User Reviews

If you enjoy bleak British spy films made in the 1960's then this movie will be right up your street, as they don't come any bleaker than this one. James Mason stars as Dobbs a British Intelligence Agent who is investigating the apparent suicide of a Civil Servant with whom he had spoken with only the day before. The bleakness begins from the very start of the film when Dobbs, in the pouring rain, goes to see the civil servant's wife who is played by Simone Signoret. As the investigation proceeds we also witness the marriage situation of Dobbs (sadly not a happy one). Harry Andrews plays a retired police Inspector who is helping Dobbs with his enquiries and their investigations take them to some rather grim areas. We also encounter a very seedy character called Scarr played by comic actor Roy Kinnear. Lynn Redgrave briefly appears in this film as a member of a drama group. It was about the same time that Mason and Redgrave also starred together in Georgy Girl - a much different film. Overall, I thought it a very good drama with the bleakness adding to the atmosphere of the movie.

You've been conversing with a man, later he's dead, a suicide, but you need to close the thread, so you visit his cold wife, find out more about his life, but the yarn is frayed, you can't put this to bed. You're resigned to make your own examinations, retired copper then assists, investigations, you pursue the clues, prepare, a cunning trap so you can snare, a red flag spy, using your guile, and circumspection.

Even today it plants you back into the time of its enactment, you feel the frostiness of the times, as well as the emotional disconnection, encapsulated in a world of mistrust. James Mason plays a himself, as so often he did, Simone Signoret the unemotional widow, Harriet Andersson not in a Bergman film is a bit strange, and who'd want to meet Harry Andrews on a dark, misty night if they'd been up to no good.

Much-touted mainstream entry recommended to serious spy buffs as a well-crafted, bleak treatise on perceived realities. Deeper than many other spy films, the pleasure is derived from sifting through the strata of meaning in John Le Carre's story and reveling in the fine performances and top-notch film making.

This is one of those movies where you'll recognize all the actors; Harry Andrews, Roy Kinnear, Robert Flemyng, Lynn Redgrave, David Warner, etc. One standout is Simone Signoret as Elsa, a woman without a country, who scorns Dobbs and his attempts at clearing up the death of her husband. A concentration camp survivor, Elsa has no illusions about patriotism nor allegiances in that regard, remarking to Dobbs `I am a battlefield for you… toy soldiers."

Quincy Jones plays some fun cinematic tricks with the soundtrack (Astrud Gilberto sings the theme song) and it is appropriately melancholy for the material. Director Sidney Lumet is in fine form here and through the half-light of Freddie Young's cinematography is revealed the gray world beneath our intricately constructed lives.

Glum London backdrops and washed-out color match British secret agent Charles Dobbs' (James Mason) despair at the infidelity of his nymphomaniac wife, and the possible murder of a likable and idealistic Foreign Office civil servant.

Slightly dated yet still exciting cold war spy thriller combines the talents of James Mason, Sidney Lumet, and a fine supporting cast, though John LeCarre might wonder what happened to the novel the movie is based on.

There isn't a hint of 'Swinging London'; the relationships and a gay subtext, played out on several levels, are handled maturely and without an invitation to snicker.

A gloomy (and gloomily lit) but very interesting spy thriller of the 60's,with a fine performance by James Mason(as Charles Dobbs,but George Smiley in all but name),and good support from Simone Signoret(convincing as a Concentration Camp survivor),Harry Andrews,Kenneth Haigh,Roy Kinnear and Max Adrian.As an answer to the artificial,antiseptic glamour of the James Bond extravaganzas,THE DEADLY AFFAIR works very well for the most part,with an intelligent script compensating for the occasionally over-prolonged and too static dialogue exchanges between the principals.The production is set,deliberately,in dismally unattractive,murky interior and exterior locations around London,though this oddly gives the film more atmosphere,and is also helped by a haunting score by Quincy Jones,one of the best and most criminally underrated of his career.

The film only drags a little in a sub-plot involving Mason's nymphomaniac wife,played somewhat uncomfortably by Harriet Andersson.The film would have worked equally well if not better had Ms Andersson been a decent,devoted spouse,and Maximillan Schell is given little to do as an old wartime colleague (and as it turns out,yet another of Mrs Dobbs' lovers) of Dobbs.But for the most part,American Sidney Lumet does a first-class job as an outsider's look into British/European espionage,and it grips solidly throughout.

