edward II, in which Lynn Redgrave has a role. Corin Redgrave also appears in the movie.Good drama - if I had more familiarity with George Smiley, I could say more. I don't. I can't.