"If there is a god, then he put the thought of that prayer in my mind, and I hate him for it."In 1943, writer Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) moves to London after being wounded in the war. At a party, he meets Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr), the wife of ten years of civil servant Henry Miles (Peter Cushing). Maurice and Sarah soon begin a passionate affair, and Maurice feels increasingly jealous of Henry ...The End of the Affair is a romantic drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the novel of the same name by Graham Greene.A romance taking place against the background of WWII London, with an excellent cast, should've been something good. Unfortunately, it's a rather disappointing result.After reaching stardom with From Here to Eternity (my review), Deborah Kerr - who previously mostly played proper ladies - was finally able to diversify her roles. Both Kerr and Van Johnson do a very fine job here. The End of the Affair also stars Peter Cushing in a supporting role, shortly before his big break with roles in Hammer Films, and it's great to see him in a movie like this.While prodution values and cinematography are excellent, the story could've been stronger. With inner monologues - probably replacing large parts of the novel - and the protagonist staring out of windows wet from rain, it almost feels like a film noir, and there's a sort-of twist coming in the middle, but the resolution is hollow and unsatisfying, and where it all ultimately leads to is a disappointment.In conclusion, while The End of the Affair looks great, features an excellent performance by Deborah Kerr and has a great buildup during the first half, it suffers from a weak ending, and an overly melodramatic execution.RankingsDeborah Kerr's films
Seriously underrated adaptation of the Graham Greene novel, in some respects superior to the Neil Jordan 1999 remake. David Lean and William Wyler were initially keen to make the film, and Olivia de Havilland was desperate to reteam with Wyler on it, but both directors dropped out, partially because of inevitable problems with the Production Code in sympathetically portraying an extra-marital affair.Deborah Kerr is superb as the woman who believes her lover Van Johnson has died in an air raid and is torn apart by internal tussles of fidelity and faith. She was nominated for a Bafta for the performance but as with the American Academy, the British Academy gave her multiple nominations and never a win. Peter Cushing is also incredibly good as her stuffy but loyal husband, and dear Johnny Mills provides his usual effortless class as a slightly hapless private detective. The only real ingredient of the film that fails to gel is Van Johnson, who is simply out of his depth opposite such acting talent. It is a great shame but luckily not a fatal flaw.Edward Dmytryk skilfully and intelligently directs Lenore Coffee's thoughtful screenplay, which retains much of Graham Greene but makes it eminently filmable. Against the wishes of director and screenwriter, the film was re-edited into mostly chronological order by Columbia so as not to confuse the poor simple-minded people in the dark. Everyone seems to agree that the first version was superior but what we are left with is a highly unusual and markedly successful attempt by Hollywood to intelligently address faith. It was Graham Greene's favourite screen adapatation of his own 'religious novels'.
Truth be told I have always found Graham Greene to be a bit of a hack, so it is unsurprising that this entangled melodrama and insipid investigation of Greene’s own Catholic guilt come off as extremely banal in what is otherwise a rather well-acted and -crafted affair from Dmytryk and Co., who do their best to bring this boiler-plate bromide to life, with more-than-passable performances and a splendid visual style from Dmytryk and industry veteran DP Wilkie Cooper, providing some great staging and shadow-work throughout this thing, but no one is able overcome the defects inherent in the source material. Something of a chicken salad / chicken shit situation here, I’m afraid.
