AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)
Directed by Leo McCarey
 
Cary Grant Neva Patterson
Deborah Kerr  
Richard Denning  
 
Playboy and music teacher fall in love while on a cruise, just before they are scheduled to marry other people.
 
One-word View: Lachrymose
 

Even if you have not seen this, you have probably heard of it. I might be a little biased because Cary Grant is my favorite actor EVER. Still, if you like romances, you have to experience An Affair to Remember. There is no better foundation on which to build love, than the belief that it can not work out. Love and stubbornness battle each other throughout this tale and refuses to leave one with a dry eye at the end of the struggle.

Nikki (Cary) and Teri (Deborah) meet on a cruise liner, falling in love by the time they reach New York. Both are involved with other people and make a commitment to take three months to sort everything out, then meet at the top of the Empire State Building, if they still want to be together. Of course, nothing could be that easy. So to make the love story truly heartbreaking and beautiful there is a fair amount of misunderstandings and tragedy before the wonderful ending. All of this culminates in a moment that will make you scream at the top of your lungs “YES, YES, YES I BELIEVE IN LOVE!!!”

For cinematic comparison, see the original less weepy Love Affair (1939) starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, as well as the very weak Warren Beatty, Annette Bening remake by the same name from 1994. Leo McCarey also directed the ’39 romance. The only thing worth noting from Beatty’s version is that it is the great Katherine Hepburn’s final major motion picture performance.

 

 
 
 
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