There are many stories which originate from the imaginative pen of famed author John Le Carre. His most intricate spy novel is 'The Spy who came in from the Cold.' Here is another, a very suspenseful thriller which he created called " The Deadly Affair. " Director Sidney Lumet has British spy Charles Dobbs (James Mason) assigned to interview and clear a British Government employee Sammuel Fennan (Robert Flemyng). A simple task which changes overnight as Fennan commits suicide. His supervisor and his colleagues accept it, but Dobbs suspects it was murder. To trouble Dobbs as he investigates, is his adulterous nymphomaniac wife Ann (Harriet Andersson) who is having a sordid affair with his best friend Dieter Frey. (Maximilian Schell) The case become mysterious and ever complicated as more people are killed, so he is aided by retired inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews, who steals the show from Mason). Kenneth Haigh is Bill Appleby who is nearly indispensable to Dobbs. Roy Kinnear appears briefly. The movie is in Black and White as were the last days of the cold war. Superb acting gives this movie a Classic feel and easily ranks as one of Mason's best. ****