RATING:7 and a half out of 10.

... based on a book by John Le Carre, directed by Sidney Lumet. Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is an aging agent with the British Home Office. He knows his wife (Harriet Andersson) is having an affair, but he has more pressing matters at hand: a politician has committed suicide shortly after being questioned by Dobbs about his college-era communist leanings. The higher-ups don't think it was suicide, so Dobbs, with the assistance of a retired Scotland Yard inspector (Harry Andrews), is ordered to look into it.

Also featuring Simone Signoret as the dead man's widow, Maximilian Schell as an old friend of Dobbs', Kenneth Haigh, Roy Kinnear, Max Adrian, Lynn Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, and David Warner. This was another of Le Carre's George Smiley books, but due to rights issues the names were changed. Director Lumet presents a drab, gray London that perhaps fits the dour tone of the story but doesn't invite much audience enthusiasm. I was very impressed with Andrews as the tough cop, and Signoret as the Holocaust-surviving widow. The Quincy Jones soundtrack jars badly against the onscreen action.

The picture concerns upon the world of secrets agents an spies . An agent (Robert Flemyng) commits suicide and another named Charles Dobbs (a magnificent James Mason as Smiley though the character was renamed Charles Dobbs for this movie) believes to be a murder . His chief nicknamed Marlene Dietrich (Max Adrian) orders investigate it . Charles Dobbs married to an unfaithful wife called Ann Dobbs (actress Candice Bergen was the first choice to play Charles Dobbs' spouse , the part went to Harriet Andersson) is helped by an ex-police officer (Harry Andrews) . There are many suspects (Simone Signoret , Roy Kinnear , Maximilian Schell..) , who's the killer ?

This interesting movie is a cold thriller plenty of suspense , mystery , tension and a little bit of violence . This is second and final screen adaptation of a John Le Carré story scripted by Paul Dehn , the first had been The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) released a year earlier . Although the story gets several ingredients for entertainment , the plot is some embarrassing and flawed , the screenplay has gaps and results to be some confusing though entertaining . The film's source novel title 'Call for the Dead' was changed to 'The Deadly Affair' for this movie as this was a more commercial title . The character of George Smiley, 'John Le Carré's hero, was renamed Charles Dobbs for this movie , this was because the Paramount Studio had bought the rights to the Smiley name when they produced The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). In this film, James Mason was the second actor to play John le Carré's famous George Smiley character on screen and TV . The casting is first-rate with a top-notch star-studded , specially by James Mason and Maximiliam Schell . Very good support cast , mainly formed by prestigious British actors such as Harry Andrews , Robert Flemyng , Roy Kinnear , Max Adrian , among others . This is the only film in which siblings Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave both appear .

Dark as well as colorful cinematography by the classic British cameraman Freddie Young , being first theatrical color movie of a John Le Carré story , The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was in black-and-White . Jazzy as well as evocative musical score by Quincy Jones . The flick belongs to spies sub-genre developed during ¨Cold war¨ and its maxim representations are John LeCarre's novels rendered to cinema in movies as ¨The spy who came in from cold¨ (by Martin Ritt with Richard Burton) , ¨The Kremlin Letter¨(John Huston with Nigel Green) and ¨Russia House¨(Fred Schepisi with Sean Connery) , these films get similar atmosphere and twisted intrigues about spies among East and west World but with no relation to spies from James Bond novels by Ian Fleming . The motion picture was professionally directed by Sidney Lumet . The story will appeal to suspense movies fans.

A complex, suspenseful, and sometimes surprisingly funny spy thriller by master director Sidney Lumet ("12 Angry Men", "Long Day's Journey Into Night", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Running on Empty"). The picture has a really brilliant cast, including James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell, Harriet Andersson and Harry Andrews. The photography is interesting too. Lumet and cinematographer Freddie Young used a technique called "preflashing". In his book "Making Movies" Lumet writes: "Thematically it was a film about life's disappointments. I wanted to desaturate the colors. I wanted to get that dreary, lifeless feeling London has in winter. Freddie suggested preexposing the film."

