An Affair to Remember

Plot synopsis:
Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant), a well-known playboy and dilettante in the arts, meets Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) aboard the Transatlantic ocean liner SS Constitution en route from Europe to New York. Each is involved with someone else. After a series of chance meetings aboard the ship, they establish a friendship. When Terry joins Nickie on a brief visit to his grandmother when the ship anchors near her home at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean coast, she sees Nickie with new eyes and their feelings blossom into love. During their visit, it is revealed that Nickie has had a talent for painting, but has dropped said trait due to his critical attitude towards his own art. As the ship returns to New York City, they agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months' time, if they have succeeded in ending their relationships and starting new careers.
On the day of their rendezvous, Terry, in her haste to reach the Empire State Building, is struck down by a car while crossing a street. Gravely injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, Nickie, waiting for her at the observation deck at the top of the building, is unaware of the accident and, after many hours, finally concedes at midnight that she will not arrive, believing that she has rejected him.
After the accident Terry, now unable to walk, refuses to contact Nickie, wanting to conceal her disability. Instead, she finds work as a music teacher. Nickie has pursued his talent as a painter and has his work displayed by an old friend, an art shop owner. Six months after the accident, she sees Nickie with his former fiancée at the ballet, which she herself is attending with her former boyfriend. Nickie does not notice her condition because she is seated and only says hello as he passes her.
Nickie finally learns Terry's address and, on Christmas Eve, makes a surprise visit to her. Although he steers the conversation to make her explain her actions, Terry merely dodges the subject, never leaving the couch on which she sits. He gives her a shawl that his grandmother left for Terry after she died. As he is leaving, Nickie mentions a painting that he had been working on when they originally met, and that it was just given away at the art shop to a woman who liked it but had no money. He is about to say that the woman was in a wheelchair when he pauses, suddenly suspecting why Terry has been sitting unmoving on the couch. He walks into her bedroom and sees his painting hanging on the wall, and a wheelchair concealed there. He now knows why she did not keep their appointment. The film ends with the two in a tight embrace, each realizing that the other's love endures. In closing, Terry says, "If you can paint, I can walk; anything can happen, don't you think?"

Tags: cult, romantic

Review:
Cary  Grant is so debonair and suave and Deborah Kerr is so ravishing and  stunningly beautiful, that it always demands repeated viewing from me  (at least three times a year).
-- Grant's suavity, and the south of France settings are not just there to pose for the camera.All of the beauty of this film is there to do very hard work -- to tell a less than beautiful story.And, no, this is not a movie where nothing happens.
Something is happening in every scene -- you just have to be paying attention, and you just have to be mature enough, or have your antenna up high enough, to catch the subtle messages the film is sending, and to feel in your own solar plexus, the resonances of loves, dreams, and selves risked and gained, or lost.Nicki and Terry are both gambling much here.
It demands that they face their own fears, and become their best selves.I'm one of those cynical people who doesn't believe in love, never mind soul mates, but this movie carries it all off so well, it makes me believe.Grant and Kerr begin with the lightest, and subtlest, of exchanges.
Catholicism is associated with the romance languages -- French, Italian -- and it also is friendly to this kind of romance -- a romance where fallen beauties are blindsided by the kind of tortuous, redemptive, overwhelming, fated love that demands, and gets, everything, after which, you are never the same.If you haven't seen the movie, or "Sleepless in Seattle," I won't reveal the ending to you.
This movie is for all the romantics out there who are looking for a film to fall in love with!.
It is still relevant and it is still wonderful to watch the chemistry between the charismatic Cary Grant and the beautiful Deborah Kerr.
