User reviews

You can't really call it a noir because it's not like the characters here are unsympathetic, nor can you call it a crime drama because it's not clear until the end whether or not any crime has even taken place.

The film revolves around Stephen Barlow (Leo Genn), who teaches Latin to teen-aged girls at the nearby school. 17 year old Barbara Vining (Glynis Johns) is a student in the school with a major league crush on the rather bland Barlow who appears as a cultured and even rather mysterious man of the world in her young eyes. Barlow's wife, Kay (Gene Tierney), is for some reason jealous of the girl and suspicious of the entire relationship. One night, when Barbara is at their home studying Latin with Stephen, Kay waits until she and Barbara are alone and confronts the girl about her feelings for Stephen. Barbara flees from the house understandably humiliated about the subject of their conversation. Stephen, angry with his wife for embarrassing Barbara, runs out after the girl to try to put things right.

That would be the end of it except that Barbara Vining does not return home that night nor the next day, and her parents contact the police and initiate a search. Tongues in the small town begin to wag about the fact that this 30-something schoolmaster was walking about in the middle of the night with his teen-aged student. Barbara's father is a newspaper reporter and, having seen murderers who are quite calm after the passion of the crime is over throughout his career, does not have his fears allayed by seeing Stephen's composed and civilized demeanor. Even Stephen's own wife has her doubts when she catches Stephen in a lie relating to that night's events. Add to all of this that some male obscene caller keeps phoning the Barlow home - did he kill or abduct the girl himself and is he tormenting this very public suspect?.

Plus, one of the creepiest persons ever committed to celluloid is Barbara's own aunt. Now about 40, she is morbidly consumed with a love affair that ended disastrously for her some twenty years before and seems almost elated that history might have repeated itself for her niece. Neither Rebecca's Mrs. Danvers nor Uncle Fester have anything on Aunt Vi Vining in the way of weirdness.

This movie is more about character development than action, but it is by no means boring and should keep you engaged if not on the edge of your seat throughout. One strange thing about the casting - Gene Tierney is playing a woman about her own age at the time - 33. However, Glynis Johns is playing a teen aged girl when she was less than three years younger than Ms. Tierney. However, both carry out their roles quite convincingly.

"Personal Affair" is a crisply written, beautifully photographed, thoughtfully directed thriller about a teenage girl (Glynis Johns) who disappears, one night, from a small town and the schoolteacher (Leo Genn) who is suspected of being implicated in her disappearance. People do notice things and people in the town have noticed that there was something between them. They don't know what, he's an outsider, anyway, so they figure he's guilty. The film is a study of how feverish imagination becomes gossip, and gossip becomes the truth, how suspicion breeds fear and undermines love and trust, how crazy you can become from the whispers and half-truths swirling around you and you don't have a rock to hold onto.

The schoolteacher has a beautiful American wife (Gene Tierney) who loves him deeply but becomes detached from that rock when certain suspicions she has regarding her husband and the girl turn out to have weight. He's innocent of any criminal culpability, but he hasn't quite told the truth, which has something to do with love. The film talks a lot about this tricky emotion. At various points in the film each of the main characters - the teacher, his wife, the girl, her parents, her aunt - bring up the subject of love, and their own experiences with it. It is the aunt who has been damaged by love who harbours all kinds of toxic feelings and spreads the most lies and chaos.

The stage play and screenplay, I note, were both written by one Lesley Storm. The film has been nicely opened up, runs a tight 88 minutes and is very cinematic. Do note that beautiful metaphor at the end of the film - turbulent waters and still waters. Really a lovely little film.

"Personal Affair" is from Rank Films and stars Leo Genn, Gene Tierney, and Glynis Johns. Johns was nearly 30 when she played Barbara Vining, a student in love with her teacher, Stephen Barlow (Genn). Stephen has Barbara come to his home for tutoring; while she's there, Barlow's wife Kay confronts Barbara about her feelings. Embarrassed and upset, Barbara runs from the house. A distressed Stephen calls her at home and arranges to meet her in an out of the way area. When Barbara doesn't come home, suspicion falls on Stephen.

This is a really neat and suspenseful film, thanks to its good cast, writing, and direction. The audience (this audience anyway) isn't really sure what went on between teacher and student, if anything, so it keeps you guessing as to what happened, and the gossip condemns Barlow.

Pamela Brown is terrific as Barbara's bitter aunt who seems to get a lot of pleasure out of the suffering of others; Walter Fitzgerald and Megs Jenkin are wonderful as Barbara's agonized parents. Johns is very sweet and comes off as very young and innocent. Leo Genn is always good. Tierney has probably the most interesting role as a beautiful, somewhat snobby woman who nevertheless is insecure. She does it very well.