Lumet's approach in "The Deadly Affair" (1967) is perhaps even a little too realistic to make it a suspense masterpiece. But nevertheless you should really see this little gem.

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.

This film is a time-tunnel trip to the Cold-War-Espionage movie boom that began in 1965 with the big hit "The Spy Who Came in from The Cold" and lasted through the early 70s. A thriller with schematic political innuendos, not hard to guess plot twists, and then racy sex issues (nymphomania, just mentioned very obliquely of course). All of it based on the novel by then-omnipresent John Le Carré -- the thinking man's answer to Ian Fleming -- featuring a cliché bossa-nova theme moodily sung by Brazilian Astrud Gilberto, a jazzy score by Quincy Jones and a classy international cast.

This is from the time when thriller plots were supposed to be "honest", meaning that it gives us clues to actually guess the denouement (very unlike today, when plot twists are so far-fetched you just give up). A film from a time when we, common spectators, could still grasp the shady games of international espionage and counter-espionage.

The trouble with "The Deadly Affair" is that it's VERY ponderous and talky, but the real shame here is the waste of the female cast. While the boys have fun with their roles, the two leading ladies, both luminous actresses, were treated badly. Simone Signoret's face is always fascinating, but her role is underwritten, unexplored and she sleepwalks through it. And what to say about poor Harriet Andersson? She -- whose work for Ingmar Bergman included her tour-de-force as schizophrenic Karin in "Through a Glass Darkly" -- is completely miscast, badly dubbed, badly photographed, badly directed. It's probably her worst performance ever!

This film won't harm you on a cold rainy sleepless night - bu it has dated badly.

The Deadly Affair was the top half of a double bill on TVO, with The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and I enjoyed it much more than the drab, monotonous Richard Burton vehicle. Sidney Lumet gathered the best English actors--Mason, Harry Andrews, Kenneth Haigh (who originated Jimmy Porter on stage), Roy Kinnear, Max Adrian, and many more, adding to them Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell and Harriet Andersson: what a star-studded cast. Lumet keeps the action flowing adroitly; he brings the Harriet Andersson character into the story, rather than showing her in flashback as le Carré had done in the novel.

All in all, it's a solid piece of entertainment. If you are a fan of Harry Andrews, as I am, you will relish the way he makes the retired policeman Mendel his own. The narcolepsy, the scene with the rabbit, the bar scene with Roy Kinnear, they are all wonderfully played. I could say that Mason is Andrews's foil, rather than the other way around. Simone Signoret is the wrong physical type for Elsa, but she manages to bring some real venom to her dialogues with Mason.

Good to great actors...but...YAWN~ I had DVR-d this and wound it back to try & get "into" the story...i.e. get hooked enough to WANT to finish it! The dreary late 1960s movie . where ALL is doubted and ALL the world is just one sour lemon...means that you get the jazzy music whenever Mason's character will have that dreary "I love you, wife, but why are you sleeping with everyone" talk.

And no one really believes in anything...Mason and another great actor Maximillian Schell - long for the good old days of World War 2 when the issues (i.e. the "good vs bad") seemed clear...So why should we care if someone is spying on someone else???

If you're gonna do nihilism---make it INTERESTING---not dreary!

Deleted it without bothering to rewind & review the ending. I just didn't care!!!

(And I liked some other Sidney Lumet films...as well as many of these actors....But this one's a dud!)

The only reason I have cable is for Turner Classic Movies, and the chance to see, uncut, unedited, uninterrupted; flicks like this. The film is as stated very leisurely paced, but good (bordering on great) performances, a taut, very adult script, and an absolute joy of a soundtrack by the great Quincy Jones keep you watching. Makes this a leisurely stroll you enjoy taking. Listen to the music in the scenes between James Mason and his erstwhile wife [I won't even tell you what's going on between those two, it's just one of the most understated treatments of this subject, and that understatement gives it an outrageous power, as you are just completely agape at James Mason's... restraint] , Quincy is doing magical things. A movie where the parts, make the sum worth watching. Recommended.

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.