Grant's charming philanderer Nicky Ferrante, a renowned bachelor, and Kerr's American nightclub singer Terry McKay meet aboard a transatlantic luxury liner steaming back to New York via Naples and surrenderin the midst of good humorto their undeniable chemistry Unfortunately, both are hampered with others lovers At the end of the voyage, they make a promise In six months, if both are free they will reunite at the top of the Empire State Building, "the nearest thing they have to heaven in New York." In the day of the meeting, the reformed Grant put his paintbrushes away and luckily paces the skyscraper's roof, but Kerr, looking up to heaven to see him, is involved in a serious accidentWhat fallows is almost unbelievable as Grant yields to pompous cynicism, unaware Kerr is too proud to let him know the truthWith four Oscar nominations, and with attractive settings as the French Riviera, and two appealing beautiful people sharing pink champagne, Leo McCarey's pretty good romantic film gives off flashes of gaiety and sways with longing hearts to be filled with love and life.
If you think you cannot stand another headline about people trying to blow up airplanes with shoe bombs, when you are on the verge of depression because the world is so hard and immoral and unkind, when you want to return to the Good Old Days of the 1950's, then plop this video into your player and watch two film STARS give lovely sweet performances in a GROWN UP, sensitive film called "An Affair To Remember".
Ok, ok, so the Catholic touches go a bit overboard (Kerr in the chapel praying to the Virgin like a good Catholic, while she is a kept woman and playing around on her fiance with Grant, the little kids singing about hell and the devil, etc.) but other than that this film is romantic and enjoyable, nostalgic and fun.
Cary Grant is so debonair and suave and Deborah Kerr is so ravishing and stunningly beautiful, that it always demands repeated viewings from me (at least twice a year).Seeing this film always makes me wonder if something like the kind of relationship describes within this film would actually BE possible in real life.
It allows our fantasies to take wing so that we may think we are actually the one meeting our beloved atop the Empire State Building in a thunderstorm.Watch this film with a box of industrial-strength kleenex nearby.My rating: 4 stars.
Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant meet on a cruise ship, and even though Cary's a notorious playboy and Deborah's practically engaged to another man, they fall in love.
They try to hide their romance from prying eyes by eating at separate tables and walking in opposite directions when they're seen together, even when they have to stop talking mid-sentence!While the ship scenes are very cute, the rest of the movie is a drama, so be prepared when you rent it for a light-hearted afternoon.
This iconic, tearjerker ending has been included in many a romance montage.Parts of the movie feel a little boring, namely when Cary takes Deborah to meet his grandmother, Cathleen Nesbitt.
When one thinks about the very popular romance "An Affair to Remember", the story needs to be viewed as a feature film idea, and as a completed entity in its own right.
Lewis as himself and skilled character veteran Fortunio Bonanova and the choir children and shipboard guests is always above-average; also, Deborah Kerr (singing dubbed by Marn Nixon) is at her best in her multi-layered role, which is very good indeed; frankly, her charisma and skill had to help Grant's underwritten part if the film were to succeed.
The attractive (for once) over thirty-five importance of both characters, and the difficulties they face in earning the right to become such a romantic union--in the objectivist sense of romance just defined--are aided in the plot and retarded in personal terms by the problems they face: the difficulty of Grant's becoming a working artist in whatever marketplace exists, Kerr's conflicting schedule, the death of his grandmother, a lengthy enforced absence and her later accident all work against them.
They make a date to meet at the Empire State Building in 6 months but tragedy strikes...Pretty lousy--I love Grant and Kerr but they're at their worst here.
As for males, what happened to Cary Grant's "charisma?" He certainly lost it in this film, looking almost mechanical at times although he was far more interesting than Kerr's character, who made one stupid decision after another to the point where it got really annoying.
That was hilarious in and of itself, but the same scene with Deborah Kerr flouncing and singing her way to the Empire State Building and thus being mowed down by a taxi, was a close second.The movie was not logical, if she loves a man why did she not let him know what happened?
I don't mind chick flicks,being a chick myself or at least an old hen; I don't mind sentimental movies, & I certainly don't mind Cary Grant, but I do mind scenes, characters and dialogue crafted to manipulate the audience.
Reworking of Leo McCarey's "Love Affair" from 1939, again directed by McCarey who also co-adapted the script with Delmer Daves to better suit the talents of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.
