The Deadly Affair

Plot

In contemporary London, Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is a staid MI5 operative investigating Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan, a former Communist who apparently commits suicide. Dobbs becomes suspicious when a wake-up call is made to Fennan's home the next morning. While his widow Elsa (Simone Signoret) says it was for her, this is discovered to be a lie. Dobbs then suspects that Elsa, a survivor of an extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. Dobbs privately links up with retired police inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews) to continue inquiries. As they uncover a network of Communist agents, Dobbs also discovers that his wife Ann (Harriet Andersson) is leaving him for a former wartime colleague in Switzerland, Dieter Frey (Maximilian Schell), who may have used access to her to gain knowledge of Dobbs' movements. Dobbs uses his knowledge of Dieter to set a trap, which proves that Elsa is the spy and Dieter is her control. In a final confrontation, Dieter strangles Elsa and shoots Mendel but is killed bare handed by the enraged Dobbs.

Cast

Production

Location shooting for The Deadly Affair took place in London, in St. James's Park, at the Balloon Tavern and the Chelsea Embankment in Chelsea, in Clapham and Barnes, and in Twickenham. The exterior of Dobbs' house is in St. George's Square, Pimlico.

Director of photography Freddie Young's technique of pre-exposing the colour film negative to a small, controlled amount of light (known as "flashing" or "pre-fogging") in order to create a muted colour palette was first used in this film. Lumet called the result "colorless color" and it proved influential, being used by other cinematographers such as Vilmos Zsigmond on McCabe & Mrs. Miller.

Awards and honours

The Deadly Affair received five BAFTA Awards nominations, for Best British Film for Sidney Lumet, Best British Screenplay for Paul Dehn, Best British Cinematography (Colour) for Freddie Young, Best Foreign Actress for Simone Signoret, and for Best British Actor for James Mason, but did not win any of the awards.