Love Affair vs. An Affair to Remember

I have mentioned this before in my Irene Dunne post, but I wanted to elaborate on why Love Affair (LA) from 1939 is a superior film to An Affair to Remember (AATR) and maybe rant about how unfair it is that AATR is more popular than LA.

Note: There is another Love Affair from the 1994, Katharine Hepburn's last movie. I have not seen the film, so I will not discuss it. 

Love Affair stars Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. An Affair to Remember stars Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Now, they are essentially the same when it comes to plot and dialogue. In fact, it is directed by the same person, Leo McCarey.

The story (without spoilers) is about a couple that meet on a cruise ship and fall in love. They agree to meet on top of the Empire State Building after six months to see if their love is real.

Reasons why Love Affair is superior:

1. Acting: Dunne is the better actress. Boyer is the better actor. I am biased. Irene Dunne is one of my favourite actors of all time, male and female. Anything with her is far superior to other films because of her performance alone. However, I truly think she is the better actress in this case. The film has a very comedic first half and a melodramatic second half. The balance is precarious as the the female lead walks the fine line of tragic and corny. Dunne performance never made me role my eyes. Her Terry McKay never asked for pity. As for Boyer, for me it is the scene when he realises what happened. It made me cry. The realisation is just so real. 

2. Chemistry: Dunne and Boyer have better chemistry. My heart melts for these two. No one can really describe what it is exactly that makes people more compatible on screen over another, but in this case it is easy to see the chemistry in LA is far better than in AATR. I find Grant and Kerr a little sitff. 

3. Pacing: LA is just 90 minutes. AATR on the other hand is almost two hours. This is because scenes are added or expanded to the second film. For the most part they are very irrelevant, and the quick pace of the first film is lost. I remember watching An Affair to remember and wanting to skip some of the long talking scenes that Grant and Kerr had on the boat. They were just so stilted and drawn out. 

So then why is An Affair to Remember more popular?

Why AATR is more popular than LA:

1. Sleepless in Seattle: This film with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks was quite popular. It references An Affair to Remember as its inspiration for meeting on top of the Empire State Building. This introduced a new generation to the 1956 film.

2. Cary Grant: One of the most popular stars ever. People who don't watch classics know the name Cary Grant. 

3. Colour: Today colour is standard. All of our movies are in colour and it is what people are most comfortable with. If the option is between a coloured film vs. a black and white film, most people would choose the coloured. 

4. Public domain: LA is in public domain. Something happened with the copyright. I have no idea what, but this means that no one wants to clean up the film and release it on DVD. However, this does mean that it is on Youtube, and you should all go there right now and watch it. Here is a link even: Love Affair. Go watch!