"Love Affair" is probably most famous for being the film that resulted in the more well known remake "An Affair to Remember," but I enjoyed this version more, if only because it's much shorter and crisper. Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer have tremendous chemistry together, though I will acknowledge that the conflict at the middle of the film doesn't make a whole lot of sense as played by Dunne, mostly because she takes her injury and subsequent disability so much in stride that one wonders what the hang up is about letting Boyer know about it. Deborah Kerr, who played the Dunne role in the remake, does a better job with the character, and the latter version gets the BIG scene more right than this one. But "Love Affair" is the one I'd rather watch again if I had to choose.
Maria Ouspenskaya gives a lovely, aching performance as Boyer's elderly grandmother who knows her time is limited and plans to make the most of it.
"Love Affair" was nominated for six Oscars in 1939, that golden year for Hollywood, but won none of them in the year that juggernaut "Gone with the Wind" dominated the awards. Its nominations included Best Picture, Best Actress (Dunne), Best Supporting Actress (Ouspenskaya), Best Original Story, Best Art Direction (B&W), and Best Original Song for "Wishing," a tune played ad nauseum throughout the movie.
Grade: B+
Maria Ouspenskaya gives a lovely, aching performance as Boyer's elderly grandmother who knows her time is limited and plans to make the most of it.
"Love Affair" was nominated for six Oscars in 1939, that golden year for Hollywood, but won none of them in the year that juggernaut "Gone with the Wind" dominated the awards. Its nominations included Best Picture, Best Actress (Dunne), Best Supporting Actress (Ouspenskaya), Best Original Story, Best Art Direction (B&W), and Best Original Song for "Wishing," a tune played ad nauseum throughout the movie.
Grade: B+