Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and then…
Often cited, most famously in Sleepless in Seattle, this instant hit was twice remade: in 1957 with Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Cathleen Nesbitt; and in 1994 with Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Katherine Hepburn. McCarey, who directed the first two, was a key figure in 1930’s Hollywood, mainly known for comedies e.g. with Laurel & Hardy and The Marx Brothers.
Love Affair completes a trilogy on marriage that McCarey began with Make Way for Tomorrow (admired by GB Shaw) and The Awful Truth, while introducing the spiritual themes that would dominate his later work. Amazingly, this seamlessly structured film was largely improvised. The censors rejected the screenplay as a “low-toned, sordid story of gross sexual irregularities, without even a semblance of what we call ‘compensating’ moral values,” leaving the team scrambling, with no time to rewrite.
Boyer, who enjoyed ad-libbing, said Love Affair was his favourite of his American films. The normally acerbic Ouspenskaya credits the director with creating “an atmosphere of work that is inspirational […] Actor, electricians, and cameramen loved their work.” She singles out Dunne, who formed an enduring friendship and professional relationship with Boyer on the set: “the sweetest woman with whom I have ever acted […] an actress to her finger tips.”
The only notable criticism came from Dunne herself, who told Silver Screen years later: “If I had been in that girl’s place, …”. No spoilers.
“As in all McCarey pictures, the greatest perfection is in the little, human scenes in which people do commonplace things, or carry on commonplace talk with superb, complete naturalness.” Clark Wales, Screen & Radio Weekly (1939)
“Love Affair, the first and arguably the best screen version of this romantic drama, was directed by Leo McCarey with great taste, combining sentiment and pathos, serio and comedic moments in equal measure. …. But ultimately the film belongs to the two stars, Boyer and Dunne, are both in top form, doing what they do best; Dunne deservedly received an Oscar nomination.” Emanuel Levy, emanuellevy.com