An Affair to Remember starts off fine, with Cary Grant and Kerr, both engaged to be married, meeting on a voyage across the Atlantic.
While in a cruise from Europe to New York, the disputed playboy Nicky Ferrante (Cary Grant) meets the gorgeous former night-club singer Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) and they have a romance.
They schedule a meeting on the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building six months later to decide whether they should marry each other, but Terry has an accident and she is not able to reunite with him."An Affair to Remember" is one of my favorite romances ever, certainly one of the most beautiful love stories of the cinema industry.
Beginning with the amazing chemistry between Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, the nostalgic and unforgettable story has romance, drama, funny situations, being witty and very delightful.
Cary Grant was ok, but the leading lady was a bad combination of annoying personality and below average appearance.I've read all the comments about this movie making people cry and "the scene" that gets you every time.
All of this fuss over a middling soap opera with two unbelievable characters played--unfortunately-- by two of my favorite stars--Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.
Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne simply did a better job than Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in this unnecessary remake.
Well sadly then the movie falls apart.Grant and Kerr have an easy, appealing chemistry as their characters fall in love aboard the ship.
I'd just like to know what kind of bucks the studio held out to Grant to get him to speak some of these lines, which are mainly the lines every woman wants to hear from a man who looks and moves like Cary Grant.The idea behind this film is that two people on the threshold of middle age - at least in the 1950's - meet on a long cruise and fall in love.
What plot there is (which isn't much) doesn't make any real sense if you think about it, and it's sluggishly dragged out over a 119 minute running time.The thing that kept me watching was Deborah Kerr, who is the epitome of feminine elegance and grace.
Guaranteed to put you in the mood for romance and tears.This version with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr sticks pretty close to the original with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne.
Those words are memorable, as is the film, a remake of the classic 1939 "Love Affair," with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.Our lovers meet quite by accident while on board a ship.
In spite of Grant's spoken admiration of the original film as " better" ("Love Affair," with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer), alas, this one will remain the better known and most beloved version for the ages.
It's a though Kerr and Grant watched the movie together and said, "How can we make it better?," then actually did.
though i do recognize that this movie is a sacred cow to most movie critics and lovers, i found it's shortcomings to far outweigh anything redeeming (which is not true of the 'love affair' remake)....first, the script and therefore the dialog comes across as silly, sophomoric, and terribly contrived..i just don't buy it, hard as i might try.....second, every scene looks like it is being shot on the back lot of a movie studio...on a few of the scenes that are supposed to take place outdoors, there are indoor shadows....third, Cary grant comes across as very mechanical - almost as if he were reprising the a compilation of all his past romantic leads...i get the feeling that the director thought they could put Cary in an expensive suit, rely on his upper crest accent, and he would deliver all that the role requires...Deborah Kerr is tiresome and annoying as she plays cat and mouse...the scene of her in the chapel is pathetic...and she looks hard with the fire red hair and very brazen makeup..because i cannot bring myself to watch the movie a second time, i give this an 'unworthy of viewing' rating.
Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) falls for International playboy Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) while on a cruise.
Cary Grant plays the love bachelor in his own special and unique way, and who could ask for a better counterpart than Deborah Kerr.
In the earlier 1939 Charles Boyer/Irene Dunne version, the first part was also the weaker part of the movie, but for whatever reason, it seems even slower in this remake.The scene when the two leads visit Grant's grandmother (Cathleen Nesbitt) injects life and interest into the story, and it becomes not only watchable but worthwhile.
Sure, it's a little long in playing time, a little hokey, so don't watch this movie unless you're a complete romantic like I am, because this is the greatest tear jerkers of them all.
Niagra Falls in my living room, so if you're going to watch this movie and have never seen it before,  if you're a romantic, you'd better have a box of Kleenex by your side, because you know something is about to happen when Vic Damone starts singing the title song for the movie when the credits are being shown!Everyone knows the story line, so we won't go into it, but here's a few facts that some people don't know.
