The End of the Affair
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Deborah Kerr, John Mills, Michael Goodliffe, Peter Cushing, Van JohnsonBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Published); Portuguese (Published)
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The End of the Affair
Movie Review: Great screen adaptation of a great novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb 1955 film adaptation of Graham Greene's moving, The End of the Affair - one of the greatest novels by one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century.
When possible, I prefer not to mention "the book" when reviewing a movie, but when the elephant in the room is Graham Greene's novel, I suppose the comparison is unavoidable. I also don't like to give away the plot in a review, and I won't do it here either.
This is a story set in the WWII London suburbs and involves an adulterous affair involving an American novelist (Van Johnson) and the wife (the lovely Deborah Kerr) of a semi-important government functionary (the distinguished Peter Cushing). The screenplay was very nicely done, but the complex plot in The End of the Affair required much of Greene's book to be left out. However, I was delighted, here and there, to see the inclusion of little details and nuance from the novel.
As you might expect of Graham Greene, God also plays an active role in this story. I won't say any more in that regard except that He receives rather short shrift in the film compared to the book.
Deborah Kerr nailed her role. So did Peter Cushing in his understated manner. Van Johnson was appropriately unlikeable, but never really got a handle on his character in the way that the other leads did. He was a weak link. Excellent supporting cast (John Mills was outstanding as the quirky detective. The others were British unknowns to me, but quite talented).
I don't know the usual best formula for the order in which to watch-the-movie/read-the-book. In this case, may I suggest that you watch the film first. It is great and stands on its own merit. Then, if you are a reader . . . read the book. You will be stunned.
Summary of The End of the Affair
END OF THE AFFAIR - DVD MovieFor its first minutes, The End of the Affair looks like it's going to be a standard "two tortured souls who know they shouldn't be having an affair but are going to keep on doing it anyway" movie. Fortunately, it gets more interesting than that. Van Johnson plays Maurice Bendrix, an American author in wartime England. While attending a cocktail party of noble civil servant Henry Miles (Peter Cushing), he accidentally catches a glimpse of Henry's wife, Sarah (Deborah Kerr), kissing another man. Fascinated, he arranges to meet her, and the two start an affair. Maurice, unable to get Sarah's previous infidelity out of his mind, gets clingy and suspicious; Sarah tells him they can't meet anymore and goes back to Henry, and that's that. Or is it? Maurice is unable to let go of Sarah, and as he investigates he finds out there was far more to the end of their affair than he thought. Kerr has by far the most difficult job of the film, playing several layers of deception as the coolly efficient civil servant's wife with more than one unexpected passion hiding just below the surface. Peter Cushing also does quietly good work, touchingly playing what could have been a thankless Wronged Husband role. Indeed, most of the usual standards are fleshed out in surprising ways in this strange and earnest little movie. Like its heroine, The End of the Affair takes a grim surface story and gradually reveals the unexpected passions underneath. (Based on the novel by Graham Greene and remade in 1999 with Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes.) --Ali Davis
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