Product Details

• Actors: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills, Peter Cushing, Michael Goodliffe
• Directors: Edward Dmytryk
• Writers: Graham Greene, Lenore J. Coffee
• Producers: David E. Rose, David Lewis
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: February 8, 2000
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767851897
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,067 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For 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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting film, January 22, 2002

By 

Fernando Silva "fedo" (Santiago de Chile.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The End of the Affair (DVD)

I always say it, it's no use comparing books to films, nor comparing nineteen forties or fifties movies with current releases, for many reasons, not only because of limitations due to the Production Code, which reigned supreme in those decades. This is a fine, interesting movie, with a top performance by that grand lady of the 50's, Deborah Kerr, who excelled in this kind of roles (one can remember "From Here to Eternity" and "Bonjour Tristesse", among others). Also, very good performances by the supporting-all-english-cast, most notably Peter Cushing and John Mills, and good acting by previous-boy-next-door Van Johnson, much in the way of his role in "The Last Time I Saw Paris" with Liz Taylor, but even better. I saw this movie for the first time when I was a kid and couldn't fully understand many of its implications, anyway loving it. In spite of the restrictions imposed by the aforementioned P. Code to the sexual aspects of the main characters relationship, it's pretty adult material in regard to their inner conflicts and contradictions. Serious viewing. Recommended.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the remake, August 14, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (Baton Rouge, La USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The End of the Affair (DVD)

I much preferred this version of the Grahme Greene classic to the newer version with Julianna Moore and Ralph Fienes. That movie was far too graphic for my tastes and the story was so confusing that I was often completely lost. In any case, in the 1999 version, I found I did not like the characters, therefore, I could not care less what happened to them. In this version with Deborah Kerr and Van Johnson, I could follow the story line and find a sympathy for the characters. It was almost like "aha, so that is what it was all about." Sort of shows that today's graphic realism can ruin a really good story. I like the old way better...leaving a little mystery and something to the imagination.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece!, September 24, 2004

By 

Michelle (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The End of the Affair (DVD)

If you like classic movies that are depressing and melodramatic (not necessarily a bad word), then "The End of the Affair" is for you. I LOVE this film! It showcases Deborah Kerr and Van Johnson at their finest and is a far cry from the light musicals Johnson is usually associated with. The cinematography is exceptional as well and really captures the essence of London during World War II.