The Deadly Affair (1967): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1967, The Deadly Affair is a thriller, drama, crime and mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet, running about 115 minutes. “From the author of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.

Who’s in it. The Deadly Affair stars James Mason as Charles Dobbs, Simone Signoret as Elsa Fennan, Maximilian Schell as Dieter Frey and Harriet Andersson as Ann Dobbs, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.3/10, The Deadly Affair has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on fuboTV and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Deadly Affair page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Deadly Affair tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, Pulp Fiction, Parasite and Fight Club.