I love this movie so much

Very disappointing...

Fantastic!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I'm a sucker for romantic films (full disclosure), and this one is so beautiful. The story is pretty well known, having been re-made several times (and heavily referenced in 'Sleepless in Seattle'), so I won't summarize it. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are absolutely charming, with their natural sophistication and class combined with little moments of humor, sadness, and dialog that is very natural. Their time on the ship and then with his grandmother (Cathleen Nesbitt) in her hilltop home on the French Riviera is magical. The film has a couple of artificial plot devices and is unrestrained in going for the emotional jugular at the end, which will have cynics howling. On the other hand, there is a lovely element of restraint in the pair's passion for one another. The two don't "do anything" despite their feelings, and director Leo McCarey even films one of their few kisses by showing their legs only on one of the ship's staircases. At the same time, everyone knows that Grant's character is a womanizer, he clearly tries to seduce Kerr in the beginning, and there is a sexual subtext to it all.There are many very nice little moments along the way to the ones people remember most. Grant getting flustered early on when rebuffed. Kerr saying "well that's the only page" with steely eyes, after Grant tells her that her life story is "only one page." The entire scene with Nesbitt, with her sweet old face and knowing eyes. As Nesbitt plays piano, Grant looking intently at Kerr singing (actually lip-synching Marni Nixon). Kerr saying "while we miss each other" as she pushes Grant out of her room, and then him poking his head back in to say "oh that was very sweet", lightly kissing her hand, and then "what you just said." What a great little bit of acting that was.The bigger moments are pretty special too. Grant's expression as he waits at the top of the Empire State Building, with the elevator operator noticing him again and again. That moment when they meet after the ballet, in the company of others. Does he fly into a rage or make an angry remark? No, he simply helps her with something she's dropped, though his eyes speak volumes. And of course, the final scene, when he finally does meet her alone, still not knowing her condition, and pretending he was the one who didn't show up that night. Yes, it's contrived, but her sacrifice and his regret for saying things without knowing the whole truth strike a chord. Who hasn't done something foolish in their love life at one point or another?I truly wish the last line had been changed ("If you can paint, I can walk..."), and the film is also a little heavy-handed in its Catholic references. The biggest issue, however, is in the scenes when the couple is separated in the second half of the film. The two songs from the children's chorus are excessively long, not particularly charming, and in one (of course) the African-American boy and girl pop out to do a dance. Kerr's singing performances are uninspired and also just get in the way. The back half of the film should have been tightened up, and Kerr's condition made permanent, to keep this already sweet film balanced. For that I lowered my review score a teeny bit, but it's still a classic romance in my book.

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 saw this film for the first time when I was about 12 years old. To me, it was then, and still is at the top of the list for all romantic movies. When I was 12 I didn't really understand why this story affected me so deeply. It was only after I was older that I realized that Cary Grant had the ability to seem more deeply in love with his leading lady than any other actor of his era. He also had an incredible on-screen chemistry with Deborah Kerr.Although this film is certainly dated, by today's standards, in some of the language (for example, the conversation at the beginning where Terry McKay claims to not having an understanding of business and the newscaster who talks about Ferrante getting "all that lettuce and a luscious tomato, too, in regard to his engagement), the repartee' between the main characters is entertaining and even the children from the orphanage are a charming diversion while we are waiting to see if these two ever get together. Some have said the scene where the 2 black orphans do some dance steps in the middle of their performance of "The Tiny Scout", is racist. While it is certainly stereotypical of the treatment of African-Americans of that era in film, I don't think of it as racist. I think it is more because the Civil Rights movement was still in its infancy. I think this was a sincere, if misguided, effort to show some diversity, but, by today's standards it comes across as glaringly stereotypical and awkward.The last scene of this movie is, of course, the one that brings most women and some men to tears. I can remember the first time I watched it ("Saturday Night at the Movies"), I was sure Cary Grant was going to leave without finding out that Deborah Kerr couldn't walk. I have probably seen this movie at least 20 times and that scene can still bring tears to my eyes. All in all, this movie is, as I said earlier, the epitome of love stories. It captures the heart and makes you believe, if only for the duration of the movie, that love really does conquer all.

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.