Great 1968 film which I have very much wanted to view over the years and it is very hard to obtain and when I was in England, I was able to view this film and enjoyed it greatly. Michael York, (Peter Strange) played the role as a London policeman who is being arrested in the opening scenes of this movie and then it flashes back to when he first joined the force. Detective Pierce, (Jeremy Kemp) is a detective who likes Peter Strange because he is a cop who goes strictly by the books. It is not too long when Peter meets up with a hot to trot Fred March, (Susan George) who is under the age of 16 years until one more month and she is out to seduce the apple of her eye, Peter. Peter meets her family who live in a big mansion and they immediately take a liking to him and this paves the way for Peter & Fred to make very warm and passionate love with plenty of nudity by Susan George. Susan was just starting out in films and this is one of her early films which I am glad I was able to view in Europe. If you like Susan George, don't miss this one; the other film I want to see her in is: "Neat With Black Stockings", 1968. Enjoy.
9 Reviews
The rookie 'copper'
jotix10028 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Pete Strange decides to join the London police force when he fails his university finals. He sticks out like a sore thumb, as he soon discovers. This young man gets involved, early on when he catches a petty thief, who happens to be a police snitch. He watches in total disbelief as the punk is released because of his high connections.
The setting of the film is the mod London of the late 1960s, where miniskirts and the paraphernalia worn at the time is in full display. We are shown a modern city that is living side by side with the not too distant past. Meeting Frederica proves a tactical judgment error for Pete Strange. She takes him to visit her aunt and uncle, who unknown to the 'copper' are specialists in making porno films and pictures of Pete and Fred, something that will serve as a weapon against him when Pierce, the detective will use to get the young man into trouble.
Meanwhile high stung detective David Pierce is out to get a trio that is involved with smuggling drugs. Pierce, who realizes there are higher ups involved in the police corruption devises his own plan in how to get to the former police officer, Quince and his sons, who have gotten away with their crimes when they come to trial thanks to high paid solicitors. Pierce decides to involve by means of blackmail the new arrival in order to trap the Quince family, something that backfires and Strange is blamed for doing something unheard of a member of the London police.
The film, directed by David Greene, must have been a breakthrough at the time, with its nudity and daring, but seeing it today it feels somewhat dated. The young Michael York does what he can with his character, the somewhat naive young man. An intense Jeremy Kemp is seen as detective Pierce. Susan George shows up as Strange's love interest. The excellent supporting cast includes the wonderful Nigel Davenport seen as the defending lawyer.
The film captures the London of the era in all its splendor.
The setting of the film is the mod London of the late 1960s, where miniskirts and the paraphernalia worn at the time is in full display. We are shown a modern city that is living side by side with the not too distant past. Meeting Frederica proves a tactical judgment error for Pete Strange. She takes him to visit her aunt and uncle, who unknown to the 'copper' are specialists in making porno films and pictures of Pete and Fred, something that will serve as a weapon against him when Pierce, the detective will use to get the young man into trouble.
Meanwhile high stung detective David Pierce is out to get a trio that is involved with smuggling drugs. Pierce, who realizes there are higher ups involved in the police corruption devises his own plan in how to get to the former police officer, Quince and his sons, who have gotten away with their crimes when they come to trial thanks to high paid solicitors. Pierce decides to involve by means of blackmail the new arrival in order to trap the Quince family, something that backfires and Strange is blamed for doing something unheard of a member of the London police.
The film, directed by David Greene, must have been a breakthrough at the time, with its nudity and daring, but seeing it today it feels somewhat dated. The young Michael York does what he can with his character, the somewhat naive young man. An intense Jeremy Kemp is seen as detective Pierce. Susan George shows up as Strange's love interest. The excellent supporting cast includes the wonderful Nigel Davenport seen as the defending lawyer.
The film captures the London of the era in all its splendor.
