1939·Drama·1h 28m
7.1
★
A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed their mind.
Directed by Leo McCarey
new york city
orphanage
madeira
artist
ocean liner
champagne
playboy
love
singer
chapel
grandmother
empire state building
ocean voyage
shipboard romance
shawl
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Irene Dunne
Terry McKay
Charles Boyer
Michel Marnet
Maria Ouspenskaya
Grandmother
Lee Bowman
Kenneth Bradley
Astrid Allwyn
Lois Clarke
Maurice Moscovitch
Maurice Cobert
Scotty Beckett
Boy on Ship (uncredited)
Ferike Boros
Terry's Landlady (uncredited)
Mary Bovard
Autograph Seeker (uncredited)
Tom Dugan
Drunk with Christmas Tree (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Ship Passenger (uncredited)
Dell Henderson
Cafe Manager (uncredited)
Crew
Leo McCarey
Director
Delmer Daves
Screenplay
Donald Ogden Stewart
Screenplay
Roy Webb
Original Music Composer
Edward Dmytryk
Editor
Rudolph Maté
Director of Photography
Leo McCarey
Producer
Van Nest Polglase
Art Direction
S. N. Behrman
Additional Writing
Leo McCarey
Story
Harold Arlen
Songs
Vernon L. Walker
Special Effects
Popular Reviews
76 reviews
Andrew Warren
8.0★ · 02/17/26
“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.
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.
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.
2
ChaiclassicsPRO
9.0★ · 05/05/26
Such a beautiful charming romantic film. Definitely prefer it this time around. There's a lot of beautiful moments, the song hits well. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne have such amazing chemistry together, they're so charming and wonderful together. Such a tragic devastating film!
Such a beautiful charming romantic film. Definitely prefer it this time around. There's a lot of beautiful moments, the song hits well. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne have such amazing chemistry together, they're so charming and wonderful together. Such a tragic devastating film!
annie
7.0★ · 04/21/26
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
“my father used to say, ‘it's a funny thing, but the things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.’”
i watched the cary grant / deborah kerr version of this first and i actually loved this version more. irene dunne was so adorable omg. this was cute and depressing <3
2026 ranked ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
“my father used to say, ‘it's a funny thing, but the things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.’”
i watched the cary grant / deborah kerr version of this first and i actually loved this version more. irene dunne was so adorable omg. this was cute and depressing <3
2026 ranked ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
“my father used to say, ‘it's a funny thing, but the things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.’”
i watched the cary grant / deborah kerr version of this first and i actually loved this version more. irene dunne was so adorable omg. this was cute and depressing <3
2026 ranked ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
“my father used to say, ‘it's a funny thing, but the things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.’”
i watched the cary grant / deborah kerr version of this first and i actually loved this version more. irene dunne was so adorable omg. this was cute and depressing <3
2026 ranked ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Nin
1.0★ · 04/05/26
An Affair To Remember was better for me.. I couldn't feel the chemistry here
An Affair To Remember was better for me.. I couldn't feel the chemistry here
Josefina
el efecto blurry de la cámara hacía que Irene Dunne se vea como un ángel, yo también hubiese hecho planes para casarme con ella en menos de ocho días de conocerla
el efecto blurry de la cámara hacía que Irene Dunne se vea como un ángel, yo también hubiese hecho planes para casarme con ella en menos de ocho días de conocerla