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An Affair to Remember
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 1957
Rated: NR
Film Length: 119 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
Subtitles: English and Spanish
"If you can paint, I can walk!
What woman out there can resist a romantic story
about a prince charming who comes along and sweeps
a woman off her feet? Obviously not that many,
as An Affair to Remember has been regarded
as one of the greatest love stories ever told. And
it's no wonder -- the film is perfectly cast with
the suave and dashing Cary Grant and the distinctly
feminine Deborah Kerr who is just stunning to watch.
Having never seen this film before, I did a little
background research and was startled to find that
this 1957 film was not only directed by Marx
Brothers veteran Leo McCarey (Duck Soup), but was
a scene-by-scene remake of his 1939 film, Love
Affair.
Grant plays a playboy and one-time artist, Nickie
Ferrante, who is engaged to marry a wealthy socialite.
Kerr plays a one-time singer, Terry McKay, who is
engaged to marry a wealthy businessman. They meet
aboard a cruise ship and instantly fall in love
with each other. With the cruise coming to an end
and former lovers to return to, the couple decide
to test their commitment with both promising that if
they are still in love with each other after 6 months
they will meet at the top of the Empire State Building.
For those who have yet to see this film, I won't
ruin the rest of the story for you. Let's just say
this is classic story of a love that labors horrible
odds and ends up wonderfully complete. Though the movie
does pour on a lot of saccharin (and singing children
to boot), I found myself immensely enjoying this film.
One of my favorite scenes involves Nicky's Grandmother
(played by Cathleen Nesbitt), whom Terry and Nicky
visit at her lovely villa during the ship’s stopover.
It is in these heartwarming moments that we begin to
see their relationship come together for the very
first time.
How is the transfer?
This is the second release of this film to the format,
and fortunately Fox has gotten it right the second
time finally releasing this CinemaScope picture in
anamorphic. Originally, I had thought this film was
released in Technicolor as it has that sort of
ultra-colorish look to it. I was shocked to find
out that it indeed wasn't. The quality of the
print is in immaculate condition with colors that
look very clean, although some of the colors
occasionally came across as being oversaturated,
and there's a slight green tinge that resides in
some of the background whites. Many of skyline
shots in the film exhibit an abundant amount noise.
All in all, I would rate this transfer as above
average.
The film's stereo soundtrack comes across with a
good amount of fidelity and wide dynamic range,
especially during the film's musical numbers. There
is no evidence of any background hiss to be found.
Special Features
A feature-length commentary by film historian
Joseph McBride and singer Marni Nixon (who sang for
Deborah Kerr in the film) is a nice listen, despite
the fact that the contributions here were recorded
separately. McBride begins by talking about Leo
McCarey's involvement in the anti-Communist cause
during the 1950s. Nixon talks about her close
relationship with actress Kerr starting with The
King and I made just a few years earlier. Doing
voice-over work on this picture was a bit difficult
for Nixon as she was under contract with NBC and it
put a damper on her schedule. Fortunately, Fox was
able to work around her schedule and allowed the
singer to lay out the voice work first before Deborah
Kerr lip-synched to it. Nixon also dubbed her
performance in 4 additional foreign languages.
McBride talks about the reasons why Leo McCarey
opted to remake his 1939 film and perhaps they can
best be explained in three words: Color, CinemaScope
and Cary Grant. Throughout the film, McBride talks
fondly about Cary Grant, a man who in 1967 retired
while still at the top of his game, and until his
death in 1986 remained humorous towards his own
screen persona. There's a funny story that Nixon
tells about her attempt to sing the Irish song,
How do you get to Tomorrow land. Though she
sang it quite well, she mistakenly did it with a
Scottish accent. With a little further coaching on
the dialect, she managed to nail the song just right.
McBride dominates this commentary, and I loved the
fact that he stayed with each scene, talking about
things that were happening at the moment, giving us
as much background information as he can about the
actors and the characters they portray. He also
provides a nice bit of history, comparing the style
of this film to those from past decades. Anyone that
is looking for a little FILM 101 will certainly be in
tune to this terrific commentary.
Backstory: An Affair to Remember is another
one of those AMC channel specials that promises to
reveal scandalous details about the lives behind the
stars of feature film. In this documentary we learn
about how insecure a person Cary Grant really was,
and his obsession with actress Sophia Loren around
the time An Affair To Remember was being
produced. It's interesting to learn that Ingrid
Bergman was the original choice for the role of
Terry McKay, but when she turned it down, the role
landed in the lap of Deborah Kerr. Both Cary Grant
and Deborah Kerr got along wonderfully on this
production, and the two began improvising their
scenes, adding a soft of subtle comic flavor to
the film in the process. We learn about the
troubled relationships of both actors as well as
how Cary Grant came to experiment with LSD. Also
of interest is how much influence this film has
had on women over the years, something which is
humorously touched upon in 1993's Sleepless In
Seattle. Big on emotion and not as scandalous
as I had thought it would be, this featurette is
certainly worth a watch.
(length: approx. 24 minutes)
Movietone News: "An Affair To Remember" is
a welcomed treat here, despite the fact that it
lasts just under a minute. Come aboard the S.S.
Constitution where the film's gala premiere party
is being held. Keep your eyes open and you'll see
the likes of Cary Grant, Celeste Holme and even a
slim and trim Shelly Winters.
A Still Gallery contains approximately 22
candid and publicity shots taken on the set of the
film. The film's original theatrical trailer
(featuring director Leo McCarey) is also included.
You will also find trailers for All About Eve,
Gentleman's Agreement and How Green Was My
Valley.
Final Thoughts
Finally in anamorphic, with a brand-new transfer
and some noteworthy supplements, this is a DVD that
belongs in every film lover's library.
Get out your big bowl of popcorn and have plenty
of tissues on hand -- An Affair to Remember
is a true Hollywood classic and the closest thing
to heaven.
They just don't make movies like this anymore
Release Date: February 4, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
