A love triangle brews amidst a growing political tempest in this "brilliantly intellectual" (Los Angeles Times) film in which nothing is quite as it seems. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Graham Greene, Academy Award-winning writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz´s screenplay "delivers dialogue that not only sparkles but bites deep with the irony of truth" (Citizen-News).
In 1952, Saigon is caught between the corrupt colonial powers and the Communist uprising. An idealistic young American (Audie Murphy) champions a shadowy Third Force, but cynical British journalist Thomas Fowler (Michael Redgrave) is concerned only with the American´s interest in his mistress. When jealousy forces Fowler to take sides at last, the personal and political consequences are devastating..