Rent The End of the Affair (1955)
3.3 of 5 from 63 ratings
1h 41min
- General info
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- Synopsis:
From the novel by Graham Greene comes this story of star-crossed lovers whose short affair begins and ends as tumultuously as the war that is its backdrop. In England during the Second World War, Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr) is the bored wife of a British civil servant. When Mr. Miles introduces her to American writer Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) at one of the couple's cocktail parties, she is unable to deny her attraction to him, or to resist his interest in her. Almost as quickly as the two become deeply involved, spinning their dreams into plans for a long future together, Sarah mysteriously brings their affair to an end. With the help of a private detective (Albert Parks), Maurice sets out to find out why: did Sarah never love Maurice, or did she love him too much? - Actors:
- Van Johnson, John Mills, Peter Cushing, Michael Goodliffe, Deborah Kerr, Stephen Murray, Charles Goldner, Nora Swinburne, Frederick Leister, Elsie Wagstaff
- Directors:
- Edward Dmytryk
- Studio:
- Sony
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- British WWII Films: The Home Front and Europe, Drama Films & TV, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: John Mills
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Reviews (1) of The End of the Affair
Cerebral drama. - The End of the Affair review by Steve
Philosophical catholic noir adapted from Graham Greene's autobiographical novel. It presents a dilemma of faith within an interesting narrative framework which tells the same story twice. First from the point of view of a bumptious American novelist (Van Johnson). And then his ethereal lover (Deborah Kerr) who is married to an insipid drudge (Peter Cushing).
The wife suddenly disappears from the writer's life without explanation, leaving him to obsess over her deceitfulness. Her version is more of a confession. During a doodlebug raid towards the end of WWII, the writer appears dead. On a desperate whim, she prays that if he would only survive, she will give him up and go back to her husband.
When he lives, she is left to wonder about the mercy of god. The narrative twist is that the abandoned writer is motivated by egotism, but the woman he doubts is inspired by a profound, intense, unconditional love. But she suddenly discovers herself in a world designed by an interventionist god. Greene was a catholic, but we can choose to interpret her faith as a delusion.
The heart of the film is the haunting realisation of the power of her unceasing love. Kerr is extremely convincing in the unusual role. The weakness is Johnson, who isn't able to register his huge internal conflict. And it should have been a British actor. Edward Dmytryk shoots the long scenes of dialogue like film noir, but really this is a tragedy.
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