Love Affair | Astrid Allwyn, Scotty Beckett

Love Affair | Astrid Allwyn, Scotty Beckett | The Original and Still Best Version of the Classic Tearjerker

DVDs:

Love Affair

	Love Affair Astrid Allwyn, Scotty Beckett Alpha Video, 2003 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Little love affair

Later remade multiple times, "Love Affair" is a semi-forgotten little romance movie from an earlier age of moviemaking. The plot is as simple and sweet as the title, with its tale of true love found, disrupted, and found again -- the sort of love affair we all wish we could have.

Playboy Michel (Charles Boyer) encounters nightclub singer Terry (Irene Dunne) and flirts with her, but backs away when she says that she's engaged. He is too. But they keep bumping into each other, and their friendship grows as their feelings do. As the voyage ends, they promise to meet in six months at the Empire State building, to see if Michel can be a responsible husband.

In the six months that follow, he does become a successful sign painter -- then a portrait artist. But on the day they're supposed to meet, Terry is run down by a car and may be crippled for life -- and the heartbroken Michel thinks she has dumped him. It will take another twist of fate to bring them back together.

"Love Affair" has been remade at least three times, including as the classic "Affair to Remember" and the blockbuster "Sleepless in Seattle." But though the original is the least known, it's still the most enchanting -- you can almost forget that you're watching a pair of actors doing their job. Most onscreen romances can't boast that.

The charm of their love affair is that it's so simple. They talk awkwardly, visit Michel's kindly old grandmother, and even pounce on a paparazzi who photographs them. The are obstacles, but director Leo McCarthy doesn't throw any strained artificial twists into the storyline. The whole crippled-by-a-car thing could have taken the movie into soapy-melodrama territory, but it's handled pretty matter-of-factly.

And Boyer and Dunne really make this movie. They actually act like a couple falling in love despite themselves -- awkward, a little chattery, thinking just of each other. As the movie wears on, they grow more comfortable with each, and it becomes clearer why the feisty American girl and the idle Frenchman are falling for each other. Both do an amazing job, especially Boyer in the final scene, when he realize.

It should be noted that there aren't currently ANY good prints of this movie available for purchase, and this is no exception. It desperately needs to be cleaned up, remastered and reissued, but until that happens, expect somewhat blurry pictures and slightly crackly sound. Iy's a credit to the movie that its enjoyability isn't affected by the bad copies.

"Love Affair" is one of those really magical love stories, with its simple story and amazing acting. Romantic, beautiful and sweet, this is definitely a must-see.

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The Original and Still Best Version of the Classic Tearjerker

Directed by Leo McCarey, this 1939 romantic classic is the first and best version of the old warhorse of a fateful shipboard romance between an aimless playboy and a nightclub singer, both engaged but appearing to be destined to reunite on the top floor of the Empire State Building. The elaborate, shot-for-shot 1957 remake again directed by McCarey with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr is much better known, and Warren Beatty even saw fit to remake it yet again with his wife Annette Bening for a 1994 update featuring an 87-year old Katharine Hepburn in her last film role.

But it all started with this more modest film starring a smart, luminous Irene Dunne as Terry McKay and Charles Boyer all continental charm as Michel Marnet. The story is as contrived as ever, but the script co-written by McCarey, Mildred Cram, Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart is full of clever dialogue to go with the soap opera elements. It's too bad the print condition is so bad given that it has fallen into the public domain, but you can still get a strong sense of the craftsmanship behind the film, especially Rudolph Maté's soft-focus cinematography.

Even though Maria Ouspenskaya gives her most sympathetic performance as Grandmother Janou (she was wonderfully malevolent in "The Wolf Man"), it's really the chemistry between the two stars which keeps this afloat, especially Dunne who was so dexterous in comedy and drama in her prime that she is far superior to either Kerr or Bening. She even gets to sing two songs most winningly, one a Harold Arlen gem called "Sing My Heart". Even though you are likely to know every scene by heart from the 1957 remake, it's still quite worthwhile to enjoy the antiquated charms of the original.

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The best DVD version

I have watched or owned four versions of this film. Unfortunately, the very best version was/is on VHS. Somehow the transfer from tape to DVD has not worked well. Nonetheless, this is the best of the lot. The story is what started the sequence that led to "Sleepless In Seattle". "Love Affair" was copied in the more famous film "An Affair To Remember". Most of the action and most of the dialogue was copied in the newer film. Any lover of "An Affair To Remember" and "Sleepless in Seattle" should own this film. As you probably know, a famous playboy, played by Charles Boyer in this film and Cary Grant in "An Affair to Remember" is on a ocean voyage to meet and marry a heiress. He meets a woman, played by Irene Dunn in the original and Deborah Kerr in the copy, who is also traveling by ocean liner to meet and marry. Their love blossoms and they agree to meet on the top of the Empire State Building in 6 months. What happens from that point is what makes true tear jerker succeed. It is a wonderful story all people should enjoy.

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A great movie no matter who's in it

This story is timeless. I have seen this version as well as An Affair To Remember and enjoyed them both immensely. I must admit that I also love Sleepless In Seattle! After reading some of the other reviews I almost didn't buy this dvd because of the remarks of how bad it looks, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it. While the video quality is certainly not up to the standards of remastered movies, it is as good as most vhs movies which makes it very watchable. If you want to see the movie, then buy this dvd. You won't be disappointed. If you must have the utmost in picture quality, then pass this one by. This movie may never be remastered and this may be your only chance to see it. The price is reasonable and you'll see a very good movie...I'm glad I bought it!

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A Superior Chick Flick

A fine rendition of the starcrossed lovers genre. Primarily notable for its superiority to its dreadful remake: "An Affair to Remember". Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne have excellent chemistry in their roles.

reviews: page 1, 2

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