The End of the Affair (1955)

Adaptation of Graham Greene’s classic 1951 novel. During World War II, writer Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) goes to the party of London civil servant Henry Miles (Peter Cushing) and soon after begins an affair with his wife Sarah (Deborah Kerr). But when Bendrix is injured in a bombing, Sarah mysteriously removes herself from his life. 

This clever melodrama toys with becoming a noirish, Hitchcockian thriller – there’s an endearingly silly detective played by John Mills – but is really a film about religious faith and morality. 

A few things stand out as odd:

• The couple seem to go from meeting to being obsessively in love in no time at all, and yet there’s no real chemistry between them. What do they have in common? It’s as if a scene or two is missing, as their apparent attraction is never explained.
• When Bendrix first sees Sarah, she’s kissing another man. Who is he and why is this additional affair not explored further? Was it simply there to indicate that she was unhappily married?
• If Bendrix is American, why is he writing a book about the English civil service?

It was remade in 1999, with Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore in the lead roles.

The Hucksters (1947)

Amusing satire on the world of radio advertising – a niche topic that makes for surprisingly rich material. Clark Gable stars as Victor Norman, a war veteran who ends up working for an advertising agency and finding new ways to sell people Beautee Soap. Deborah Kerr (a straight society widow) and Ava Gardner (a sultry nightclub singer) are the two women he flits between, while Sydney Greenstreet plays the intimidating boss who everyone (except Victor) is terrified of. 

The dialogue sparkles and there are some very funny lines. Gable, perpetually smoking, is charming but perhaps not quite as charming as the film believes he is. 

Where The Hucksters really excels is with its quirky, witty outlook. At one point Victor goes to buy a “sincere” necktie. At another point, he throws money out of the window. And Deborah Kerr’s cute daughter is hilarious.