This is just an okay movie, but thanks to it being mentioned in Sleepless in Seattle, it is now considered by some to be some sort of classic. The sad fact is this is a poorer remake of a pretty decent romantic movie, LOVE AFFAIR. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne simply did a better job than Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in this unnecessary remake. In many places, the movie is copied word-for-word and scene after scene from the original. So, why not just watch the original?! Also, although better, the original isn't exactly the best movie ever made because the whole gimmick of being hit by a car and not being able to walk is just pretty hokey--for goodness sakes, women, just tell him you've been in an accident and end all this angst!
PS--since originally posting this review, I've gotten a lot of negative ratings. Provided you've also seen the original film, I encourage you to rate my review poorly. Otherwise, see the original FIRST so you can understand the context for my review.
An Affair to Remember
1957
Action / Drama / Musical / Romance
An Affair to Remember
1957
Action / Drama / Musical / Romance
Keywords: singernightclubpaintingcruise ship
Plot summary
Nickie Ferrante's return to New York to marry a rich heiress is well publicized as are his many antics and affairs. He meets a nightclub singer Terry McKay who is also on her way home to her longtime boyfriend. She sees him as just another playboy and he sees her as stand-offish but over several days they soon find they've fallen in love. Nickie has never really worked in his life so they agree that they will meet again in six months time atop the Empire State building. This will give them time to deal with their current relationships and for Nickie to see if he can actually earn a living. He returns to painting and is reasonably successful. On the agreed date, Nickie is waiting patiently for Terry who is racing to join him. Fate intervenes however resulting in misunderstanding and heartbreak and only fate can save their relationship.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
A highly overrated remake--see the original instead!
Wonderfully frothy confection, not perfect by all means, but a pleasant watch
As a comedy film of sexual manners, "An Affair to Remember" is very frothy, sentimental and somewhat sugary. It is not perfect either, the film has a tendency to be rather slow moving and it does loses its way in the last half. But I still really liked it, thanks to the sophistication of the direction and the rapier delivery of the dialogue. The atmosphere is endorsed with rhinestone-encrusted dresses, impeccable dinner suits and raised champagne classes, making it lovely to watch visually, courtesy to some beautiful cinematography. The music score in general is gorgeous, the incidental music certainly is that and the title song(sung with unusual sensitivity by the talented Marnie Nixon) "An Affair to Remember" really is a pearl in an oyster. However, I didn't care for the children's songs, I didn't hate them, I found them forgettable and I wasn't taken with the way they were sung either(too shouty). The performances from the two leads are what drives this film. Cary Grant is wonderfully arch and urbane, not to mention charming, while Doborah Kerr is enchanting, self-contained and sassy. With these qualities, the two wonderful actors share a what I consider believable chemistry that does bubble on screen in the best scenes. All in all, this is not a perfect film, but a pleasant one with a tearjerker of an ending. Better than its reputation I think, not for everyone, there are those who understandably find it too sugary sweet, but I think it is a handsomely mounted and a in general well performed film. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox
"A Flame To Burn Through Eternity"
I do love this film so and one thing it has that the original Love Affair did not have was that great title song, sung over the credits by Vic Damone. It was composed by Harry Warren and Harold Adamson and it's one of the great movie themes of all time. Guaranteed to put you in the mood for romance and tears.
This version with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr sticks pretty close to the original with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. Two people, each engaged to others, meet on shipboard and fall in love. It's one of those chemical things that no one can help.
Grant's a playboy who candidly admits he's never worked a day in his life and Kerr wants a bit more security than that. They agree to meet at the top of the Empire State Building in exactly six months to see if the sparks are still there. But something is always interrupting the course of history and romance.
Can't say much more than that, but as Kerr reminds Grant if they don't meet it will be for a darn good reason and if you see the film you'll agree she had one.
This was the second of three films that Grant and Kerr made together and this is easily the best of them. I don't think Cary Grant was ever more romantic on the screen and that is saying something.
Cathleen Nesbitt though old enough to be his mother, plays Cary's grandmother in grand old world style. Her part had previously been played by Maria Ouspenskaya and later on in the Warren Beatty-Annette Bening remake was done by Katharine Hepburn.
If your taste run to screen romances, this is THE film you do not dare miss.