Love Affair (1939)

French playboy Michel Marnet and American Terry McKay fall in love aboard ship. They arrange to reunite 6 months later, after Michel has had a chance to earn a decent living.

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Delmer Daves (screenplay), Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay),

Stars:

Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya

Nominated for 6 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Irene Dunne	...	Terry
Charles Boyer	...	Michel
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Grandmother
Lee Bowman	...	Kenneth Bradley
Astrid Allwyn	...	Lois Clarke
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Maurice Cobert (as Maurice Moscovich)

Storyline

French playboy Michel Marnet and American Terry McKay fall in love aboard ship. They arrange to reunite 6 months later, after Michel has had a chance to earn a decent living.

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Plot Keywords:

love | singer | cruise | french | meeting | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 April 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elle et lui

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 1, 1940 with Irene Dunne reprising her film role.

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Goofs

When Michel is waiting for Terry on the Empire State Building into the evening, and a thunder storm breaks out, the same forked lightning strike is seen at least 4 times in the background, always in the identical location - which is highly unlikely.

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Quotes

Terry McKay: The things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are on pages of a book, through which someone is paging.

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Connections

Referenced in Bachelor Mother (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Jingle Bells"
(1857) (uncredited)
Music by James Pierpont
Played in the score at Christmas

User Reviews

undeservedly ignored

I can't believe that this film is so forgotten by the film viewing public. This film is one of the better romances of the 1930s but, thanks to a mention of AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER in the movie SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER is now considered a "classic"--But how can this be...?! After all, LOVE AFFAIR is the original and AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER is a by-the-numbers and relatively boring remake. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne are wonderful in this film. And, the direction and writing were excellent. However, doing NEARLY the exact same film two decades later seems pointless. I like Cary Grant and have nothing in particular against Deborah Kerr--but they just aren't as good as the originals.

Do yourself a favor. If you haven't seen either film, watch this one first. And, if you have seen only AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, see this film and find out how beautiful and well-made this film is. Also, if you like LOVE AFFAIR, try seeing another great romance, SMILIN' THROUGH (1932). It has a lot in common with LOVE AFFAIR and you can even see that the writers of this later film "borrowed" one of the plot twists from SMILIN' THROUGH.