or ‘Love Affair - 1994’**
** we will take a vote in May of 2007 during 'Hugh Grant Nite' to see which movie you prefer for showing.
Love Affair 1939 Reviewer:Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Bakersfield, California United States)
The depth and charm of Leo McCarey's 1939 film, Love Affair, places it far above most love stories and miles ahead of his own remake in later years. Irene Dunne would certainly have taken home the Oscar in any other year as she had many fine performances which were deserving. A fine script by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart takes us from sparkling wit to bittersweet love with ease, thanks to McCarey's fine direction and the performances of Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.
Terry McKay (Dunne) and Michel Marnet (Boyer) are aboard the S.S. Napoli on an ocean cruise contemplating their impending marriages; she to a decent fellow who is more a friend than anything, and he to a very wealthy industrial heiress who doesn't excite him much but can afford his playboy lifestyle. They meet by chance when she reads his cablegram to a girl other than his fiance by mistake and teases him about it. They must avoid prying eyes aboard ship when a charming romance takes shape, as his engagement is in all the society papers.
Dunne is a witty hoot as the American girl from New York, Terry McKay, and Boyer gives a very charming performance as Michel Marnet, a man with talents who spends most of his time living it up rather than doing something with his life. Terry gets a glimpse of what he might be when she meets his charming elderly grandmother on a stop in Porto Santo, Madeira.
A beautiful rose covered villa with a chapel which makes Terry want to whisper is Janou's home. She and Janou make a connection when the old woman sees that she may be the good woman who could make Michel's life right. She fears a bill may be coming for all Michel's living which he can not pay. There is a beautiful scene in the chapel Michel will paint from memory when the two part.
But they promise to meet in six months on top of the Empire State building at 5:00 to see if Michel can earn a living through his painting and be worthy to ask her hand in marriage. But he waits until midnight in the pouring rain and Terry does not come. What he doesn't know is the sirens he heard below at 5:00 were for Terry, who had been struck down crossing the street and crippled, perhaps for life.
Terry doesn't want Michel to know her fate and he returns to his former life in a half-hearted attempt to drown thoughts of what might have been. Terry, who was a singer, falls into a job as music teacher for the orphanage next to the ward where she was treated and tries to make a life for herself. Michel sees her in a theatre not knowing a wheel chair outside the theatre doors is the reason she did not meet him.
When his grandmother passes on, he uses the gift she wanted Terry to have as an excuse to track her down and discover why she abandoned their chance at love. Terry keeps a shawl over her legs but a painting he had only recently decided to sell because the buyer was poor and crippled will bring things all into focus.
A love story of rare beauty, this is a neglected treasure in American cinema. Most prints of this film are decent but it would be wonderful to see it restored to the original luster it must have had when released to theatres in 1939. Dunne sings "Spring in My Heart" and the Oscar nominated "Wishing" is sung by her group of orphans. A nice score by Roy Webb enhances the mood of another RKO classic. A memorable romance with charm that is perfect for a rainy day.
Love Affair 1994 Reviewer:Lawrance M. Bernabo "No Comment"
"Love Affair" is a remake of an "Affair to Remember" which was made popular because it was rather important in the plot of "Sleepless in Seattle." Just to make it more interesting, "Affair to Remember" was a remake of the original "Love Affair." Warren Beatty plays Mike Gambril, an ex-football star (an obvious allusion to Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait," which was a much more successful remake of an older film) who meets Terry McKay, played by Annette Benning, on a flight to Sydney. The plane is forced down and the two end up on a slow boat back to civilization. Both are engaged to other people, but since these two are married in real life and since very few people will have seen "Love Affair" without having seen or heard about the earlier versions, it is pretty clear this is not going to work out. But they want to take time to be sure, and so an ill-fated rendezvous at the Empire State Building is set up to confirm their destinies.
