• Rating:
• Genre: War
• Movie Type: War Romance, Romantic Drama
• Themes: Extramarital Affairs, Star-Crossed Lovers, Message From God
• Director: Edward Dmytryk
• Main Cast: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills, Peter Cushing, Stephen Murray, Michael Goodliffe
• Release Year: 1955
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• MPAA Rating: NR

Plot

Recently freed from his MGM contract, Van Johnson headed to England to star in a series of pictures, the first of which was The End of the Affair. Adapted by Lenore Coffee from the novel by Graham Greene, the film casts Johnson as Maurice Bendrix, the clandestine lover of married Briton Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr). When Maurice disappears during the London blitz, Sarah feels responsible; perhaps if she hadn't been cheating on her husband Henry (Peter Cushing), Maurice might never have been placed in harm's way. She gets down on her knees and prays, promising to return to her husband and give up Maurice if her lover's life is spared. The film's title rather gives the game away. The best performance is delivered by John Mills, as an affable private detective hired by Henry Miles to check up on Sarah's whereabouts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

The Graham Greene novel that is the basis of The End of the Affair is a difficult piece to translate to the screen, dealing as it does with complicated emotions and themes that go down more easily on the page than in the cinema. This version is acceptable, even if many of the complexities of the characters have been lost. Part of this is due to inadequacies in Lenore Coffee's screenplay, which captures the outlines of the novel but not its spirit. However, part of the blame also rests with the film's leading man, Van Johnson, and to a lesser extent with leading lady Deborah Kerr. Johnson is simply miscast; an able but limited actor, Johnson is called upon to portray a character that is simply beyond his ability, and so there is a hollowness to the central relationship in the story. An actress of immense skill, Kerr is much better than Johnson, but she's not at her best here, often pushing and straining for effect rather than letting it come naturally. Much better are Peter Cushing as Kerr's husband, and especially John Mills, who steals much of the film with his enjoyable and enlivening performance. Affair was remade more effectively in 1999. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Deborah Kerr - Sarah Miles
• Van Johnson - Maurice Bendrix
• John Mills - Albert Parkis
• Peter Cushing - Henry Miles
• Stephen Murray - Father Crompton
• Michael Goodliffe - Smythe

Nora Swinburne - Mrs. Bertram; Charles Goldner - Savage; Joyce Carey - Miss Palmer; Frederick Leister - Dr. Collingwood; Elsie Wagstaffe - Bendrix's Landlady; Christopher Warbey - Lancelot Parkis; Nan Munro - Mrs. Tomkins; Josephine Wilson - Miss Smythe; John Watson - Guest; Bart Allison - Museum Attendant; Edwin Ellis - Rescue Worker; Stanley Rose - Fireman

Credit

Don Ashton - Art Director; Lenore J. Coffee - Screenwriter; Wilkie Cooper - Cinematographer; Edward Dmytryk - Director; Benjamin Frankel - Composer (Music Score); Benjamin Frankel - Musical Direction/Supervision; Graham Greene - Book Author; Alan Osbigton - Editor; Julia Squire - Costume Designer; David Lewis - Producer

Similar Movies

Betrayal; From Here to Eternity; The English Patient; Sayonara; Another Time, Another Place; Falling in Love

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