“I was looking up at the 102nd floor. The closest thing to Heaven. You see, you were there.”
Released in Hollywood’s Golden Year 1939, Leo McCarey’s Love Affair is a beautiful and romantic drama following French playboy Michel Marley (Charles Boyer) and American singer Terry McKay (Irene Dunne), who develop feelings for each other on a boat ride to New York City. They make a plan to meet each other again in six months atop the Empire State Building.
This film is actually more known for its Technicolor remake An Affair to Remember, also directed by McCarey in 1957 with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. That film would go on to inspire Nora Ephron with Sleepless in Seattle, and while not explicitly stated by Richard Linklater, it’s ironic that both this film and Before Sunrise has our couple plan to meet again in six months.
I loved this film, it was such a fun, cute, romantic film with romance that feels real, thanks to Boyer and Dunne’s chemistry. I’ve heard McCarey’s ‘57 remake is more slapstick comedy, so I’m glad I started with the original to fully understand the original source material and overall get a more real and affectionate romance film.
“I was looking up at the 102nd floor. The closest thing to Heaven. You see, you were there.”
Released in Hollywood’s Golden Year 1939, Leo McCarey’s Love Affair is a beautiful and romantic drama following French playboy Michel Marley (Charles Boyer) and American singer Terry McKay (Irene Dunne), who develop feelings for each other on a boat ride to New York City. They make a plan to meet each other again in six months atop the Empire State Building.
This film is actually more known for its Technicolor remake An Affair to Remember, also directed by McCarey in 1957 with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. That film would go on to inspire Nora Ephron with Sleepless in Seattle, and while not explicitly stated by Richard Linklater, it’s ironic that both this film and Before Sunrise has our couple plan to meet again in six months.
I loved this film, it was such a fun, cute, romantic film with romance that feels real, thanks to Boyer and Dunne’s chemistry. I’ve heard McCarey’s ‘57 remake is more slapstick comedy, so I’m glad I started with the original to fully understand the original source material and overall get a more real and affectionate romance film.
