A Question of Adultery (U.S. title: The Case of Mrs. Loring) is a 1958 British drama film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Julie London and Anthony Steel.
Enraged by the attention shown to her by a 'fan' during an evening at a restaurant, the couple is greeted by longtime friends of Mark's family, who invite them to join them at their table.
Miffed, Mark purposely doesn't light Mary's cigarette, upon which she retaliates by leaning over, exposing her cleavage to Mr. Duncan, who delightedly obliges.
After their reconciliation of the night before, Mark once again becomes jealous when Mary receives a call from her fan, who wants to return her dropped glove from the previous day's race.
She, however, holds firm and tells Sir John Loring she's not for sale, that she and her husband need to be alone, and what Mark doesn't know is that his father is his enemy.
She soon becomes pregnant, but Mark becomes alienated from the idea, convincing himself that Mary is having an affair with a local skier, Dieter, who helped her to his cabin after she injured her ankle on the slopes.
Returning to London alone, Mark and his father take Mary to court for divorce on the charge that artificial insemination is a form of adultery.
It's established that Mark was jealous from the very outset of the marriage, and that the divorce proceedings were motivated by his unreasonable and uncontrollable jealousy.
In deep contemplation after the senior Loring's testimony, Mark exits the courtroom for a cigarette, without a word to his father.
Through his attorney, Mark begs the court's indulgence, apologizes for the trouble he's caused, withdraws the charges, and asks the judge to dismiss the petition.
It was produced by Raymond Stross, who had just enjoyed box office success with The Flesh Is Weak (1957), a story of prostitution, directed by Don Chaffey.
It was reportedly based on an original story by Anne Edwards, written with producer Raymond Stross.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Dan Sutherland's play Breach of Marriage, itself hardly a well-argued discussion of the problem of artificial insemination, has here been given the full catchpenny treatment by the producer-director team responsible for The Flesh is Weak.
Students of the bizarre will no doubt find the rape scene intercut with a climactic flamenco dance to their taste.
"[14] Variety called it "a soggy novelitish affair" in which "stilted dialogue and a screenplay that sits firmly on the fence has resulted in a subject of some significance being wasted.
"[15] Filmink called it "a fascinatingly odd courtroom drama about artificial insemination, with Steel as a possessive infertile racing car driver married to Julie London, roused to jealousy at the thought of someone else impregnating her.