An Affair to Remember (1957)

A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Delmer Daves (screenplay), Leo McCarey (screenplay),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Handsome playboy Nicky Ferrante and beautiful night club singer Terry McKay have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged to other people, both agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months. However, an unfortunate accident keeps Terry from the reunion, and Nicky fears that she has married or does not love him anymore. Will he discover the truth behind her absence and reunite with his one true love, or has fate and destiny passed them by?

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Plot Keywords:

night club | love | playboy | singer | cruise ship | 

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Taglines:

A motion picture all your friends will tell you to see ... and you'll tell all your friends to see!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

11 July 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Leo McCarey's An Affair to Remember

Filming Locations:

French Riviera, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Jerry Wald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the "50th anniversary" DVD release, one of the bonus features is a Movietone News piece about the shipboard premiere of the movie aboard the S.S. Constitution, identified in the newsreel as the location for filming.

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Goofs

When Terry Mckay is teaching the little kids to sing, two of the kids go and do a dance, then walk back around and behind the little girl. In the close-up of the cute little blond girl there is no-one behind her, and in the next shot the boy and the girl are there behind her again.

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Quotes

Grandmother Janou: [talking about Nickie] Everything comes too easily to him. He's always attracted by the art he isn't practising, the place he hasn't been, the girl he hasn't met.

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Connections

Referenced in The Critic: Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice (1995)

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Soundtracks

"An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair)"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey
Sung by Vic Damone over opening credits
reprised in French by Marni Nixon (dubbing for Deborah Kerr)
reprised in English by Marni Nixon (dubbing for Deborah Kerr)

User Reviews

Lovely, Lilting Romance

What one has to consider about the Deborah Kerr/Cary Grant characters is that they are both "kept" individuals: Kerr by a wealthy Texan named Ken (-doll, played by Richard Denning), Grant a gigolo engaged to an heiress (Neva Patterson). They meet on an ocean cruise, with this some cute and also silly comedy thrown in. Kerr & Grant are British and speak the accents yet their characters are from the U.S.; a not too distracting error, however. An unusually touching scene is when they de-bark in Italy and visit Grant's 82-year-old grandmother (Cathleen Nesbitt). It's a beautiful setting with wonderful music and pathos. Back in the states the couple agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in 6 months. One wonders why Kerr won't marry the handsome Denning, athletic, wealthy and kind (in real-life the actor was married to the British-raised actress Evelyn Ankers, a beauty in the Kerr-mold). Much of the second half is infused with un-necessary scenes of singing children but this all leads up the the final, long scene, beautifully acted and directed (by Leo McCarey). A mystery is very slowly unraveled in layers until the peak of the scene, scored by the emotional title theme song. This scene "gets" one every time, that's how effective it is. Beautiful costumes, scenery, clever photography (note the scene where the open patio door reveals the Empire State Building in its reflection), great cast make this an enduring, never-forgotten golden classic.