BY LEE PFEIFFER
"The Deadly Affair", directed by Sidney Lumet, is the 1967 film based
on John Le Carre's 1961 novel "Call for the Dead". Le Carre was riding
high during the Bond-inspired Bond phenomenon of the 1960s. Unlike the
surrealistic world of 007, Le Carre's books formed the basis for gritty
and gloomy espionage stories that were steeped in realism and cynicism.
The film adaptation of Le Carre's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"
had been released the previous year to great acclaim. Lumet, who made
"The Deadly Affair" for his own production company, rounded up top
flight British talent including screenwriter Paul Dehn, who had written
the film adaptation of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and co-wrote
the screenplay for "Goldfinger".
As with all Le Carre film adaptations, the plot is complex to the
point of being confusing. There are many intriguing characters of
dubious allegiance to one another, a scarcity of violence in favor of
people talking in back alleys and living rooms and a desire to paint the
world of Cold War espionage as a tawdry environment in which the good
guys are indistinguishable from the bad guys. James Mason plays Charles
Dobbs, a veteran British Intelligence agent who takes a leisurely walk
through St. James Park with a civil servant, Fennan (Robert Flemyng),who
is aspiring to get a promotion to the Foreign Office. Dobbs informs him
that there is a bit of concern about his security clearance because an
anonymous person has tipped off MI6 through a letter that states
Fennan's may have a dual allegiance to the communists. Dobbs considers
the matter somewhat trivial and tries to assure Fennan that his name
will probably be cleared. The men part on seemingly upbeat terms but the
next day Dobbs is told by his superiors that Fennan has committed
suicide. Dobbs is flabbergasted and insists the man showed no signs of
instability. Nevertheless, Dobbs feels he is being made to be the fall
guy for failing to see obvious weaknesses in Fennan's personality.
That's not his only problem. Domestically, his young wife Ann (Harriett
Andersson) is causing him great distress by taking on numerous lovers
under his very nose. (Dobbs is even instructed to phone her before he
comes home in case she has a bed mate in their house.) Dobbs is
humiliated at playing the role of cuckold but can't bring himself to
divorce Ann- even when it is revealed that his old friend Dieter
(Maximilian Schell), a German Intelligence agent who is visiting London,
has also been seduced by her.
Dobbs smells a rat at MI6 and doubts Fennan committed suicide. He
starts his own investigation into who killed him and why. An interview
with Fennan's widow (Simone Signoret) only makes matters more complex
when he begins to suspect she might be a Soviet agent. Dobbs enlists the
only two colleagues he can trust: agent Bill Appleby (Kenneth Haigh)
and the semi-retired agent Mendel (Harry Andrews). The trio find that as
they get closer to the truth, the trail is getting more dangerous with
numerous murders occurring and their own lives in danger.
To bring Le Carre's novel to the screen, certain recurring characters
from his books, such as legendary spy George Smiley, had to have their
names changed because Paramount had the rights to "The Spy Who Came in
from the Cold" and the characters appeared in the novel and screen
version. Paul Dehn's screenplay is confusing but never boring and by the
end you can pretty much figure out what is going on even if some of the
peripheral characters' significance remains a bit vague. Sidney Lumet
was the ultimate "actor's director" and could always be counted on to
get top-rate performances from his cast. "The Deadly Game" is no
exception, with James Mason in fine form as a man who has been disgraced
professionally and personally but who still has enough pride to attempt
to clear his name. Lumet hired two fine actors who appeared in his 1965
masterwork "The Hill"- Harry Andrews and Roy Kinnear- to reunite for
this production and they have a great scene together. (Andrews must be
one of the most under-rated actors of all time.) Maximilian Schell only
appears sporadically but his role is pivotal and he is typically
impressive, as is Simone Signoret as a woman of doubtful allegiance.
Harriett Andersson, whose proficiency in English was limited, is
occasionally difficult to understand (she was reportedly partially
dubbed because of this). She accepted the role at the last minute when
Candice Bergen had to back out of the film. She is suitably sultry and
her character is quite interesting, professing to love her husband even
as she revels in submitting him to sexual humiliation. The only humor in
the film is provided by a very amusing Lynn Redgrave in a small role as
Virgin Bumpus (!), an inept set designer for a Shakespearean theater
production. Quincy Jones provides a fine jazz score that fits in well
with the lounge music craze of the era and Freddie Young's
cinematography depicts London as an ominous, rain-spattered place that
adds to the chilling atmosphere of any Le Carre story. Adding to the impressive roster of talents involved with the film are Quincy Jones, who provides a fine jazzy score and cinematographer Freddie Young. Sidney Lumet wanted to film the production in B&W but the studio insisted on color. Thus, the ever-inventive Young created a process to intentionally make the scenes look drab and dubbed it "colorless color."
Although John Le Carre was not overly-impressed with the film, he did joke that he was beguiled by Harriet Andersson's nude scene. Le Carre's opinion aside, "The Deadly Affair" was highly acclaimed in Britain, having been
nominated for five BAFTA awards but it was largely overlooked amidst the
tidal wave of other spy movies from the time period. It's a first-rate
thriller and Indicator have done it justice with an equally excellent Blu-ray special edition, which is happily region-free and features a high definition remaster. In addition, the Blu-ray contains the following special edition features:
- Original mono audio sound
- An excellent commentary track by film historians Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains
- "The Guardian Lecture with Sidney Lumet", a wonderful audio recording of a 1983 interview at the National Film Theatre conducted by Derek Malcolm, who gets the low-key director to discuss his own movies and the general state of cinema. Interestingly, even in 1983, Lumet predicted the short attention span (or perceived short attention span) of audiences would alter the way movies were made. He griped that in several recent films he had seen, no shot lasted for more than seven seconds without a cut being made.
- "A Different Kind of Spy: Paul Dehn's Deadly Affair", a featurette in which writer David Kipen discusses the life and career of the esteemed screenwriter. Kipen is loquacious and interesting, providing background of Dehn's fascinating background. He was an instructor at a spy school while in the British military in WWII and among his students were Ian Fleming and John Le Carre. He later engaged in undercover activities himself. After the war, Dehn became a screenwriter and Kipen laments the fact that many of the economically-made, but expertly scripted films he worked on in post-war Britain remain largely unseen by international audiences. Kipen also informs us that Dehn was a gay man living in Britain when homosexuality was still a crime and how his closeted life and long-time lover affair with film composer James Bernard may have influenced his work.
- "Lumet's London" is a short featurette that shows "then-and-now" footage and photos of the various locations seen in the film.
- "Take One and Move On" is a short but interesting interview with camera operator Brian West, who recalls the inventive way cinematographer Freddie Young planned some innovative shots.
- "The National Film Theatre Lecture with James Mason" is a rare gem from 1967. Mason didn't give an abundance of interviews and wasn't a common presence on chat shows. This marvelous interview before an enthusiastic audience is worth the price of the Blu-ray alone. Mason is, as you might expect, urbane, charismatic and very witty as he relates stories of his life and career including some tidbits about the pleasures and stresses of working with Hitchcock and Kubrick.
In all, this is a first-rate release of a first-rate, if underrated, espionage thriller.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE REGION-FREE BLU-RAY, WHICH IS CURRENTLY ONE OF A NUMBER OF TITLES ON SALE.