Amazon.com essential video
Get out your handkerchiefs for this four-star weepie, a 1957 remake of the 1939 Love Affair, directed by Leo McCarey, who also made the original. Grant and Kerr are strangers on an ocean liner, involved with other people, but who can't resist each other for a shipboard romance. They decide to test whether this is the real thing by agreeing to split up, then meet in six months atop the Empire State Building. Is there anyone who can resist that setup or the tragic romantic mishap that nearly splits them up? Can you keep dry eyes during the famous finale? Some prefer the original (with Charles Boyer); practically no one liked the underrated 1994 remake with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. While occasionally a shade slow, this one soars on Grant's charm and Kerr's noble suffering. --Marshall Fine
Reviewer:Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA)
From the beautiful opening song crooned by Vic Damone to the tearful last scene, this movie will have you alternately crying, laughing, and crying again. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are perfection as the two people who meet on a ship and fall in love. Because they are each engaged to other people, they decide to put their feelings to the test of time. They agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months if they feel the same. One shows up, one doesn't because of tragic circumstances. When they accidentally meet months later at a ballet, it is awkward, yet the chemistry cannot be denied. A sentimental painting, an art dealer's story of a lady in a wheelchair, and Cary Grant's dramatic opening of a door lead to an ending that requires a full box of tissues but is one of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. In addition, this movie is enhanced by a delighful choir of orphans, a grandmother with an idyllic villa, and Richard Denning in a superb supporting role. Traditionally a movie to watch with the one you love on Valentine's Day, this movie is excellent alone, as a duo, or in a large group. Not just a chick flick, but a movie for everyone who has ever loved or dreamed of being in love.
Love Affair 1939 Reviewer:Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Bakersfield, California United States)
The depth and charm of Leo McCarey's 1939 film, Love Affair, places it far above most love stories and miles ahead of his own remake in later years. Irene Dunne would certainly have taken home the Oscar in any other year as she had many fine performances which were deserving. A fine script by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart takes us from sparkling wit to bittersweet love with ease, thanks to McCarey's fine direction and the performances of Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.
Terry McKay (Dunne) and Michel Marnet (Boyer) are aboard the S.S. Napoli on an ocean cruise contemplating their impending marriages; she to a decent fellow who is more a friend than anything, and he to a very wealthy industrial heiress who doesn't excite him much but can afford his playboy lifestyle. They meet by chance when she reads his cablegram to a girl other than his fiance by mistake and teases him about it. They must avoid prying eyes aboard ship when a charming romance takes shape, as his engagement is in all the society papers.
Dunne is a witty hoot as the American girl from New York, Terry McKay, and Boyer gives a very charming performance as Michel Marnet, a man with talents who spends most of his time living it up rather than doing something with his life. Terry gets a glimpse of what he might be when she meets his charming elderly grandmother on a stop in Porto Santo, Madeira.
A beautiful rose covered villa with a chapel which makes Terry want to whisper is Janou's home. She and Janou make a connection when the old woman sees that she may be the good woman who could make Michel's life right. She fears a bill may be coming for all Michel's living which he can not pay. There is a beautiful scene in the chapel Michel will paint from memory when the two part.
But they promise to meet in six months on top of the Empire State building at 5:00 to see if Michel can earn a living through his painting and be worthy to ask her hand in marriage. But he waits until midnight in the pouring rain and Terry does not come. What he doesn't know is the sirens he heard below at 5:00 were for Terry, who had been struck down crossing the street and crippled, perhaps for life.
Terry doesn't want Michel to know her fate and he returns to his former life in a half-hearted attempt to drown thoughts of what might have been. Terry, who was a singer, falls into a job as music teacher for the orphanage next to the ward where she was treated and tries to make a life for herself. Michel sees her in a theatre not knowing a wheel chair outside the theatre doors is the reason she did not meet him.
When his grandmother passes on, he uses the gift she wanted Terry to have as an excuse to track her down and discover why she abandoned their chance at love. Terry keeps a shawl over her legs but a painting he had only recently decided to sell because the buyer was poor and crippled will bring things all into focus.
A love story of rare beauty, this is a neglected treasure in American cinema. Most prints of this film are decent but it would be wonderful to see it restored to the original luster it must have had when released to theatres in 1939. Dunne sings "Spring in My Heart" and the Oscar nominated "Wishing" is sung by her group of orphans. A nice score by Roy Webb enhances the mood of another RKO classic. A memorable romance with charm that is perfect for a rainy day.
