Friday, September 30, 2011

Film | An Affair To Remember

I originally bought this film on DVD a few years ago and have never gotten around to watching it. As I continue writing on this blog I have come to realize how many movies I have bought and never watched. Anyways, I decided to watch this picture as apart of the Darling Deborah Blogathon. I have only seen Deborah Kerr in a few other films (Separate Tables and The King and I) but I have seen those films in so long I couldn't possibly write a post on those. I also love every movie I've ever seen with Cary Grant so how could I go wrong?

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)

"Every precious moment of the glad...tender...
triumphant love they found -- and almost lost!"

THE PLAYERS:
Cary Grant - Nickie Ferrante
Deborah Kerr - Terry McKay
Richard Denning - Kenneth Bradley
Neva Patterson - Lois Clark
Cathleen Nesbitt - Grandmother Janou

THE STORY:
Although each is already engaged to another, Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Tempting fate, they agree to meet at the Empire State Building in six months if they still feel the same way. But a tragic accident prevents their rendezvous, and the lovers' future takes an uncertain turn. [Netflix] 

MY THOUGHTS:
When I sat down to watch the movie I had a pretty good idea of what the movie was about. Two people who are engaged to other people meet on a ship and fall in love (having an affair to remember) and decide to meet up six months later at the top of the Eiffel Tower. When tragedy strikes their affair is put on hold and their love for one another is put to the test. Now I was a little angry while looking at the IMDB page prior to watching it and learning what the tragedy was before hand. While it ruined the twist, it definitely didn't ruin he movie.

I thought Cary grant and Deborah Kerr carried this film superbly. Their chemistry was refreshing and their acting was on par. The scenes where they are trying to act like they didn't know each other were quite funny. In the dining room and especially when grant is circling the stairs so they can talk really had me in stitches.

 
My favorite part of the film actually had nothing to do with the main story. I just adored Nick's (Grant) grandmother Janou, played by Cathleen Nesbitt, that they go visit while on shore in France. Her acting was subtle but really made me feel every emotion she had during their stay. The way her face so subtly changed to show her sadness when she heard the ship's horn. I actually got a little teary eyed seeing her watch them go. This was probably one of my favorite scenes from any film I've ever seen. So much is learned about all of the characters involved and there is so much care/loved felt between all of them.

One thing I found distracting was Cary grants skin tone. I know he was always a tan guy, but I couldn't stop thinking about his skin. I thought it aged him and maybe it wouldn't have been so apparent if he hadn't been paired with the very fair skinned Kerr.

Ive written about how much I enjoy Cary Grant as an actor, but this was the first time I've watched Deborah Kerr in a film where I really noticed her acting. I found her form of acting very easy to watch. She had a very soft way of conveying her feelings on screen. She could use her eyes and expressions to show her happiness or sadness without using words. You could actually see her acting flow from being totally against falling in love to not wanting to be apart from her newly found love effortlessly, as if it were her actual feelings.

I really enjoyed this film and wish it hadn't taken me so long to see it. I liked the story so much I might go see the original and remakes.







6 comments:

  1. it's a great film.. my friend and I quote it all the time.. specifically grandmother quotes such as "this is as far as i go" :)

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  2. Totally LOVE this one. Cary is about at his most gorgeous here. And Deborah Kerr is lovely. They truly were magical together.

    I've seen the original...didn't like it nearly as much as this one, though I must admit, when I saw it, it was shortly after I had seen "Gaslight," so I had a hard time accepting Charles Boyer as a romantic leading man. I kept seeing him as a murderous husband. I probably ought to give it another try now that I've gotten "Gaslight" thoughts out of my system.

    My daughter is 21, and she considers An Affair to Remember her all-time favorite romantic movie. She has seen the newest version with Beatty and Bening (I haven't), and she didn't think they had they great of chemistry between them, which quite surprised her since they are a real-life couple.

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  3. should be "that great of chemistry..." (wish there was a way to edit your mistakes.)

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  4. An Affair to Remember is such a great film. I also found it to be much better than the original.

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  5. An Affair to Remember is such a sweet little film, it was one of the first Deborah films I ever saw and, needless to say, it got me even more hooked on her. I completely agree about Cary Grant's skin tone. Can you say "oompa loompa"?! ;D

    Thanks so much for participating in the blogathon, and I hope you get to watch more Deborah films soon! :)

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  6. It is my favorite film. Mainly the part of the visit to the grandmother where they begin to know both really. And later the watched one of " Terry" when takes leave after giving the chal him and thinks it loses that it is a little while that it hits.

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