An Affair to Remember
is a 1957 film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and directed by Leo McCarey.
The film is considered one of the most romantic of all time, according to the American Film Institute. [1] The movie was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair
, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. An Affair to Remember
was almost identical to Love Affair
on a scene to scene basis. [2] McCarey used the same screenplay as the original film, which was penned by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart.
Contributing to the success of the 1957 film is its theme song "An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair)' composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Leo McCarey and Harold Adamson. The song is sung by Vic Damone during the opening credits and then sung later by Deborah Kerr's character, a nightclub singer. Kerr's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed for Kerr in the film The King and I
.
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AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER TICKETS
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Plot
Nickie Ferrante (Grant), a well-known playboy and lapsed painter, meets Terry McKay (Kerr) aboard the
SS Constitution. After a series of chance meetings, they establish a friendship and gradually fall in love despite being involved with other people. They agree to reunite on top of the
Empire State Building in six months time if they have succeeded in ending their relationships and starting new careers.
On the day of their rendezvous, Terry, rushing to the Empire State Building, doesn't look where she's going and is struck by a car. Gravely injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Nickie is unaware of the accident and thinks she has rejected him.
Terry, now confined to a wheelchair, finds work as a teacher. She refuses to contact Nickie, wanting to conceal her disability. A year after the accident, she sees Nickie with his former girlfriend at the ballet, which she herself is attending with her former lover. Nickie does not notice her condition because she is seated, and only says hello as he passes her.
Nickie makes a surprise visit to Terry. Though he angrily tries to make her explain her actions, she merely dodges the subject, never leaving the couch on which she sits. Just as he is about to leave, he mentions a painting he had done of her that had recently been sold to a woman in a wheelchair. Upon seeing the painting in Terry's bedroom, he realizes she is that same woman. In the final scene, they reconcile and all is revealed about the fateful day that they were supposed to meet.
Cast
- Cary Grant - Nickie Ferrante
- Deborah Kerr - Terry McKay
- Richard Denning - Kenneth Bradley
- Neva Patterson - Lois Clark
- Cathleen Nesbitt - Grandmother Janou
- Robert Q. Lewis - Himself - Announcer
- Charles Watts - Ned Hathaway
- Fortunio Bonanova - Courbet
Remakes
Nora Ephron's 1993 film
Sleepless in Seattle
, starring
Tom Hanks and
Meg Ryan, was inspired by
An Affair to Remember
, and clips from the earlier film and its theme song are used throughout.
A
1994 remake reverting to the original title of
Love Affair
was written, directed, and starred
Warren Beatty, featuring his wife
Annette Bening as the female protagonist, and also
Katharine Hepburn in a small but pivotal role, which would prove to be her last screen appearance.
Mann
, a 1999
Bollywood film starring
Aamir Khan and
Manisha Koirala, was inspired by this movie.
Grey Gardens (HBO film) in 2009 licensed an aerial shot of
The Pierre Hotel from this film.
[3]
American Film Institute recognition
An Affair to Remember
is ranked # 5 on the
AFI list of
America's greatest love stories. AFI has also honored star Cary Grant as one of the
greatest American screen legends among males, second only to
Humphrey Bogart.
References
- AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions
- Jaynes, Barbara Grant; Trachtenberg, Robert. ''Cary Grant: A Class Apart''. Burbank, California: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Turner Entertainment. 2004. Grant himself believed that ''Love Affair'' was superior.
- Grey Gardens DVD - 2009 - HBO - Audio commentary with executive producers Michael Sucsy, Lucy Barzun Donnelly and Rachael Horovitz