An Affair to Remember (1957)

Who payed the critics

A Disappointing Continuation

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Okay, so I don't hate this movie. However, it does pale in comparison to the 1930s version with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Heck, in even the 1990s remake with Annette Benning and Warren Beatty the two leads have better chemistry. In "Sleepless in Seattle", which features the film, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks have more chemistry in their limited screen time together.For me, Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant just don't have that much on screen chemistry, which is odd considering this film's reputation as one of the greatest on screen romances. Grant even had more chemistry with Katherine Hepburn and Grace Kelly (who by the way, I cannot stand as an actress!) Grant plays pretty much the same character he played in most of his movies- a wealthy, charming, suave and sophisticated playboy. Although he was clearly getting on in years by the time this film was made, he still had the same charisma he always did.To me, Kerr was a lovely lady but she pretty much always played one-dimensional English Rose type characters. Sort of like Grant, she seemed to play the same kind of role in every film like Grant did. Here, Kerr plays a singer. Hmm... yet, she had to be dubbed here just like in "The King & I." Odd that back in the day, producers would cast an actor who couldn't sing to play a singer. Seems like it would have been more cost-effective to just cast an actor who could actually sing in a film that required singing. But I digress...Anyway, several things about this film bother me. One is how ungrateful Kerr's character is to her long-suffering boyfriend, Ken, who does so much for her throughout the film, including support her both emotionally and financially. I'm sure I will have people disagree with me, but in my opinion, she should have picked him at the end of the film, but of course (MAJOR SPOILER HERE) she's going to pick Cary Grant because, well, he's Cary Grant. The scenes with the kids singing were also rather annoying, and kind of pointless.Anyway, I wouldn't tell anyone not to see this film since again it is not terrible or anything. However, I would advise you to see the Charles Boyer/Irene Dunne version first.

I will never tire of this movie. The characters are beautifully defined. They convey their feelings with agonizing restraint. Everything takes place in between their words, in their eyes and subtle gestures. The dialog is witty and sophisticated. Cary Grant will never be surpassed, in appeal or talent, by any actor, of any era. This is one of his best performances, showcasing his comic and dramatic abilities equally well.I understand Leo McCarey let Grant and Deborah Kerr improvise a lot, and a lot of that dialog made it to the screen. This created a spontaneity that feels like these two are hearing the lines for the first time, because, in many instances, they are.I would love to hear from anyone who can confirm two things that I remember from earlier viewings, but which I haven't seen in a long time, not even on my DVD copy. There was a scene in which Terry (Kerr's character) sees Nickie's portrait of her and his grandmother in the art gallery, which resulted in the gallery owner taking pity on her and giving her the painting. Then in the final scene, when it dawns on Nickie that Terry and the wheelchair-bound woman at the gallery are one and the same, he rushes into her bedroom and sees the painting AND the wheelchair. But it's been decades since I've seen the gallery scene or the snippet with the wheelchair in the bedroom. Does anyone else remember these two elements, and does anyone know why they're missing from later airings and the DVD release? Does anyone know if the unedited edition of this movie exists any more?

Deborah Kerr is horrible in this picture. She has no emotion at all for Cary Grant. For being considered a great actress I cant see it at all in this picture. I don't know why they put her next to Cary, she is not matched with him in the least. No sex appeal, no love there at all. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's version is so much better. Love Affair, they show love for each other, of course it shows, they are together in real life too. All kinds of sex a peel going on between them and it shows on screen. They are so much better. I am glad Warren Beatty made this version or we would be stuck with the horrible lasting picture with Deborah Kerr. I don't understand where the love for Deborah is, since she wasn't even good in From here to Eternity.

An Affair to Remember is a movie which begins with great promise. Unfortunately that promise ends up being well and truly squandered. Cary Grant plays Nickie Ferrante, a well-known playboy-type sailing from Europe to New York. Waiting for him in New York is his exceedingly wealthy fiancée. Their wedding is huge news, the famous ladies' man settling down. Reporters can't wait to get a piece of Nickie when he gets to New York. But on the ship there are complications. Those complications come in the form of Terry McKay, played by Deborah Kerr. Terry, much like Nickie, has a lover waiting for her in America. But, despite a seeming initial distaste for one another upon first meeting, Nickie and Terry fall in love. Theirs is a very chaste affair, this is a film made in 1957 after all, but there is no doubt that by the time they get to New York Nickie and Terry desperately want to be with one another. So then what? Well sadly then the movie falls apart.Grant and Kerr have an easy, appealing chemistry as their characters fall in love aboard the ship. Their efforts to keep their newfound relationship hidden away from the prying eyes of their shipmates are amusing. When the ship docks briefly in France a visit by the couple to Nickie's wonderfully sweet grandmother warms the heart. It is during this visit that they realize their true feelings for one another. Back on the ship they go and there is no longer any pretense: they're in love. But their being in love will cause all kinds of problems. Nickie is about to be married and, with no income of his own, marriage to a very wealthy woman can be quite useful. Meanwhile Terry's boyfriend seems to have marriage on the brain too. Can Nickie and Terry extricate themselves from their respective relationships? Should they? Toss away these long-standing relationships to be with someone you just met? Nickie and Terry come up with a plan. They'll take some time apart, sort things out and reconnect months later. The best laid plans...So, things don't really go according to plan. The movie contrives a way to keep Nickie and Terry apart. And thus does the movie fall to pieces. Whatever charm the movie had with Grant and Kerr working together is completely lost when they're apart. The second half of the film is a boring slog. Quite a drag. Then a bunch of kids show up out of nowhere for a couple of truly excruciating musical numbers. By this point the movie is a total disaster. It would be bad enough if there was at least a reason to keep Nickie and Terry away from one another. But there isn't, there's just one character being so stubborn and stupid that it's mind-boggling. It's a false way to try to create drama and it fails miserably. The movie just goes on and on, going on for so long that you forget why you were ever interested in the first place. The great promise shown in the first half of the movie comes to nothing. And then after boring you to tears for the better part of an hour the film rushes through a climax which is absurdly jarring and abrupt. Add it all up and this becomes a movie to forget.