This film spawned two sequels, the most famous of which was An Affair To Remember (1957) which starred Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and which, like Love Affair, was directed by Leo McCarey.. This original version stars Charles Boyer as French playboy Michel Marnet, and Irene Dunne as Terry MacKay. They meet on board a cruise ship and fall in love, although both are engaged to other people. Michel and Terry make a pact that they will meet at the Empire State Building in six months, if they both still want to pursue a relationship. However, tragedy strikes on the day they are due to meet.
Given that Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are two of my favourite stars, I didn’t think that this film could match up to it’s better known (thanks to being heavily referenced in 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle) remake. But, while I enjoyed An Affair To Remember a lot, I thought that Love Affair was the better film, and definitely the more moving of the two. The reason for this (to me anyway) was because of the two outstanding performances of Boyer and Dunne – both of them are able to convey so much emotion with just one look or one small gesture. Additionally the chemistry between them is almost palpable, and I felt as though I could actually see them falling in love during the cruise.
The film has its comedic moments, but is far more of a romance – and my goodness, it ticks all the boxes in that area! It had me sobbing at the end, and immediately wanting to watch the whole film again. Truly lovely, and highly recommended.
Year of release: 1939
Director: Leo McCarey
Producer: Leo McCarey
Writers: Leo McCarey, Mildred Cram, Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart, S.N. Behrman
Main cast: Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne, Maria Ouspenskaya
Between the Pages 
I recorded this when it was on TV last week but haven’t had time to watch it yet. An Affair to Remember is one of my all time favourite films, so I’ll be interested to see how the two films compare.