Love Affair (1939)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Better Late Then Never

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's good to finally get the chance to compare the glossy, technicolor remake, An Affair To Remember with the original Black and White Love Affair from 1939. It's quintessential Leo McCarey; schmaltzy, sentimental, a definite 'three-hanky' entry and when he remade it after twenty years McCarey replicated it virtually shot for shot which makes comparing the two that much easier and the truth is the original is light years ahead of the remake. True, I have an aversion to Deborah Kerr who I accept is a competent actress and indeed did a tolerable job of the remake but Irene Dunne - despite the Kathryn Grayson/Jane Powell shrill soprano singing voice that grates in my ears - really inhabits the role and owns it. Of the two versions this is definitely the one to keep.

This story was quite popular with movie goers when it was first released in 1939. And it's probably safe to say that it hasn't lost any of its sparkle in all of the years since then. It has been remade several times-- once as AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER and again as LOVE AFFAIR (1994), but nothing surpasses the original. Who else can better convey this poignant romance than Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, both at the height of their Hollywood careers? They do such a marvelous job. I love the sequence where they visit Maria Ouspenskaya's character and pray at the church together. Exquisite, simple, lovely. What a classic love story! Dunne & Boyer made two other films together, but this is their finest.

(If I could have given this an 8.5 star review I would have. But it's up there as one of the best.) If you're a romantic and love fine acting, few films beat the story and acting in this fine film. And you'll never forget it - which is, of course, the sign of a great film. One reason it is so moving is it demonstrates the best in humanity and loving people, with a subtlety and nuance that is rarely seen in films - certainly since the '30s and '40s. And if you are not yet a fan of Charles Boyer, you will be after this film. And...Irene Dunne - to say this is one of her finest movies is really saying something because she put in some really stellar performances in film. If you're not crying at the end, like a baby, you don't have a heart! What a great great story - and so unique. Although it was remade later (at least twice that I know of) - and An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr was quite good - this is the original version and the very best telling of the story. This defines true romance and love!!!

As someone who is a lover of romantic comedies I thought this film was excellent. I have seen films like Sleepless in Seattle and An Affair to Remember and this this blows those films out of the water. Charles Boyer is absolutely charming fitting the bill for French playboy. Irene Dunn's play her character to well and she is quite likable, she is not one to fall for Boyer's attempts to woo her and she has a great sense of humor. The two are the typical polar opposites that are necessary for a film like this. The chemistry between the two actors is quite believable and I found myself praying they would get together in the end. The sets for the film were quite elaborate, the scenes shot on the cruise ships and inside the passenger's cabins offer an element of verisimilitude although it quite clear it is all shot on movie sets and not on location. The softness of the lighting is quite telling of the era that this film was made but it works beautifully for this film and adds a more romantic element to the film. The camera-work and the acting make this film just stunning.