Well worth seeing.

Leo Genn plays a teacher at a British school. He does not realize that one of his students (Glynnis Johns) is infatuated with him, though his wife (Gene Tierney) quickly picks up on this. When the wife confronts the student about this, the teen leaves in tears--and isn't heard from for some time! Considering that the teacher followed her and talked with her, he was the last to see her and the assumptions are that she either killed herself or he killed her. Regardless, people in the town begin to assume he was responsible. I won't say what happens next, as this would spoil the film, though IMDb DOES give away the girl's whereabouts on the main page for the film! Oops.

This movie gives the viewer quite a bit to consider. First, the male teacher clearly was irresponsible being alone with a student--particularly a female one. As a retired teacher, I knew NEVER to put myself in such a situation for exactly the reasons you see in the film. I would venture that at least subconsciously the teacher was flattered by the crush--which is pretty disturbing since it resulted in his not taking reasonable precautions. Second, the wife clearly read the script, as when she meets the teen, she IMMEDIATELY knows he has a crush on the teacher--but how did her character know this?! This is an apparent weakness in the script and she is clearly the weakest written character in the movie. Third, it's a nice portrait of what happens when hysteria and the court of public opinion run amok--snowballing to insane conclusions. Fourth, it leaves you wondering why they picked a 30 year-old woman (Johns) to play a 17 year-old! Oops.

You'll notice that a couple things I mentioned above are problems with the film. Well, despite these minor concerns the rest of the film is pretty good--and thought-provoking...and well worth seeing.

A school teacher (Genn) is implicated in the disappearance of one of his female students (Johns). This student who has a crush on the teacher is humiliated when the teacher's wife (Tierney) accuses her of the truth.

The girl flees the house teacher follows and girl disappears. We are left in suspense as to what actually happened to her as we see the small town net close in around the teacher.

More of a filmed play than a movie this film is intelligently directed and well acted and holds your suspense very well up to the denouement.

As other reviewers have stated the only casting flaw is the girl (Johns) who is too old for the role.

Nice suspenseful well acted watch.

RECOMMEND

Really liked the idea for the story and it is the sort of film that appeals to me. While there were reservations of seeing 'Mary Poppins' Glynnis Johns as a teenager, which has been one of criticisms directed against it, and seeing mixed reviews here and from trusted users, just seeing the stunning Gene Tierney (star of 'Laura' and 'The Ghost of Mrs Muir') was reason enough to see 'Personal Affair'. As well as seeing Leo Genn as a lead. The potential was definitely there.

This potential was not fully realised in my view (which is in a way frustrating), but it is a long way from squandered either, the latter of which would have annoyed me much more as that is a peeve of mine. Could 'Personal Affair' have been a better film? Yes, it definitely could have been with a tightening up and more subtlety. Is it worth watching? Yes it is, and no it is not just for Tierney though she certainly is one of the reasons as to why 'Personal Affair' is worth the viewing.

'Personal Affair's' script can be too talky and could have done with a bit more succinct trimming or tightening up. The story can get over-heated in places.

Do agree that Johns is far too mature for her role and it is not easy at all to overlook.

However, Tierney is radiant and sincere, would have liked more development to her character but she plays her very well and didn't feel out of place to me. Genn is smooth and doesn't overplay or look disengaged, he does just fine as a leading man and actually had no problem at all with his chemistry with Tierney. My favourite performance comes from Pamela Brown, sinking her teeth into a fun and formidable part.

It is directed with thought and control, and the film is pretty gorgeously shot. The script does have thought-provoking and intriguing moments and the story is crisply paced enough and doesn't feel stagy, treating the viewer with respect.

Overall, pretty good if not great. 7/10

It's all about love, the deadliest thing in the world, constantly causing suicides and billions of fatal heartbreaks. Here is another slant on this timeless eternal predicament - the most impossible thinkable love affair on only one side by a student of her teacher, and he doesn't even know it. Her crush leads to typically womanish oversensitive caprices, which in their turn cause avalanches of complications, totally unintended, of course, - but the most precarious thing about love is that it is always irresponsible when it is true. The victims simply can't be held responsible for their feelings or their consequences. Pamela Brown plays the opposite case - she has killed her feelings, she sees everything perfectly coldly, like a scientist dissecting or using live animals in a laboratory, she thinks she knows and controls everything and sees everything clearly, but she knows nothing, because she feels nothing. Having killed her love, she is dead, and if she steps in to meddle in a love case, she can only cause further damage.

