Customer Reviews

An Affair to Remember

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

From the beautiful opening song crooned by Vic Damone to the tearful last scene, this movie will have you alternately crying, laughing, and crying again. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are perfection as the two people who meet on a ship and fall in love. Because they are each engaged to other people, they decide to put their feelings to the test of time. They agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months if they feel the same. One shows up, one doesn't because of tragic circumstances. When they accidentally meet months later at a ballet, it is awkward, yet the chemistry cannot be denied. A sentimental painting, an art dealer's story of a lady in a wheelchair, and Cary Grant's dramatic opening of a door lead to an ending that requires a full box of tissues but is one of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. In addition, this movie is enhanced by a delighful choir of orphans, a grandmother with an idyllic villa, and Richard Denning in a superb supporting role. Traditionally a movie to watch with the one you love on Valentine's Day, this movie is excellent alone, as a duo, or in a large group. Not just a chick flick, but a movie for everyone who has ever loved or dreamed of being in love.

They say this movie is strickly for the Female population.
They say that no Man on earth could completely "Get" this movie.
We don't have actors like Cary Grant now adays to stick up for us Real men who can comprehend such a deep rich love theme.
And what a shame too....the days of suave gentlemen are gone and replaced by the Brad Pitts.....in reality....I believe women want to see more men become true and romantic gentlemen.

Well "An Affair to Remember" is one of those classics that belong to the tragic love affair file....but with a happy ending.
Cary and Deberah Kerr are a perfect combination for this.
Like Charles Boyer and Irene Dunn before them, Grant and Kerr find even more depth with general facial expressions and gestures, that remind me of Capra-esque qualities in their characters.
The scene where Grant is revisiting the home of his Grandmother who had just passed away...returning to the scene in his mind where Love was new and the sounds he hears of the afternoon when he had much to look foward to.....it's heartbreaking to want to touch something that once housed his affection.....we realise then that Grants love for Kerr is as real to us also.

One note...one perfect reason why this movie appeals to me and why I am writing this review in hopes that more people will better understand this movie....
The End scene....To almost walk away from True love, and taste the sadness and dissapointment, to kiss her hand and to say goodbye forever....and within moments....within its painful honesty ....realize that true love does in fact prevail over obsticals is an overwhelming revelation.
"If it had to happen to one of us....why did it have to happen to you"?......"If you can Paint, I can walk"!

One of the most beautiful films I've ever seen, "An Affair to Remember" is one of the most enchanting love stories ever put on film. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star in the film, and the two are an elegant pair: Grant's classy wit and Kerr's stylistic charm were made for each other.

Grant is an amorous playboy aboard a ship heading to Europe. Also on board ship is Kerr, an engaged ex-singer. The two meet accidentally and through a series of events, are smitten after a few days. Torn about their own romantic prospects, they finally decide to break off their respective engagements and meet at the top of the Empire State Building in six months, when he has collected some necessary funds. But fate intervenes and their planned meeting is jeopardized...

A beautiful blend of script, direction, acting, and cinematography, (not to mention a glorious title song) "An Affair to Remember" is a very romantic, very lovely film that is great for early morning-watching on Christmas Day with a sweetheart. Buy this one and you'll fall in love with it forever.

When anyone talks about a favorite romantic drama, this movie always comes to mind. This is such a superb classic with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. No one has the chemistry and on screen presence that they do.

Even in this more cynical age, some two generations after this film was made, I'm not really surprised it's still in print. What we have here is a shipboard romance that both Holland America and Carnival Lines know better than to promise prospective passengers. Cary Grant stars as a pre-Jet Set playboy on the verge of a marriage of convenience. Deborah Kerr stars as a former lounge singer who's met "Mr. Right" in the form of a patron where she used to sing. It's a bit unsubtle the way we know that both upcoming marriages are "the right thing to do" very early on. That is, until Grant and Kerr meet on the ship. Grant plays the debonair role we came to expect of him over the years, while Kerr's earnest performance and wholesome beauty remind us that Meryl Streep did not invent character acting. Robert Q Lewis is forgettable in a cameo as a previous-generation Robin Leach type, but Cathleen Nesbitt shines as Grant's subtly-matchmaking French grandmother, a role pleasantly similar to her later role in the '60s TV series "The Farmer's Daughter". Neva Patterson is predictable as Grant's too-glamorous fiancee, but Richard Denning is impressive as Kerr's--a standup guy who may have lost her hand, but he evidently believes in Robert Heinlein's definition of love--when another person's well-being is essential to your own. At least with me, this film stands the test of time--I'm nowhere near the romantic I was when I first saw it, but it still does things to me.

This is a review that assumes you already know the movie--possibly by heart by now--and are wondering if your love affair with "An Affair to Remember" needs this "50th Anniversary Special Edition" with the commentary track and mysterious, unexplained (on this page at least) second disc. Short answer: a resounding NO! What they (whoever they are) did was take a movie classic that millions love and that, as Deborah Kerr says, "people watch every six months to have a good cry," and bury it in blather.

