Thaneevuth Jankrajang 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!

nomoons11 This one was an entertaining/intriguing watch but it's not high on my list for Col War Spy Thrillers.I think the first flaw is a casting miscue. Simone Signoret imo was not the right choice for role she plays. By this time her looks were far gone from what she looked like in her hayday but she just didn't seem like the spy type. I didn't buy it.This one also suffered from being a little slow. Screenplay wasn't very tight. It's expected to be a "dry" typa film but most good spy films do. I care very little for action in spy films. What I look for is the "words" that'll lead me to the answer at the end. This film dos a good job right up until the end but it just seemed slow to me.I liked this film for sure but it's one that I'll forget soon. I guess you call those "throwaway films".If you want Cold War Spy Thriller films that keep you guessing then the best are most certainly "The Spy who came in from the Cold" and The TV version(1979) of "Tinker' Tailor, Soldier, Spy". Not surprisingly, they're both from le Carré novels.

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.

Bob Taylor 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.