The world has become very rapid with faster and faster telecommunication gadgets, and a film of good Cherry's quality like this one can't possibly get made in the pace of today's world. Yes, watching this older work of the late Sidney Lumet is like sipping a nice glass of Cherry at a most leisure moment. This film is meant to be excited, nail-biting, and thrilling at times, but the overriding quality has become that of neatness and pleasure. I believe that is when they made films simply to entertain and not to preach or to release one's political, social, or economic frustration. The director, script writer, and actors of this film made it appear easy to be an artist. One can forget what made such characters as James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell, Harry Andrews, Roy Kinnear, and few others to be so fondly remembered. These were talented men and women who did not try to over-advertise their performing quality. They minded their own works a lot more than undermined other people's. Information flowing across the Internet today is uglier and destructive because the changed intent of the users. Even praises and compliments are mostly of cynical nature. This film is well-told, well-paced, and truly story-oriented. Time flies with such works. My personal advice to today's human beings who forget how to be nice: watch The Deadly Affair and other films of this kind. They will soften your soul, give you back some kindness, and give you Oxygen of life. Mr. Lumet, Sir, wherever you are, have a nice Cherry!

A John Le Carré-based Cold War spy film will always challenge an audience with an unflinching look at the world of espionage, and confront viewers with its most unpleasant facts; true stories of manipulation and deceit where the simplistic, Manichean scheme "good guys versus bad guys" is exposed as deceitful and manipulative. Sidney Lumet ("The Verdict", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Q and A") added another feather to his cap directing this 1966 adaptation of "Call for the Dead", which features an international cast headed by James Mason, Maximilian Schell, Simone Signoret (not De Beauvoir, who was an Existentialist author, not an actress)and Harriet Andersson. In true Lumet fashion, characterization does not take a back seat to plot development: Mason brings his masterful touch, an understated yet poignant despair to his doomed agent Dobbs; Schell manages to come across as debonair and sinister at the same time, and world-weary Signoret eloquently speaks for the victims who were tangled up in Cold War power games. The Bossa Nova soundtrack, full of sad sensuality, creates an innovative contrast to the bleak, rainy London streets where the web of deceit is torn in a violent and realistic showdown. Excellent supporting performances by actors Harry Andrews and Roy Kinnear help make "The Deadly Affair", many years after its first viewing, a somber and masterful look at Cold-War espionage and a fine example of serious movie-making.

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.

Sidney Lumet's The Deadly Affair fields an outstanding cast of actors but the results are disappointing in this slow moving and passionless spy story that meanders sluggishly throughout.

Special agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is stunned to find out a man he interviewed and gave clearance for a high security position has committed suicide. Things at home aren't going so well for Dobbs either with an adulterous wife. Assigned a retired detective (Harry Andrews) to help investigate the suspicious death Dobbs begins to find out some sordid truths close to home.

James Mason Dobb's is about the only saving grace to be found in Affair. Simone Signoret, Max Schell and Bibbi Anderson are all wasted in parts that are undeveloped and remote remaining en masse in a comatose state most of the way. Mason on the other hand is powerfully effective in scene after scene but other than a couple of humorous moments with Harry Andrews has no one to counter his emotional tenor.

Lumet's direction is erratic, his pace suspense draining (glaringly so during the films climax at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) and his compositions murky. By the time you get around to it's hollow forced finish this whole affair is d.o.a.

