Main Cast: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
Leo McCarey's classic tale of romance stars Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer as two strangers who fall in love on an ocean voyage. Charles Boyer is Michel Marnet, engaged to be married to Lois Clarke (Astrid Allwyn). Irene Dunne is Terry McKay, also engaged to be married, in this case to Kenneth Bradley (Lee Bowman). But when Michel and Terry meet aboard a ship, they fall instantly in love. In order to prove to themselves their love affair is not just a shipboard romance, they agree to meet six months hence on the top of the Empire State Building. If they still feel the same way about each other, they will bid adieu to their fiancees and start their affair anew. Six months later, they are still thinking about each other and proceed to their meeting at the Empire State Building. Michel awaits Terry's arrival, but Terry, on the way to their meeting, is involved in a terrible car accident, leaving her a cripple. Later, by a twist of fate, they are reunited and Michel vows to stay with Terry to help her walk again. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Love Affair is among the most influential romance films of its era, a smooth tale of a shipboard romance and the obstacles that love must overcome. At the core of the film are the performances of Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne as the lovers. They make the audience want their love to succeed and overcome the obstacles in its way. Leo McCarey was among Hollywood's top commercial directors of the 1930s and 1940s, and Love Affair, with its 87-minute running time and brisk pace, is a good example of his skills. In the 1950s, McCarey attempted to become a more serious director, but the public rejected his propagandist anti-Communist films. The one success he found in the 1950s was a direct remake of Love Affair -- An Affair to Remember, which was the inspiration for the later hit Sleepless In Seattle. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Alfred Herman - Art Director, Howard Greer - Costume Designer, Edward Stevenson - Costume Designer, James H. Anderson - First Assistant Director, Leo McCarey - Director, Edward Dmytryk - Editor, George Hively - Editor, Harold Arlen - Composer (Music Score), Buddy G. DeSylva - Composer (Music Score), Ted Koehler - Composer (Music Score), Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Herman - Production Designer, Van Nest Polglase - Production Designer, Rudolph Maté - Cinematographer, Leo McCarey - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Vernon Walker - Special Effects, Delmer Daves - Screenwriter, Leo McCarey - Screenwriter, Donald Ogden Stewart - Screenwriter, Mildred Cram - Short Story Author
The film is currently in the public domain, and can be found at the Internet Archive. Warner Bros./Turner Entertainment currently has the rights to release a DVD from the original film elements in the Americas and Australia, while British rights are owned by Universal Studios. So far, neither company has decided to make a release.
French painter Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer) meets American singer Terry McKay (Irene Dunne) aboard a liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They are both already engaged, he to heiress Lois Clarke (Astrid Allwyn), she to Kenneth Bradley (Lee Bowman). Nonetheless, they fall in love. At a stop at Madeira, they visit Michel's grandmother Janou (Maria Ouspenskaya), who approves of Terry.
The couple make an appointment to meet six months later on top of the Empire State Building. However, tragedy strikes; Terry is struck by a car on her way to the rendezvous and is told that she may be crippled, though that will not be known for certain for several months. Not wanting to be a burden to Michel, she does not contact him, preferring to let him think the worst.
They meet by accident at the theater, though Terry manages to conceal her condition. Michel then visits her at her apartment and finally learns the truth. He assures her that they will be together no matter what the diagnosis will be.