So, get out the Kleenex, because I've seen this movie many, many times, and everytime I see it, I say to myself, "I know what these lunatics that produced this movie are up to, and THIS TIME I'm not going to get caught up in this ending as before and I won't need any Kleenex", and then that last scene comes up; Cary Grant knows somethings wrong because Debbie Girl hasn't made one move off that couch; he goes into the bedroom and sees the painting and the wheelchair, walks back into the living room and sees Deborah Kerr still on the couch but this time crying:KERR:  Please don't look at me like that!
You think?And he wipes her tears off her face, they embrace and the last lines of An Affair to Remember are sung romantically by the studio chorus as the camera looks out the window with the snow falling, and I feel like a damn fool because:THEY DID IT TO ME AGAIN!And if you think this movie puts you on a crying jag, try watching "Imitation of Life" with Lana Turner, and a little known movie "The Gift of Love" with Lauren Bacall.
Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr make this movie work.
He arrives at her apartment with a Xmas gift realises the truth and really you have to watch the ending just to feel all the emotions you never thought you had.Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant are on top form, perfect!
I really enjoyed the scene where Deborah Kerr met Cary Grant's grandmother and was promised the shawl.
Ms Kerr is always lovely to look at and of course Cary Grant is forever a great charmer.
i really enjoyed this old fashioned love story starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.unlike like a lot of movies today,you really get to know the two main characters.i also liked the fact that the movie isn't overly maudlin or sappy.or at least i didn't get that impression.Grant and Kerr have great chemistry together.you really believe that these two people could fall for each other.i liked the ending too.it's not a cop out but an honest ending,one which i kind of expected,but it's the way it got to that point that i wasn't totally expecting.and it's not quite your typical Hollywood ending.for me,An Affair to Remember is an 8/10.
Save for Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant as romantic leads in certain key scenes of this rather farcical flick, there isn't a great deal to remember here.
Yet, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and the true chemistry between them make for a really remarkable love affair depiction.
Two people (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr) meet and fall in love on a cruise, despite both being involved with other people.
Leo McCarey's color remake of his own classic Love Affair doesn't quite match up to that film but is still very good on its own.
An Affair to Remember (1957)Romance doesn't get any higher than this, and you don't get better than Cary Grant, here matched well with Deborah Kerr.
Finding themselves bent out of shape with their situation, they decide to cool down for six months and agree to meet up at the top of the Empire State Building to then see if the burning flame of love still burns bright.Even before watching this film for a first viewing i felt like i had seen it a hundred times, such is the legendary status it has gained thru numerous imitations and word of mouth romanticism.
Cary Grant and Debra Kerr do a charming film about love, obligation, and expectations.
Sit back and enjoy Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr meeting and falling in love.
An Affair to Remember Directed by : Leo McCarey Starring : Cary Grant, Deborah KerrAppears to have two sides to it; front end is loaded with charm and good old Hollywood appeal.
I would still recommend this movie to Grant or Kerr or romance fans, because I seem to be in a minority in not liking it.
It even has some of its stars from those days in it; Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.The movie itself is also a remake from a movie from that era; "Love Affair", from 1939, that got directed by the same director; Leo McCarey.The style and just overall way of story-telling and film-making seemed very outdated, even at its time already.
Grant's and Kerr's performances make this already sweet and charming movie even better..
(They just HAVE to!) As many times as I've seen this film, I still cry at the end--the look on Cary Grant's face when he sees--for once--what had been right in front of him, all along.
Cary Grant dazzles again, and Deborah Kerr is a sweetheart in this movie.
An Affair to Remember (1957)*** (out of 4)Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) are both about to be married to very successful people but the two meet on a cruise and soon realize that they have fallen in love.
To be sure, they decide to give their romance a six month break after which time they will meet on top of the Empire State Building but things take a wrong turn.AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER has, for some reason, become one of the most loved romance movies ever made.
I'm not saying this is a bad movie because it certainly isn't but at the same time I've always felt that the 1939 version, LOVE AFFAIR, was much better.With that said,t his one here still has plenty of things going for it that makes it worth watching.