The Heart of the Matter (film)

The Heart of the Matter
Directed by	George More O'Ferrall
Produced by	Ian Dalrymple
Written by	Lesley Storm Ian Dalrymple Graham Greene (novel)
Starring	Trevor Howard Elizabeth Allan Maria Schell Denholm Elliott Gérard Oury Peter Finch George Coulouris
Cinematography	Jack Hildyard
Distributed by	British Lion Films
Release date	1953
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£123,479 (UK)

The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.

Trevor Howard plays Scobie, a senior policeman in Sierra Leone. He is unhappily married to Louise, played by Elizabeth Allan. While she is away, he begins a love affair with Helen, played by Maria Schell. However, Scobie's Catholic faith leaves him tormented with guilt. The film also features Denholm Elliott, Peter Finch, Gérard Oury, George Coulouris and Michael Hordern.

It contains no original score, but instead features indigenous music from Sierra Leone in West Africa, where location filming took place. The interiors were filmed at Shepperton Studios in London. The black and white cinematography was by Jack Hildyard.

Scobie, deputy head of the Sierra Leone police in Freetown during the Second World War, is unhappily married to fellow-Catholic Louise and both mourn their only daughter. On a search of a visiting ship, the neutral vessel Esperança, he finds an envelope addressed to Germany. When he confiscates it, the captain begs him to do nothing because the letter is to his daughter. Feeling pity, Scobie burns it. His wife keeps begging him to let her go to South Africa but they cannot afford the fare. Eventually he accepts a loan from Yusef, a smuggler, to send her away by sea.

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