Fate brings two improbable lovers together on a cruise ship. Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) is an artist and playboy preparing to wed a snooty heiress (Neva Patterson). On board he meets Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr), a singer engaged to a boring businessman (Richard Denning). The two befriend each other, falling deeply in love after spending time in France. Nickie and Terry separate in New York, agreeing to meet six months later at the Empire State Building. Then Terry breaks her leg, refusing to
An Affair to Remember is a class production all around. Director Leo McCarey already filmed this story as Love Affair (1939), and his graceful direction allows his stars center stage. Besides the stars and Milton Krasner's beautiful photography, what sells Affair is its relative restraint. For all the grand romantic gestures and Hugo Friedhoffer's overbearing score, it works because the central relationship feels so grounded.
McCarey and cowriters Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart craft their leads carefully. Nickie and early scenes are playful, sparkling with witty banter and warm interplay. Playing their expected social roles (suave lothario, stern society woman) on the cruise ship, they let their hair down at Nickie's French home: Nickie's a frustrated artist, Terry insecure and passionate. Their meeting rejuvenates both, who cast aside their reservations and dive into their careers with renewed vigor. Only their partners suffer - and since they're milquetoast bores, who cares?
Affair's early scenes fare best. The protagonists have great chemistry, and the script gives their relationship time and scope to believably evolve. Things start flagging once they arrive in New York, their vapid fiancees providing no conflict. Without a human challenge to romance, a freak accident must interfere. Affair's worst scenes involve Terry's injury and teaching career: McCarey tries viewers patience with her obnoxious kids performing two musical numbers. At least Affair rebounds in its well-judged finale: familiarity's more forgivable than shrill brats.
Cary Grant is charming as always, but provides a frustrated gravity lacking his usual flippancy. Deborah Kerr gives her typical Hollywood performance, quiet anguish bursting through a placid exterior. Strange that this Scotswoman so embodied the frustrated '50s American female. The script helps, but the stars' effortless charm and absorbing chemistry assures Affair classic status.
An Affair to Remember has myriad detractors who label it tedious and mawkish. Certainly it has weak points but compared with, say, Douglas Sirk it's downright restrained. Movies like Affair work best as comfort food: extremely familiar, effortlessly enjoyable.