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(More customer reviews)The depth and charm of Leo McCarey's 1939 film, Love Affair, places it far above most love stories and miles ahead of his own remake in later years. Irene Dunne would certainly have taken home the Oscar in any other year as she had many fine performances which were deserving. A fine script by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart takes us from sparkling wit to bittersweet love with ease, thanks to McCarey's fine direction and the performances of Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.
Terry McKay (Dunne) and Michel Marnet (Boyer) are aboard the S.S. Napoli on an ocean cruise contemplating their impending marriages; she to a decent fellow who is more a friend than anything, and he to a very wealthy industrial heiress who doesn't excite him much but can afford his playboy lifestyle. They meet by chance when she reads his cablegram to a girl other than his fiance by mistake and teases him about it. They must avoid prying eyes aboard ship when a charming romance takes shape, as his engagement is in all the society papers.
Dunne is a witty hoot as the American girl from New York, Terry McKay, and Boyer gives a very charming performance as Michel Marnet, a man with talents who spends most of his time living it up rather than doing something with his life. Terry gets a glimpse of what he might be when she meets his charming elderly grandmother on a stop in Porto Santo, Madeira.
A beautiful rose covered villa with a chapel which makes Terry want to whisper is Janou's home. She and Janou make a connection when the old woman sees that she may be the good woman who could make Michel's life right. She fears a bill may be coming for all Michel's living which he can not pay. There is a beautiful scene in the chapel Michel will paint from memory when the two part.
But they promise to meet in six months on top of the Empire State building at 5:00 to see if Michel can earn a living through his painting and be worthy to ask her hand in marriage. But he waits until midnight in the pouring rain and Terry does not come. What he doesn't know is the sirens he heard below at 5:00 were for Terry, who had been struck down crossing the street and crippled, perhaps for life.
Terry doesn't want Michel to know her fate and he returns to his former life in a half-hearted attempt to drown thoughts of what might have been. Terry, who was a singer, falls into a job as music teacher for the orphanage next to the ward where she was treated and tries to make a life for herself. Michel sees her in a theatre not knowing a wheel chair outside the theatre doors is the reason she did not meet him.
When his grandmother passes on, he uses the gift she wanted Terry to have as an excuse to track her down and discover why she abandoned their chance at love. Terry keeps a shawl over her legs but a painting he had only recently decided to sell because the buyer was poor and crippled will bring things all into focus.
A love story of rare beauty, this is a neglected treasure in American cinema. Most prints of this film are decent but it would be wonderful to see it restored to the original luster it must have had when released to theatres in 1939. Dunne sings "Spring in My Heart" and the Oscar nominated "Wishing" is sung by her group of orphans. A nice score by Roy Webb enhances the mood of another RKO classic. A memorable romance with charm that is perfect for a rainy day.
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