I can't recall how many times I have seen this film, commencing with its initial release, but it gets better every time. Can films mature with age like Volnay and Pommard? I see more in it now than I did before. Does this mean that I no longer have presbyopia? In this latest viewing, I realized for the first time the true enormity of the genius shown by Simone Signoret in her part which has very little dialogue. All she has to do is move her eyes, and we stir with emotion. This film is based on the John le Carre novel CALL FOR THE DEAD, and was the second of his novels to be filmed, the first being THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965), which came out a year earlier. This is very much a film about people, and is only incidentally a spy tale. It is of course brilliantly made, with Sidney Lumet excelling himself, and all the actors at their very best. I spent one day on the set of this film in the spring of 1966, at Twickenham Studios. The only one of the actors who was there that day was James Mason. It was the only time I ever met him. We chatted for a while. For those who are interested, I can say that in person James Mason was exactly like James Mason on screen. What you saw was what you got. He really was James Mason, it's as simple as that. With many actors and actresses you meet somebody else entirely, but with him there was that same soft voice and gentle polite manner, in which he appears to be confiding in you as a dear friend. What a delightful fellow he was. So I never got to meet Simone Signoret, a great loss. I talked for a while with Lumet, who shocked me by saying that he would be happy to abandon celluloid and start making movies on video tape. He was a highly intelligent and very pleasant man. I spent much more time chatting with the cinematographer Freddie Young and his operator Brian West, both of whom I already knew. Freddie talked to me more on that day that at any other time. He waxed lyrical on his theories of lighting, put his hands in the air to show the rays of light coming down at different angles, and even showed signs of excitement. Freddie, who was the most sedate and calmest of men, never usually gave any indication of being excited about anything. He could calm any hysterical actor or actress simply by looking at them and smiling in a friendly fashion. Brian was the same. They were truly The Silent Ones on both set and location. Nervous directors instantly felt at ease in their presence. But what Freddie was most excited to tell me was that he had perfected a new technique on this film. He said that Sidney had wanted to have a visual effect of gloom in the film, and asked Freddie if he knew how to do that. So Freddie came up with what was then a brilliant new idea, though used continually ever since by everyone while celluloid was still in use. I asked him what was this new technique. And he answered with barely restrained enthusiasm: 'The film is 30% flashed.' I said what do you mean 'flashed'? He said that he had taken the celluloid out of the cans and pre-exposed it to light under carefully controlled conditions. He did many experiments and found that 30% exposure was just right. That made the finished film look subtly washed-out in the gloomy way that Sidney wanted, but while retaining its colour sufficiently. He was so proud of this achievement, which was the result of very prolonged experiments over a period of weeks prior to shooting. What fine fellows Freddie and Brian were. 'They don't make 'em like that anymore.' The other person I met that day was the young feminist campaigner, Gloria Steinem, who was visiting Sidney in her role as journalist to write an article about him and the film. She was super-glamorous in those days, really something! Most of the men on set hardly dared look at her, lest their desires overwhelm them. I steeled myself against this onslaught of pulchritude, overlookng the fact that she was irresistible and pretending I had not noticed, so that she and I chatted away for ages, and she was so effusively friendly that she insisted on giving me an introduction to her great friend Bob Brown at ESQUIRE, whom I thus later befriended. But her main enthusiasm was because I had been on friendly terms with her chum from COSMOPOLITAN, Helen Gurley Brown, or should I say Helen Girlie Brown. But then that is another story. You never know what is going to happen on a film set, though the answer to that (if you ask any bored actor waiting between shots): usually nothing. Now as to this film, it is simply superb, and everyone should see it immediately. Sidney also had the exquisite taste to cast the Swedish actress Harriet Andersson as James Mason's young nymphomaniac wife. Those of us who haunted the art houses in those days knew her from the Ingmar Bergman films, and then suddenly there she was in an English language film, and of course she does very well. The recipe for a good film is often: 'throw in one Swede or two Danes, and stir'. Just look at Bergman's protégé Max von Sydow to see how far they can go in the world of international cinema. And it is always good to see the wonderful British character actor Harry Andrews in films, here playing a sleepy retired police inspector who keeps nodding off. It is all just terrific, and every bit a superior John le Carre film. In fact it is even better, being a genuine classic.

There are many stories which originate from the imaginative pen of famed author John Le Carre. His most intricate spy novel is 'The Spy who came in from the Cold.' Here is another, a very suspenseful thriller which he created called " The Deadly Affair. " Director Sidney Lumet has British spy Charles Dobbs (James Mason) assigned to interview and clear a British Government employee Sammuel Fennan (Robert Flemyng). A simple task which changes overnight as Fennan commits suicide. His supervisor and his colleagues accept it, but Dobbs suspects it was murder. To trouble Dobbs as he investigates, is his adulterous nymphomaniac wife Ann (Harriet Andersson) who is having a sordid affair with his best friend Dieter Frey. (Maximilian Schell) The case become mysterious and ever complicated as more people are killed, so he is aided by retired inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews, who steals the show from Mason). Kenneth Haigh is Bill Appleby who is nearly indispensable to Dobbs. Roy Kinnear appears briefly. The movie is in Black and White as were the last days of the cold war. Superb acting gives this movie a Classic feel and easily ranks as one of Mason's best. ****