It's a drama of extremely high tension, almost like one of the most unendurable thrillers by Hitchcock, and it is marvellously filmed at that, with William Alwyn's tremendous music, the innovative cinematography making the dramatic cascades play an important part as an ominous accompaniment to the high tension drama. Glynis Johns as a seventeen year old girl is just that and couldn't be one year older - this must be one of her best performances, although they are so many. And Gene Tierney is more beautiful than ever as the ideal wife - of Leo Genn, always a marvel of a safe character on screen, especially memorable as the doctor in "The Snakepit". This is truly a gem of highest psychological and human calibre, and it's perfectly natural if you want to cry your eyes out.

The subject might remind you of the more known "terms of trial" in which Sarah Miles fell in love with her teacher Laurence Olivier married to Simone Signoret .

But its screenplay is drastically different :here the teacher (Leo Genn) is not a failure ,he's a teacher with a good reputation , highly regarded by everyone , married to an extremely attracting woman (Gene Tierney!).Besides he gives free private tuition to a deserving student.

It's an intimate drama , with a very good depiction of an English town , with all the gossips and all the mischievous young teenagers -"in the classroom he (and she) has only eyes for her (him)" -eager to see a life distroyed by scandal; the black and white cinematography of the promenades by the river , of its turbulent waters is almost gloomy ;the teacher and his wife live in a comfortable house ,they have a servant :in direct contrast with this quiet easy life ,we have the young student's family : they are working-class , the parents live with an aunt , a spineful spinster ,who can't stand people falling in love , mainly her own niece : she spits out her venom on the teacher's wife .

Glynis Jones is excellent as the teenager with still the child in her eyes :when she mysteriously disappears,after a secret meeting with her teacher , one loses himself in conjectures about her fate: did she jump into the water or was she pushed?

Taunt tight suspenseful drama, I don't want to to say to much about the plot. Gene Tierney is very good in this very talkie film. Tierney is expressive and restrained and gives a great performance. Despite a few flaws in the script the film held my attention. Leo Genn was also very good as the besieged teacher, nice to see him in as a leading man. Glynis Johns seems a little too mature for the part of a teenage girl, overlooking that a nice performance. Pamela Brown is wonderful as the bitter Aunt. The direction seemed very controlled. Overall an interesting film about gossip and the damage it can do to peoples lives. The performances from the two stars to supporting cast make this Film, Tierney and Genn stands out. The strong production value of the film is grade A. Beautifully filmed in England.

This contrived British suspense drama could have been a quality "Gone Girl" sort of thriller, but the screenplay by Lesley Storm misses the boat with cliches and unnecessary hokeyness.

Gene Tierney stars as the beautiful wife of Latin teacher Leo Genn, who becomes jealous when he's tutoring a young student played by an overage Glynis Johns (30-year old established star playing a 17-year-old). Contrived circumstances lead to Genn accused of murdering her after small-town rumors mount when she's disappeared for three days, and everyone, especially her aunt well-played (as pure evil, unfortuntely per the script) by Pamela Brown, assumes he's guilty without a shred of real evidence.

No faulting the actors, who all are convincing, but the final twists are dumb, and the last reel melodrama thoroughly manipulative. The quality of British understatement is at war with almost an exploitation movie level of gimmickry and the result is a mishmash.

Obviously a very young (or for cinema's sake, underage-looking) actress in Glynis' role would have maximized the impact of the story, and the main theme of unrequited love could have been handled better, so an audience with a high tolerance for being jerked around by the filmmakers is necessary to enjoy this hokum.

This film suffers from so many basic defects that it is difficult to understand how it was ever made.The casting is a major problem.Leo Genn and Gene Tierney have no chemistry and fail to make one believe that they are married or ever cared for each other.Glynis Johns is nearer 30 than the 17 years of the character and consequently looks far too old to be a teenager.There are so many unresolved issues left hanging in the air.Mainly whether or not Genn was in love with Johns and whether they had any sort of affair.The fact that this question is never fully addressed is a major flaw which undermines the whole script.As is often the case with British films of the fifties a fading American star is brought in to play a leading role in the hope that this will secure an American distributor.

Anthony Pelissier directed films for just five years, so his output did not amount to much in terms of quantity. That said, all his films reflect a high degree of personal filmic style grounded in solid B&W cinematography. PERSONAL AFFAIR remains an example of that, though sadly the middle segment suffers excessive shots of backwater town settings and close-ups of people commenting on the disappearance of Barbara (Glynis Johns) and her possible amorous liaison with her Latin teacher Stephen Barlow (classily played by Leo Genn).