Strange in name, not in nature
robert-temple-114 September 2016
No, It's not about strange people, well, at least not entirely. 'Strange' is the surname of the young man who has just joined London's Metropolitan Police and become a 'bobby'. That was back in the days when there were really police on the streets. Nowadays one never sees them, because they are too busy filling in forms and having, one presumes, endless cups of tea. In fact, one wonders what they really are doing in the privacy of their own police stations (the few stations that are left). Constable Strange is played by a young Michael York (25 when he shot the film), who is always smiling and jolly. Meanwhile, the 'Met' as the Metropolitan Police is called today under its Commissioner Hunt has had to get rid of large numbers of corrupt officers who were employed by gangsters. Too sleazy for words. But back then they were all straight, or so we are to believe. Michael gets in trouble because he meets an irresistibly charming girl who is a 'free spirit' (sixties-style) who just happens to be, uh oh, two weeks short of being 16 and hence 'jailbait'. She is played by Susan George, aged 17 when she shot this, who had been acting in films since the age of 11. During the sixties and seventies, Susan George was considered very hot and very cute. After that she continued acting and became a grown up. She certainly has irrepressible energy in this film, and simply will not take no for an answer from Michael York. So he succumbs to her charms and, unknown to both of them, her crazy rich aunt and uncle with whom she lives in a large house in Hampstead have secretly filmed their lovemaking, because they are kinky and enjoy making and selling porno films. This quickly comes to the hands of a police sergeant in the Met, and York becomes a blackmail victim. The sergeant is played implacably by Jeremy Kemp, with enormous intensity, He is obsessed with catching and jailing a notorious criminal named not Hunt but Quince, who used to be a policeman and went crooked, and who has two identical twin sons who are psychopathic killers. So it is all very desperate. The story is based on a novel by Bernard Toms, who only had this one work filmed. The director was David Greene, whom I knew at that time. I visited the set of his previous film in this same year, which is now called SEBASTIAN (1968) but was originally called MISTER SEBASTIAN, starring Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York. David had only just made his way into features from television, and was considered a hot new director then, though he was already 46 years old. I still have a call sheet from that visit. David's direction early in this film is pretty rough, with too many extreme closeups, and edited in that jumpy style which was then fashionable. After the story really gets going and moves past the 'establishing the situation' stage (which goes on for too long), the film settles down and becomes more watchable, so it is worth sticking with it. Only in the sixties, I suppose, could such a film be considered 'normal'. Yes, things were pretty crazy back then. It was 'crazy London', which did more than just frantically swing.
Gritty police drama with a georgous Susan George
john-85228 March 2002
The film opens with British copper Pete Strange (Michael York ) being sent off to prison in disgrace. We then flash back to his first day on the job and find out why he ended up such a loser. Detective Pierce (Jeremy Kemp ) is tipped off to a drug shipment being delivered to Quince ( Jack Watson ) , head of a London crime family. The criminals are in turn tipped off by the corrupt Inspector Evans ( Arto Morris ) and they are not caught. Pierce knows Evans blew his case and is determined to get Quince. Meanwhile, Strange meets Fred March (Susan George ) on the job and while attracted to her, he won't date her as she is weeks away from legal age ( 16 ). Fred persists and Strange agrees to a date and meets her at her aunt and uncle's house where she is staying. Unknown to Strange and Fred is the fact that auntie and uncle are pornographers who aren't against using their under aged niece in their underground business. Strange is seduced by Fred and their tryst is secretly caught on film. Later, Strange is viciously assaulted by the Quince family, but can't ID them as they wore masks. Pierce attempts a second drug bust but is outwitted by Quince and is subsequently demoted. Frustrated beyond reason, Pierce coerces Strange to help him plant evidence that will convict Quince by threatening to expose his affair with a minor. Strange reluctantly agrees, leading to the downbeat finale. Directed by David Greene, THE STRANGE AFFAIR mixes several differing elements with ease. Corrupt police, brutal British gangsters and the youth movement all figure prominently and Greene blends them deftly. Greene ( THE SHUTTERED ROOM, GODSPELL ) worked mainly in television, working on the Twilight Zone and other programs before graduating to features in the mid 60's. He went back to TV in the 70's and directed 2 of the most popular mini series ever, ROOTS and RICH MAN POOR MAN, and remained in television for the rest of his career. Michael York was fresh off of ROMEO AND JULIET and is well cast as the young idealist who joined the force to help his fellow man. Jeremy Kemp is very effective as the angry and humiliated Detective Pierce. He would appear with Ms. George in SUDDEN TERROR a few years later. Jack Watson's Quince is a fine study in evil who delights in thwarting Pierce at every opportunity. A great British character actor, Watson appeared in PEEPING TOM, KONGA and TOWER OF EVIL among many others. Susan George is the real surprise here. Her presence brings the film to life and it is a treat to see this early unaffected performance which no doubt led to her first starring role in the Charles Bronson drama TWINKY ( 1969 ) / LOLA ( 1973, US ), ironically also detailing an under aged affair. Released by Paramount, THE STRANGE AFFAIR has never had a US home video release and remains hard to find. Only cut pan and scanned prints have played on cable, making this a fine candidate for dvd release and subsequent rediscovery. The cast here is quite strong and George and York still have an active fan base. Seeing as this is held by Paramount, this may take a while to surface...but there is always hope.
Arty drama about corruption in the Met
ianbrown6527 January 2015
David Greene's assured direction makes this offbeat police thriller as notable as his first British film, The Shuttered Room, the previous year. Here he uses another fine jazz-score to counterpoint a sordid story (naïve rookie constable Michael York caught up in corruption in the London Metropolitan Police by detective Jeremy Kemp) with the same strange, almost dreamy quality.
