The late John Le Carré’s Call for the Dead book was the basis for director Sidney Lumet’s top-notch spy thriller The Deadly Affair (31st January 9pm Sony Movies Classic).

It’s a complex story starring James Mason and Maximilian Schell.

British secret agent Charles Dobbs (Mason) is shocked to discover that a government official whom he knew has committed suicide.

Suspicious circumstances soon point to the death being murder, and Dobbs investigates further, contacting the victim’s wife, Elsa Fennan (Simone Signoret), a survivor of a concentration camp. Despite pressures from his bosses to drop the case, Dobbs persuades a veteran cop to take on the investigation.