Here's what's on disc two: 1. A few minutes of the Widow Grant talking about her love affair with Cary in the most unrevealing way imaginable. 2. A few minutes of screenwriter Peter Viertel, Kerr's second husband, talking about how their love affair broke up Kerr's first marriage, then inferring that he played around during their 30 years together and she put up with it because "she was a saint." 3. Endless minutes of Peter Bogdanovich and an all male bunch of academic talking heads blathering on about the life and works of director Leo McCarey, who also played around and was an alcoholic and whose suavity was said to be the inspiration for Cary Grant's screen personna. 4. Jerry Wald's brother and sons with a bio of the producer. 5. The return of the blathering academics to dissect the look of the movie. 6. Newsreel clips from the premiere and TA DA!...7. the only interesting and professional-looking piece on the entire bonus disc: an AMC "Backstory" feature which you may well have already seen on TV and which dishes some interesting dirt accompanied by decent visuals.

Having wasted my ears on disc 2 before trying out the commentary track on disc 1, I was admittedly blathered out and it didn't help that the film historian-commentator early on started getting some plot points wrong. But what pushed me to the "off" button was his anecdote about meeting Cary Grant after Grant's retirement and introducing himself by saying (oh barf) "I come to you with a message from the women of America: they want you to return to the screen," to which good old Cary replied, "What did you do, take a poll?"

You'll note that they waited to release the 50th anniversary edition of this 1957 movie until 2008. I suspect the reason is they had to wait for all the principals to be dead (Kerr and Viertel died in the fall of '07) before they could get away with producing a tribute that's so on-the-cheap and unworthy.

Ah, how I'd love to read Nora Ephron's take on this debacle.

As the British radio guy says in his signoff at the beginning of the movie: Well....there you have it.

Since Deborah Kerr passed away last week, I feel compelled to write a review of this wonderful motion picture which, after more viewings than I can even count, remains in my top five alltime favorites. Yes, the movie is corny. Yes, it's mostly unbelievable. What two people, so in love as Terry and Nicky, would promise to meet in six months and have absoloutely no contact with each other during the six months? I like to think of it as a test of their love. After all, they gained some depth of character while on the ship together. I like to think that they wanted to see if the changes in themselves would last. Yes, it's unbelievable that Nicky would not try to find Terry when she didn't show up atop the Empire State Building. Yes, it's unbelievable that Terry would not tell Nicky why she wasn't there. But, It's a movie, for goodness sakes. And movies, at least for me, are about escapism. They're not about the "real world." They are a place I go to fantasize, to dream, to cry tears of happiness. This classic love story gives me all of these 'places.' And it gives me so much more. I only wish that those days were not long gone from the hills of Hollywood.

Deborah kerr was 86 years old when she passed away last week. But, to me, she will always be Terry McKay who, once upon a time on a cruise ship, fell in love with Nicky Ferrante and who, after going through hell, found her way back into his arms sitting on a couch beside a warm fireplace at Christmas time.

I must confess, as an 18 year old guy, you may not take my review seriously. But I must say, this is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. A beautiful story that hits you straight at the deepest pit of your being. I rented the movie after I saw sleepless in seatle (another great movie) and saw the scenes involved, and the context used. It was well worth the effort. The story is beautifully timed, with the pace set perfectly, and the 'viewer story' working perfectly with the 'character version' You see just enough of what 'they' do not to make this movie a beautiful tear jerker, with a wonderful ending. Do yourself a favor. Buy this.

This review is not about the movie, which I love, but about the blu-ray transfer. I was hoping for a quality level at least as good as what has been done with some other classic movies, such as White Christmas, for example, which was an awesome restoration compared to this one. This was one of the classic movies I was hoping they would bring to blu-ray, and I was excited when it was announced. Well, I bought the blu-ray for a ridiculous premium price, and now I've watched it, and the jury is in. Very disappointing from the very first frame. Detail is lacking, colors are muted. The print looks dull and aged. There is not one single time where you are struck by an awesome picture. Yes, it's an improvement over any previous release of the movie on dvd, but nowhere near the potential that blu-ray has to offer. It just doesn't look like a first-rate restoration of a worthy classic movie. Definitely not worth a premium price, and it's very misleading how they offer it in the digibook case, which makes it appear like this is an example of the best that blu-ray has to offer. If you can wait long enough, they should eventually stick the disc in a cheap plastic box and sell it for a much lower price more in keeping with the level of quality for this transfer.

Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, New York City, the French Riviera - all the perfect ingridients for the ultimate love story! Deborah Kerr's character is very modern even by today's standards, while Cary Grant is as chevalresque and afraid to commit as any New York guy today.
I've watched this film at least 50 times and still can't get enough of it!