Earlier today, British secret service agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) had met with a foreign office employee, Fennan (Robert Flemyng), with a view to clearing up a matter about his past. It seemed that there had been an anonymous letter received by the office that said he had been a member of the Communist Party while at Oxford University, and such allegations have to be investigated, so Dobbs invited him for a walk by the river where he could put his defence. Satisfied that Fennan provided no threat, Dobbs reported back, but tonight he has just received a telephone call to tell him that Fennan has committed suicide...
The most common complaint for those who have not read the book this was based on is that the film is unduly complicated, but scriptwriter Paul Dehn does attempt to ameliorate any confusion by having Dobbs explain the plot every so often, so we can tell why that chap has been bumped off, and precisely what that relationship has to do with the overall conspiracy. As it turns out, that conspiracy comes across as almost minor, as if passing state secrets was small beer in comparison to betraying friends or spouses, but that's the influence of the domestic once again. As it is, you keep watching because Mason is so compelling, frustrated, sorrowful and wanting to lash out but unsure where.
He does eventually allow his emotions to get the better of him, but only for the ending and the impression is that he regrets almost everything this case has brought upon his head. His investigation brings him to Fennan's wife Elsa (Simone Signoret), a Nazi concentration camp survivor whose jaded view of life might have involved her further into espionage than she can cope with. Dobbs also teams up with a sleepy inspector called Mendel, providing Harry Andrews with one of his best roles as his dogged determination to stick to the facts as he can find them proves very profitable. The array of thesps assembled here assist in keeping the human element alive in what could have simply been dry and depressing, and while they don't quite stave off those reactions the intrigue and sheer dejection of life in the spy game it depicts have rarely been so convincing. Music by Quincy Jones.
Esteemed American director who after a background in theatre moved into television from where he went on to be the five times Oscar nominated filmmaker behind some of the most intelligent films ever to come out of America. His 1957 debut for the big screen, 12 Angry Men, is still a landmark, and he proceeded to electrify and engross cinema audiences with The Fugitive Kind, The Pawnbroker, Cold War drama Fail-Safe, The Hill, The Group, The Deadly Affair, The Offence, definitive cop corruption drama Serpico, Murder on the Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon (another great Al Pacino role), Network, Equus, Prince of the City, Deathtrap, The Verdict, Running On Empty and his final film, 2007's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Often working in the UK, he also brought his adopted home town of New York to films, an indelible part of its movies for the best part of fifty years.