New York-born Gene Tierney is the American attraction so common in European films of the 1950s and 1960s. She plays Kay, Barlow's beautiful wife (perhaps too beautiful to marry a Latin teacher of dubious income, and even more incredibly, jealous of teenager Barbara). That ain't all, either: she appears in bursts during the film, and struck me as too tongue-impulsive to attract my sympathy. She had hardly spoken a word to Barbara and already accused her of improper feelings for hubby Stephen, then seemed to feel guilty about Barbara's disappearance, inexplicably leaving home to wander around, seemingly in two minds about her hubby's real role in the teenager's disappearance... messy characterization that simply does not work.

The other major flaw that I found very tough to swallow was Barbara's reason for disappearing for a couple of days, after a brief meeting at night with her teacher. The film never enlightens you as to what teacher and student discussed at night, or why an intelligent and polished teacher of Latin classics would risk his career over a young female supposedly carrying a torch for him.

Perhaps PERSONAL AFFAIR is intended as a cautionary tale for teachers engrossed in attractive alumni, but it misses the mark and in process wastes superior talent like Tierney, Genn, Johns, Walter Fitzgerald and Michael Hordern, among others in smaller parts in a dodgy script by - anyone heard of her? - Lesley Storm. 6/10.

I'm a huge Gene Tierney fan, but apparently not enough of one, because I only discovered this film while browsing through Amazon. Wish I'd known about it years ago. The quality is good, the pace is fast, the acting solid, the themes surprisingly brazen for the times (or so it seems to me). There's a touch of melodrama, mystery, even film noire. The Aunt Evelyn character is almost as wicked as dear old Mrs Danvers. If you're debating about watching this film, don't. It's worth the time, especially for a fan of classic black and white films. Thanks to the viewers who took the time to rate this film! otherwise I would never have discovered it.

After watching Personal Affair my major question is who over at Two Cities Films had the brilliant idea of casting 30 year old Glynis Johns as a love struck teenager? The horrible miscasting ruined what could be a decent film about the damage of idle gossip.

The best speaking voice in the English language Leo Genn plays a school teacher in rural England who teenage Glynis has conceived a passionate crush on. When Genn rolls out those Latin phrases who wouldn't be enthralled, the only voice better is that of Ronald Colman.

But Genn's already married to Gene Tierney and that's beauty enough for anyone. Still after a meeting with Genn where he rejects her advances, Johns disappears and the police start investigating after her father Walter Fitzgerald reports her missing. After that the questions, speculation, and gossip start.

Another problem is something another reviewer pointed out, Tierney and Genn have no real chemistry together. This was another case of American star imported to the United Kingdom to give some American box office draw to one of their films. Who really gives a fine performance is Pamela Brown, Glynis's maiden aunt who is one warped frustrated old maid. Seems like Brown is a modern day Miss Favesham who was jilted and takes it out on whatever humanity happens to be around.

Some better casting and Personal Affair would rate a notch or two higher.

When this film started, I thought it was going to be another version of Laurence Olivier's Term of Trial. After all, it circled around a British teacher relatively happily married to a non-English woman, whose underaged student has fallen in love with him. She gets extra time with him by coming to his house for "tutoring". But that's where the similarities stop. Personal Affair turns into a cheap, boring thriller that doesn't hold your attention.

Glynis Johns plays the teenager, and Leo Genn is the object of her affection. He makes a great argument with his jealous wife, Gene Tierney, that it's practically necessary for his students to develop crushes on him. It shows they're growing up and picking a healthy ideal for their romantic fantasy. They're not fantasizing about the resident bad boy, and they're not fooling around with boys their own age. Instead, they drool over their teacher, who hasn't the slightest inkling of taking advantage of them. Even after his sensible point is made, Gene is extremely jealous. She confronts Glynis and makes her feel ashamed of her crush; then, Glynis flees the house and disappears. Her parents and the police are frantic with worry - but there is one person who saw her after her disappearance.

The plot twists really aren't very interesting, and Gene Tierney's melodramatic performance leaves much to be desired. I liked Leo Genn's even-keeled persona, like a watered-down Robert Newton, but it just wasn't a good movie. For a much better take on the student-teacher plot device, watch Term of Trial.

A quietly flashy (the image even turns to negative at one point) cross between 'Le Corbeau' and 'Term of Trial' adapted from her own play 'A Day's Mischief' by Lesley Storm that once more lifts the lid on the passions simmering not far below the surface of conservative fifties Britain.

Obligatory American star Gene Tierney melds unobtrusively with a cast of largely female Brits ranging from bitter, chainsmoking maiden aunt Pamela Brown to an unbilled Nanette Newman as a gossiping teenager; the best performance as usual coming from Megs Jenkins as Glynis Johns' careworn mother.