By now, the anti-establishment Sixties was souring towards authority (compare the cynicism towards the police with, say, 1961's Jigsaw). But although initially Greene's telephoto camera-work gives the film a documentary feel, he proceeds to visualise Swinging London in almost David Hockney-like pictorial compositions (the shadow of a helicopter across the old Battersea power station, Susan George's kinky bedroom), all of which add to an unsettling air of unreality.
An oddity, but an original and arresting one.
By now, the anti-establishment Sixties was souring towards authority (compare the cynicism towards the police with, say, 1961's Jigsaw). But although initially Greene's telephoto camera-work gives the film a documentary feel, he proceeds to visualise Swinging London in almost David Hockney-like pictorial compositions (the shadow of a helicopter across the old Battersea power station, Susan George's kinky bedroom), all of which add to an unsettling air of unreality.
An oddity, but an original and arresting one.
Not bad rather than good
loza-117 June 2005
I think the judge sums it up, because of PC Strange's behaviour, all other police will have to work ten times harder to compensate.
True words, but alas the film tends to trivialise the events leading up to P C Strange's planting of evidence on "known" criminals. We see him being dragged into trouble by way of jail bait Susan George, who gets her kit off in a pretty unerotic way during the film.
Nowadays the main crime would not have been the planting of evidence so much as the statutory rape.
A better motivation for planting evidence would be the sheer frustration of seeing career criminals getting away with crime time and again. It would be more interesting than the plot actually used in this film.
True words, but alas the film tends to trivialise the events leading up to P C Strange's planting of evidence on "known" criminals. We see him being dragged into trouble by way of jail bait Susan George, who gets her kit off in a pretty unerotic way during the film.
Nowadays the main crime would not have been the planting of evidence so much as the statutory rape.
A better motivation for planting evidence would be the sheer frustration of seeing career criminals getting away with crime time and again. It would be more interesting than the plot actually used in this film.
" 'ello, 'ello, 'ello!"Pc Strange gets stitched up by the C.I.D...........
ianlouisiana3 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Bernard Thoms,the author of the original novel from which "The Strange Affair" was adapted ,served for years in the Met Police and knew what he was writing about."Noble Cause Corruption" was a term later coined to describe the practice of "improving" the evidence against career criminals in order to secure a conviction.Its advocates point out how the law is balanced so heavily in favour of the accused that it is almost impossible to convict a cunning and ruthless professional whilst staying within the rules of evidence,its detractors that the individual's rights must take precedence over those of The State and that the might of the Legal Establishment should not be brought to bear on an ostensibly innocent person without some very strong caveats. The unfortunate PC Strange finds himself between a rock and a hard place (as many an officer has done before and since),a fairly innocent victim in the battle between good and evil(or two sorts of evil,if you will ). The character of the quite mad DS Pierce bears more than a passing resemblance to the notorious Sergeant Challenor,scourge of West End villains in the fifties and early sixties."Tanky",as he was called, worked 16 to 18 hours every day taking care of business.He hated the protection gangs and they in turn hated and feared him.He was a big bad detective,even the stipendiary magistrates who struck fear into most young coppers in the West End were wary of him."I don't mind getting my hands dirty",he used to say,"what's your problem?". Rumours of his rather cavalier approach towards due process only served to bolster his reputation.Then ,in a moment of over-confidence, he pushed the envelope a little too far and co-erced two young PCs to fit up a couple of lads arrested at a demo against the King and Queen of Greece .He picked a brick up off the street,broke it in two and gave them a half each,"Here's a little present from Uncle Harry",he said benignly.Unfortunately for him and the two officers it was proved that the two men had never met prior to being arrested and that the weapons that had been allegedly found on them were two halves of the same brick. After ranting about wanting to be the first policeman on the moon DS Challenor was found unfit to stand trial.The two Pcs arguably far less guilty went to prison.Whether this happened at the time Mr Thoms was at West End Central I couldn't say,but it is certainly a not dissimilar scenario to the one in the movie. Police officers continually confront moral dilemmas of this type during the course of their careers and it is far too easy for those outside the arena -as it were -to make judgements with absolutely no appreciation of the circumstances they might find themselves in,very often due to circumstances beyond their control.PC Strange is clearly an honest,dedicated and well-meaning man,yet he is co-erced into helping D.S Pierce fit up some extremely dangerous and unpleasant thugs. Perjury,conspiracy to pervert the course of justice......you can imagine the unfortunate young officer's bowels turning to water as the supercilious defence counsel throws the accusations at him. Mr Michael Yorke ,naive and eager-to-learn,is very fine as PC Strange. Miss Susan George rather sweet as his Circe.Mr Jeremy Kemp and Mr Jack Watson are excellent as the mad detective and his mirror image/nemesis. This is the film to watch if you want to know what it was like to be in the Met in the sixties. Comparatively little-known,"The Strange Affair" stands head and shoulders above any other British cop movie .