Love Affair 1994 Reviewer:Lawrance M. Bernabo "No Comment"
"Love Affair" is a remake of an "Affair to Remember" which was made popular because it was rather important in the plot of "Sleepless in Seattle." Just to make it more interesting, "Affair to Remember" was a remake of the original "Love Affair." Warren Beatty plays Mike Gambril, an ex-football star (an obvious allusion to Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait," which was a much more successful remake of an older film) who meets Terry McKay, played by Annette Benning, on a flight to Sydney. The plane is forced down and the two end up on a slow boat back to civilization. Both are engaged to other people, but since these two are married in real life and since very few people will have seen "Love Affair" without having seen or heard about the earlier versions, it is pretty clear this is not going to work out. But they want to take time to be sure, and so an ill-fated rendezvous at the Empire State Building is set up to confirm their destinies.
Katharine Hepburn's performance as Michael's Aunt Ginny is touted on the box cover, not just because "Love Affair" proved to be the final theatrical film in her storied career (she did appear in one more made for television movie), but because she steals the show in her brief scene. Hepburn is abetted in this effort by the local, a glorious beautiful South Pacific island as lush and as a green as any you have ever seen. There is also a wonderful set up for her scene, where Beatty asks Benning to go see his aunt and the couple take a series of scenic jaunts to the mountainside home, punctuated by Benning's comic asides. The role of the hero's aunt has always been a wonderful character piece for an older actress in every one of the film versions of this story, but certainly Hepburn is given more interesting things to say. For those who are shocked to hear Hepburn use foul language, you should remember that thirty years earlier she was probably the first person to say the word "fornication" on film in "The Lion in Winter." As Ginny explains her perspective on what type of bird Beatty happens to be and what that means for his future, there is no difference between Benning and her character, both of whom are clearly basking in Hepburn's presence.
As always, Beatty surrounds his main characters without outstanding supporting players, from Kate Capshaw and Pierce Brosnan as the original intendeds with whom no one can find fault, to Brenda Vaccaro and Paul Mazursky as other couple on the boat, to Garry Shandling and Harold Ramis as Mike's agent and financial adviser, to Chloe Webb as Terry's confidant after "the accident." If, in the final analysis, Beatty is not up to the pivotal moment in the climax where the pieces come together, then it is because the memory of Cary Grant's performance in the previous remake is just too overwhelming. Certainly Benning shines throughout the film, so there is no doubt why he is after her even if the opposite is established more by Beatty's reputation, wonderfully established in a series of news flashes in the film's opening, than by anything the actor actually does in the film itself. He looks good, but she looks great and you end up thinking Beatty remade this film not just because its story hits home to him but also because he really wants to show off his wife. Ultimately it is the women in this film who redeem it and make it more than what Annette and Warren did on their summer vacation, although the fact that the woman is the more appealing character this time is probably not enough to make it come out ahead of the Grant/Kerr version for most of us.Film 2: ‘An Affair to Remember’
Amazon.com essential video
Get out your handkerchiefs for this four-star weepie, a 1957 remake of the 1939 Love Affair, directed by Leo McCarey, who also made the original. Grant and Kerr are strangers on an ocean liner, involved with other people, but who can't resist each other for a shipboard romance. They decide to test whether this is the real thing by agreeing to split up, then meet in six months atop the Empire State Building. Is there anyone who can resist that setup or the tragic romantic mishap that nearly splits them up? Can you keep dry eyes during the famous finale? Some prefer the original (with Charles Boyer); practically no one liked the underrated 1994 remake with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. While occasionally a shade slow, this one soars on Grant's charm and Kerr's noble suffering. --Marshall Fine
Reviewer:Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA)
From the beautiful opening song crooned by Vic Damone to the tearful last scene, this movie will have you alternately crying, laughing, and crying again. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are perfection as the two people who meet on a ship and fall in love. Because they are each engaged to other people, they decide to put their feelings to the test of time. They agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months if they feel the same. One shows up, one doesn't because of tragic circumstances. When they accidentally meet months later at a ballet, it is awkward, yet the chemistry cannot be denied. A sentimental painting, an art dealer's story of a lady in a wheelchair, and Cary Grant's dramatic opening of a door lead to an ending that requires a full box of tissues but is one of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. In addition, this movie is enhanced by a delighful choir of orphans, a grandmother with an idyllic villa, and Richard Denning in a superb supporting role. Traditionally a movie to watch with the one you love on Valentine's Day, this movie is excellent alone, as a duo, or in a large group. Not just a chick flick, but a movie for everyone who has ever loved or dreamed of being in love.
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