An Affair To Remember

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (U)

D: Leo McCarey

20th Century Fox (Leo McCarey & Jerry Wald)

US 🇺🇸 1957

115 mins

Romance/Comedy/Drama

W: Leo McCarey, Delmer Daves & Donald Ogden Stewart [based on the 1939 screenplay "Love Affair" by Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart, Leo McCarey & Mildred Cram]

DP: Milton Krasner

Ed: James B. Clark

Mus: Hugo Friedhofer

PD: Jack Martin Smith & Lyle Wheeler

Cos: Charles LeMaire

Cary Grant (Nicolo Ferrante), Deborah Kerr (Terry McKay), Richard Denning (Kenneth Bradley), Neva Patterson (Lois Clark), Cathleen Nesbitt (Janou Ferrante)

One of the most iconic and beloved romance movies of all time, recycling the plot from the 1939 film "Love Affair", but utilising a bigger production budget and an on-screen pairing of Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr (the original starred Charles Boyer & Irene Dunne).

Cary Grant pretty much does his usual as a charming, debonair playboy, who meets and falls in love with songstress Terry McKay whilst aboard a liner.

With their own affairs to get in order, they agree to meet in six months atop the Empire State Building, but fate intervenes...

It's very easy to see why this film is held in high regard by so many, and it's impossible to imagine anybody else in the leading roles beside Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, however, the best performance of the film belongs to Cathleen Nesbitt as Grant's Greek grandmother, Janou.

The film has clearly been an inspiration for many other films since its release, probably most notably in the 1995 film Before Sunrise (qv).

I really don't think it would be fair to say that the film is a product of its time, since the story could easily work in a modern day setting, but certain aspects do seem a little stuck in the late 1950's, such as the costuming, production design and the title song, crooned by Vic Damone over the opening credits, but I wouldn't class any of these as negative aspects of the film.

A huge hit on its original release, the film developed a new generation of fan base following the release of Sleepless In Seattle in 1993, which made several references to it.

I have to admit that I wouldn't put it in my top 5 romance movies of all time, but I wouldn't argue with anybody who would have it in theirs.

8/10