Strange to the point of icky.
mark.waltz29 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A lot of late 60's movies that go for the psychedelic look become campy favorites, cult films, guilty pleasures and cool views of the time period. I must say that I did not have a smashing time to mention the name of another late '60s British film, one that I actually thought was pretty good and spending the fact of how dated it is.
But the character played by Michael York is such an idiot that after a while I really didn't care how far he went to hang himself. He finds himself involved with a girl who turns out to be underage, a rather annoying Susan George, whose immaturity and cloying nature should have been ringing warning bells for the young police officer character he plays.
The main plot (which seems to be shorter to the York/George subplot), involving Scotland Yard detective Jeremy Kemp, seems to be undeveloped and missing important details. It's also very strange in a very creepy way, and I found it difficult to really engage myself in everything going on because a lot of it just made no sense. I'm passing this by on turning my copy over fellow classic movie fans because I value them. I saw absolutely no value in this.
But the character played by Michael York is such an idiot that after a while I really didn't care how far he went to hang himself. He finds himself involved with a girl who turns out to be underage, a rather annoying Susan George, whose immaturity and cloying nature should have been ringing warning bells for the young police officer character he plays.
The main plot (which seems to be shorter to the York/George subplot), involving Scotland Yard detective Jeremy Kemp, seems to be undeveloped and missing important details. It's also very strange in a very creepy way, and I found it difficult to really engage myself in everything going on because a lot of it just made no sense. I'm passing this by on turning my copy over fellow classic movie fans because I value them. I saw absolutely no value in this.
Recommended, but good luck finding a decent copy
lazarillo4 October 2009
This is a kind of interesting movie about British police corruption. It involves a well-intentioned but corrupt police detective who is squaring off against another, truly corrupt police detective, who is in league with the criminals and not above murder. The only honest cop meanwhile is a naive rookie patrolman named "Peter Strange" (well-played by Michael York, the same year he was "Tybalt" in Zefferelli's "Romeo and Juliet"). "Strange", however, is unable to resist a young, nubile Susan George (and, really, what mortal man could?). The then 18-year-old George plays 15-year-old "Fred", who really puts the "bait" in "jailbait". Her liberal-minded aunt and uncle actually let the pair rendezvous in her house, but that's because they are filming the whole thing for their own sinister purposes. Confronted by blackmail, the honest cop "Strange" eventually becomes a lot less honest and quickly gets mired in the corruption and intrigue.
The British director David Greene made a series of interesting movies in Britain in the late 60's including this, "I Start Counting" (with Jenny Agutter), and perhaps his most famous one, "The Shuttered Room" (with American Carole Lynley). Like another talented Brit director John Moxley, Greene eventually ended up making comparatively lame American TV movies like "Vacation in Hell" in the 70's, but he showed a lot of promise in his early work. Michael York did go on to somewhat of a career, most famously starring in the 70's version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Burt Lancaster, but he definitely deserved more of one. I don't want to talk too much about Susan George because I'll start drooling all over my keyboard again, but she perhaps achieved the most fame of anyone involved with this movie, appearing most notably in the controversial films "Straw Dogs" and "Mandingo". She was not a great actress perhaps, but then nobody ever really seemed to mind. . .
This is another British film that badly needs a legitimate DVD release. (I saw it on a bootleg that had obviously been ported off a PAL VHS tape onto an NTHS DVD so it was moving at 25 fps in a 24 fps format, making for some awkward viewing). You'd think they'd release this legitimately in Britain at least. I would recommend this, but good luck finding a decent copy.
The British director David Greene made a series of interesting movies in Britain in the late 60's including this, "I Start Counting" (with Jenny Agutter), and perhaps his most famous one, "The Shuttered Room" (with American Carole Lynley). Like another talented Brit director John Moxley, Greene eventually ended up making comparatively lame American TV movies like "Vacation in Hell" in the 70's, but he showed a lot of promise in his early work. Michael York did go on to somewhat of a career, most famously starring in the 70's version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Burt Lancaster, but he definitely deserved more of one. I don't want to talk too much about Susan George because I'll start drooling all over my keyboard again, but she perhaps achieved the most fame of anyone involved with this movie, appearing most notably in the controversial films "Straw Dogs" and "Mandingo". She was not a great actress perhaps, but then nobody ever really seemed to mind. . .
This is another British film that badly needs a legitimate DVD release. (I saw it on a bootleg that had obviously been ported off a PAL VHS tape onto an NTHS DVD so it was moving at 25 fps in a 24 fps format, making for some awkward viewing). You'd think they'd release this legitimately in Britain at least. I would recommend this, but good luck finding a decent copy.
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