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Director Leo McCarey's remake of his own equally satisfying Love Affair, this glossy, perfectly engineered romantic drama from 1957 glorifies the virtues of well-appointed sacrifice, while turning a tourist-saturated Manhattan landmark into one the world's most alluring destinations. A notorious playboy (Cary Grant) and an ex-nightclub singer (Deborah Kerr) fall in love on their way to marrying other, wealthier people. They agree to reunite six months later at the observation deck of the Empire State Building if they find that they can't go on without each other. As always, fate intervenes, and Cupid's arrow veers off course despite the lovers' best intentions. Kerr's innate goodness works well here and makes her continuously self-denying behavior believable and free of self-pity. Grant is never less than charming and perpetually suave, even when his underlying distrust of women pokes through. And seasoned pro McCarey's sure handling of the witty, adult script keeps it all together. An unbeatable blend of noble suffering and beautiful surroundings, An Affair to Remember is a classic romantic melodrama. So classic, in fact, that one of the most successful romantic movies of the '90s -- Sleepless in Seattle --used it as a defining line between those who understand love and those who can't hope to.

All Movie Guide

An Affair to Remember, director Leo McCarey's scene-for-scene remake of his own 1939 film Love Affair, isn't really an improvement on the original, but it's equally as enjoyable. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, high-profile types both engaged to be married to other people, meet and fall in love during an ocean voyage. To test the depth of their commitment to each other, Grant and Kerr promise that, if they're still in love at the end of six months, they will meet again at the top of the Empire State Building. Clips from An Affair to Remember were used as "reference points" throughout the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, which likewise concluded atop the Empire State Building. Disproving the theory that "Third Time's the Charm," Warren Beatty attempted to remake Affair to Remember, again titled Love Affair, in 1994. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 024543487982
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Editions: Anniversary Edition, Special Edition, Subtitled
• Time: 1:55:00

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