jacobs-greenwood Later remade as An Affair to Remember (1957) with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, this original version (which stars Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne) is quite good, yet another great one from that golden year. Dunne and Maria Ouspenskaya (who plays Boyer's Grandmother) received Oscar nominations, as did Director Leo McCarey's film and Original Screenplay.Boyer is a playboy who meets Dunne on a transatlantic cruise. They fall in love, but keep their romance a secret. At the end of the voyage, they plan to meet six months later at the Empire State building.Boyer needs to find a way to make a living before he can propose to Dunne. Turns out, he's a pretty good painter. Unfortunately, on the way to meeting him, she has an accident and is hospitalized. When she learns that she's been crippled, she decides not to burden him with it and never contacts him. Clueless to what's happened, he loses track of her, though he's painted a picture of her, as he remembers her, that will bring them back together.

richard-1787 The first half of this movie, through the arrival of the steamship in New York, is as good as it gets. Dunne and Boyer are marvelous as the young individuals who discover that, though they are engaged to others, they love each other. Maria Ouspenskaya gives a touching performance as Boyer's grandmother. (Why they are speaking French on Madeira I have no idea, but I guess it doesn't matter.) Once they arrive in New York and Dunne is injured in a car accident the movie seems to lose its focus, however. It's not bad, but it lacks the power it had in the first part.The last scene, however, when Boyer's character, without uttering a word, realizes that Dunne's character cannot walk, is very moving, as is the last several minutes.I haven't seen the remake, An Affair to Remember, in a long time, so I can't compare them. But this is definitely A Movie to Watch.

Amy Adler Terry McKay (Irene Dunne), a nightclub singer from the States, goes on a sea voyage to Europe. At this time, the Thirties, Atlantic crossings take at least a couple of weeks. One day, a love letter falls at her feet, through a porthole. But, its not for her! It was written for a gentleman, Michel (Charles Boyer) who accidentally let it fall. Terry begins to tease the man, who is rather famous for being both rich and a playboy. Newly engaged, this letter turns out not even to be from his own fiancé. Seeming bored with life in general, despite his approaching nuptials, he is struck by Terry's forthright and independent nature. Before long, he introduces her to his grandmother on Madeira and finds out that Terry has excellent musical abilities. Indeed, the grandmother likes Terry so much she vows to leave her a beautiful shawl upon her own death. So, its complicated. Terry has a steady boyfriend and Michel has his lady, What do they do with the budding feelings of love that are arriving, unbidden? Keeping boundaries, they nevertheless declare their passion for one another but agreed to wait six months. If, at the end of that time, they both show up on top of the Empire State Building near Christmas, they will marry. If one doesn't show, it will mean that it was never meant to be and they will never meet again. For six months, Terry moves to Philadelphia and scores it big as the headliner at a swanky nightclub. As the all important day approaches, she goes shopping for a new dress. But, just as she is crossing the street to see her beloved Michel, she is hit by a car and ends up in the hospital. Michel, stung, doesn't know about this, only believes that she really didn't love him after all. Will they really live separate lives from this point on? Before the enchanting An Affair to Remember, with Grant and Kerr, there was this lovely version of nearly the same story. Dunne is wonderful as the spunky Terry and, sister, she can sing! Boyer, too, is charming, elegant and romantic as Michel. The rest of the cast is nice, as is the scenery, costumes, storyline and vivid direction. Go back in time, why don't you, and choose this wonderful romance some enchanted evening!

vincentlynch-moonoi This is a good movie, but compared to its remake -- "An Affair To Remember" -- it runs second. The difference? 18 years and Cary Grant.In terms of plot, both films are virtually the same. In fact, much of the dialog is the same. After all, it was the same director -- Leo McCarey. More often than not, I prefer the original over remakes, but in this case, I do feel "An Affair To Remember" is the better film. Cary Grant could clearly out Boyer Charles Boyer, but that's not to say that Boyer's performance here is not good. It is. And, although I really like Deborah Kerr and her "snappier" attitude in "An Affair To Remember", I think that Irene Dunne is better suited for the role, so in that sense, Dunne shines more brightly than Kerr. I could have also seen Claudette Colbert in the lead role.In terms of supporting cast, Cathleen Nesbitt in the remake was a better grandmother than Maria Ouspenskaya in the original, though the latter has certainly played a great many memorable roles in her career, and the former I was not familiar with at all until the remake. Ouspenskaya is very good here.Perhaps it may seem unfair to simply compare the two films, but after all, the director remade his original almost scene by scene, with close to the same dialog. How can one not make comparisons? Watching all three versions of this film is interesting, but the Grant-Kerr version is undoubtedly the classiest...and in color!Both this and the Grant-Kerr version are excellent films, but only the Grant-Kerr version is on my DVD shelf.