Themes: Infidelity, Starting Over, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten, Françoise Rosay, Jessica Tandy, Robert Arthur
Release Year: 1950
Country: IT/US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
With location scenes lensed in Italy, September Affair is consistently good to look at, even when the pacing flags and the dialogue becomes too verbose. Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten star as married couple Manina and David. Trouble is, they're not married to each other. Through a series of misunderstandings, Manina and David are listed among the victims of a plane crash. Since the world at large considers them dead, the couple decides to start a whole new life together. Eventually, however, the guilt they share regarding their respective spouses overrides their passions. September Affair is remembered today as the film that catapulted a 12-year-old record -- Walter Huston's rendition of "September Song" -- to the top of the 1950 hit parade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although not in the same league as such other 1950's romance films as An Affair to Remember or Summertime, September Affair is an enjoyable little "weeper" that fans of the genre should take to their hearts. The film certainly has one of the more interesting premises, and if things get a little far-fetched at times, it's okay: no one expects a strict adherence to reality in a romance. It's true that the dialogue is more than a little hokey in places, and that the soap opera machinations of the plot may be a bit much for modern audiences; but when things get a little sticky, there's always some yummy on-location scenery to enjoy. Stars Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotton also make the going much smoother; if they are not in the same league as, say, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, they're still capable actors, and watching them get to play against type -- Cotten as a nice romantic lead, Fontaine as a confident and forthright woman -- makes for a welcome change of pace. Jessica Tandy is also good in an early film role, and if William Dieterle's direction is unimaginative, it at least doesn't get in the way. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Fortunio Bonanova - Grazzi; Jimmy Lydon - Johnny Wilson; Grazia Narciso - Bianca; Anna Demetrio - Rosita; Lou Steele - Vittorio Portini; Frank Yaconelli - Mr. Peppino; Iphigenie Castiglioni - Maid; Harry V. Cheshire - Jim the Butler; Christopher Dark - Passport Clerk; Dick Elliott - Fat Gentleman; George Humbert - Waiter; Stan Johnson; Charles La Torre - Captain of Plane; Jeanne Lafayette - French Woman; Saverio LoMedico - Italian Man; Wally Merrill - Taxi Driver; Gilda Oliva - Mail Girl; Inez Palange - Concierge; George Nardelli; Rudy Rama; Zachary Yaconelli - Ricardo; James R. Scott; Dino Bolognese - Flower Vendor; Nick Borgani - Italian Workman; Georgia Clancy - Stewardess; Victor Desny - Hotel Clerk; Charles Evans - Charles Morrison
Marianne "Manina" Stuart (Joan Fontaine), a prominent concert pianist, meets David Lawrence (Joseph Cotten), a businessman, on a flight to New York from Rome. Their plane is diverted to Naples for engine repairs, and they decide to kill time by doing some sight-seeing. At lunch in a restaurant, a recording of the Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson song September Song, sung by Walter Huston, is playing. They talk too long and miss their flight, and decide to stay on for a few days, getting to know each other. They quickly fall in love. Then they hear that the plane they were scheduled to catch has crashed into the ocean, and all on board are presumed dead. Due to a clerical mixup, they were believed to have been among those aboard. They are both unhappy in their marriages, and decide to use this chance to continue the charade and make a new life together. They make no contact with their families or friends, including Lawrence's wife Catherine (Jessica Tandy) and son David Jr (Robert Arthur). Manina had been originally intending to play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in New York, and she keeps up her practice during the secret affair. She also has contact with her piano teacher Maria Salvatini (Françoise Rosay), who agrees not to reveal Manina is very much alive, but continues to tutor her.
Catherine and her son travel to Naples to learn more of David's fate, discover he is alive, and confront him. Manina and David now know their time together is over, and have to return to their normal lives. Manina goes on to perform the Rachmaninoff concerto as originally planned in New York.
Music
The primary music score was written by Victor Young.
September Song, music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, is heard, originally in the recording by Walter Huston. Later, Johnny Wilson (Jimmy Lydon), a sailor, sings it live. Huston’s recording had been made in 1938, but the film gave it a new lease of life and it made it to the top of the 1950 hit parade.[1]
Man by the Roadside •Behind the Altar (with Julius Brandt) •The Saint and Her Fool •Sex in Chains •The Brandenburg Arch (with Max Knaake) •Triumph of Love •Frühlingsrauschen •Das Schweigen im Walde
