An Affair to Remember

Date watched- 13th February 2011

Genre; Romantic, Classic
Year; 1957
Running Time; 1 hour 59 minutes
Director; Leo McCarey
Written By; Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart & Leo McCarey.
Actors; Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr et al.

Acting 4½/5
Keeping my attention 4/4
Visuals/Direction 4/5
Story/Plot 6/6
Total 18½/20

Plot

Two people, Nickie Ferrante (Grant) and Terry McKay (Kerr), meet on a cruise liner on their way to New York to be with their partners, settle down, marry, the works. But on the ship they form an unlikely romance. They agree that if they both feel the same way about each other to meet at the top of the Empire State building, Will they meet in six months time? Or will their love for each other fade?

My Personal Views

I have wanted to watch this movie for years, since watching Sleepless in Seattle and seeing it through out that movie. Only thing is I never got around to seeing it let alone buying it. So for the purposes of this A-Z project I though “I know what I will add to my collection”, so here it is. I watched it for the first time in April (2010) in my parents caravan in the north of England. I was not disappointed. I absolutely love this movie, and it has very quickly become one of my favourite movies.

There are some really lovely moments in this movie, especially when the main characters are still on the cruise ship, especially the moment on the stairs where they are trying not to make it look like they are talking to each other.

Throughout the second half of the move there are a lot of ‘ahh’ moments and I have to say I even had a tear in my eye at the end.

This movie is pushing 2 hours long but it keeps your attention with the chances in location without it being choppy or rushed, the ‘will they won’t they’ aspect and the superb performances of everyone involved. The acting is strong and you really believe the relationship between the two main characters. I have never seen anything else with Deborah Kerr in, though obviously I know she did a lot of other classic movies, The King and I to name but one and so I am quite keen to watch more of her work now. Any suggestions would be greatly received. Cary Grant as always is the perfect English gent and I think it is amazing in this with great depth of character (especially at the end). I understand from wikipedia(!) that this wasn't the only movie made with Grant and Kerr in main roles so I am really interested in giving those a go as well.

The movie is well directed and everything looks wonderful, especially considering that this was shot in the 50s without all of this modern technology that has crept into cinema these days. I don’t think I have a remastered copy of this so things do look a little dated by today’s standards and the colours aren’t bright but I like that, I have a real affection for old movies so I really don’t mind at all but I thought I would give a heads up to anyone who might find that an issue.

It also has extra points for being partly set in New York!

All in all a treasure among movies in my opinion, but I will let you decide for yourself. So the reason for the short-ish review is that fact that I cant find serious fault with it.

Outcome

Staying right where it on my DVD shelf (well it’s more a wall with loads of shelves on it!).