The Rough and the Smooth (US-title: Portrait of a Sinner) is a 1959 British drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Nadja Tiller, Tony Britton, William Bendix and Natasha Parry. The screenplay concerns an archaeologist who has an affair with a German woman, putting his engagement to another woman in jeopardy.
The film was shot at the MGM-British Studios and on location around London.
It was based on the 1951 novel by Robin Maugham. It was distributed in Germany by Gloria Film. In 1961 it was given an American release by American International Pictures.
Plot
In late 1950s London an upper-class archeologist Mike Thompson (Tony Britton) by chance meets a mysterious German woman Ila Hansen (Nadja Tiller) in a bar; later they share a taxi and he takes her back to the house where he lives with his parents. They embark on a torrid love affair during which she constantly lies and deceives him and threatens to ruin his long-term relationship with his fiancee, Margaret Goreham (Natasha Parry).
Cast
Nadja Tiller as Ila Hansen
Tony Britton as Mike Thompson
William Bendix as Reg Barker
Natasha Parry as Margaret Goreham
Norman Wooland as David Fraser
Donald Wolfit as Lord Drewell
Tony Wright as Jack
Adrienne Corri as Jane Buller
Joyce Carey as Mrs. Thompson
John Welsh as Dr. Thompson
Martin Miller as Piggy
Michael Ward as Headwaiter
Edward Chapman as Willy Catch
Norman Pierce as Barman
Beatrice Varley as Hotel Manageress
Myles Eason as Bobby Montagu-Jones
Cyril Smith as Taxi Driver
Geoffrey Bayldon as Ransom
Reception
According to Kinematograph Weekly the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959.