Love Affair (1939)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Delmer Daves (screenplay) and
Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 April 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

French playboy Michel Marnet and American Terry McKay fall in love aboard ship. They arrange to reunite 6 months later...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Singer | French | Cruise | Grandmother

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars.

Cast

Irene Dunne	...	Terry
Charles Boyer	...	Michel
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Grandmother
Lee Bowman	...	Kenneth Bradley
Astrid Allwyn	...	Lois Clarke
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Maurice Cobert (as Maurice Moscovich)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Spain:T | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4778)

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

After this movie was released restaurants were suddenly bombarded with requests for pink champagne.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer are on the ship during the day and they are next to the railing talking and reading their letters, the ocean is moving behind them. Just after the close up on Dunne, she turns and faces the ocean, but you can see the shadow of her head on the screen that displays the ocean.

Quotes:

Terry McKay: The things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Yank at Eton (1942)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bells

She Did Not Reach the Place Nearest to Heaven

While in a cruise from Europe to New York to get married with his fiancée and heir of a great fortune in USA, the disputed bachelor sportsman Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer) meets the gorgeous former night-club singer Terry McKay (Irene Dunne), who is returning to her supportive boy-friend, and they have a love affair and fall in love for each other. They schedule to reunite on the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building six months later, on July 1st, to decide whether they should marry each other or not. On the scheduled date, while crossing the street to go to the meeting, Terry is hit by a car and is not able to meet Michel.

After "Casablanca", "An Affair to Remember" is probably my favorite romance ever. Today I have just seen "Love Affair", which has been recently released on DVD in Brazil, and I am mesmerized with this film, certainly one of the most beautiful, charming and brokenhearted love stories of the cinema industry. Although also adorable, "An Affair to Remember" is practically a remake frame-by-frame if this original version. Irene Dunne is simply astonishing, with one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen, and it is impossible not fall in love for her. Her witty, delightful and sometimes even ironical lines seem to be ahead of time. Her chemistry with Charles Boyer is awesome, and this unforgettable dramatic love story is a must-see for any sensitive and romantic viewer. She did not reach the place nearest to heaven, and left us with tears in our eyes. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Poema de Amor" ("Poem of Love")