Today’s quick review: The Deadly Affair. British intelligence agent Thomas Dobbs (James Mason) suspects foul play when Samuel Fennan (Robert Flemyng), a government official he was investigating for Communist ties, seemingly kills himself. Going against orders, Dobbs investigates the death, beginning with Fennan’s wife Elsa (Simone Signoret). Meanwhile, his own wife Ann (Harreit Andersson) is having an affair with an old friend (Maximilian Schell).
The Deadly Affair is a spy mystery based on a novel by John le Carre. The Deadly Affair follows Thomas Dobbs as he tries to answer the questions raised by the apparent suicide of a suspected Communist spy. In spite of its subject matter, the movie plays out more like a noir than a spy thriller. Dobbs puzzles out clues, asks inconvenient questions, and shakes off violence in his attempt to get at the truth.
Part of what sets The Deadly Affair is its protagonist. James Mason cuts a peculiar figure as Thomas Dobbs: a bulldog when it comes to his work, but a passive and frustrated man in his domestic life. Unlike other spies in fiction, Dobbs is neither hyper-competent nor washed-up. He is an ordinary man struggling to cope with the pressures put on him by an unforgiving job and an unfaithful wife, injecting a much-appreciated human element into the story.
The Deadly Affair sits comfortably at the intersection of two compatible genres. It couples the intrigue and subterfuge of a spy film with the sturdy backbone of a noir, tying it all together with the unique perspective of its protagonist. The Deadly Affair is not as flashy as its competition, but it certainly holds its own. Anyone in the mood for something well-crafted and cerebral should give it a try.
For a Cold War spy movie with more expansive plot, check out The Ipcress File or Funeral in Berlin. For one that offers an even bleaker take on the business of espionage, try The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. For a noir with an even more elaborate mystery, try The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, or Murder, My Sweet. For another crime drama that centers around infidelity, try Internal Affairs.
6.8 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for a well-crafted mystery.