AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER: Blu-ray (2oth Century-Fox, 1957) Fox Home Video

Is there anything more timeless or alluring than the prospect of a handsome man and beautiful woman, bittersweet to unearth and sustain their grand amour, despite extenuating circumstances and the knell of looming tragedy. Some 60+ years later, it’s still An Affair to Remember (1957), director, Leo McCarey’s sublime Cinemascope remake of his own pre-war weepy, Love Affair (1939). As Love Affair in 1939, Hollywood’s penultimate golden epoch, was regarded as an enduring masterpiece of celluloid romance, An Affair to Remember has since gone on to eclipse its predecessor in both reputation and staying power; in no small way, thanks to the inspirational teaming of the perennially suave lady’s man, Cary Grant and exquisite English rose, Deborah Kerr as our star-crossed lovers. That Grant and Kerr are thespians of a certain maturity, both in their craft and years on the planet (Grant was 53 in 1957, yet as fit and debonair as ever; Kerr, his junior, at just 36) helps An Affair to Remember retain its changeless charm. Teenage angst gets boring (as they have soooo much yet to learn about life) but the foibles and follies of adults never grows old. Still, with all the mileage each star had – in life, as well as their respective careers – the ballast of McCarey’s bittersweet badinage gains renewed stature, and this has continued to satisfy and anchor our affections for the seasoned lovers through time; Grant’s Nicky Ferranti and Kerr’s Terry McKay, still regal, relatable and real.

An Affair to Remember’s resurgence in the public spotlight, and indeed, 2oth Century-Fox’s rehabilitated concentration to preserve its own vibrant studio heritage, began with ‘Affair’s brief glimpse in Sleepless in Seattle (1993); screenwriter, Nora Ephron making the scene where Grant’s embittered playboy discovers his one-time paramour missed their rendezvous at the top of the Empire State Building – not out of spite or even forgetfulness – rather, because she suffered an accident that left her paralyzed and proud – a pivotal plot point of that 1993 romantic potboiler. While oldsters were likely to recall An Affair to Remember without any help from Ephron, her emphasis on its importance was to introduce a whole new generation to the classic who, otherwise, had never seen it before, and, owing to an oversight from 2oth Century-Fox, still could not experience it for themselves firsthand. We must pause herein and ‘rewind’ for a moment; returning to the antiquated era of VHS tapes, and recall that ‘old movies’ – apart from a handful of blockbusters that had never entirely gone away (thanks, in part, to theatrical reissues and late-night television’s yen for their yearly proliferation) – were still perceived by their rights holders as having limited appeal. And Fox was more egregious in this disregard for movies as art; remiss even, in bringing forth their own back catalog to tape. Their reluctance was two-fold: first, due to the aforementioned assumption there were no real profits to be derived from nostalgia, but more importantly, because of an idiotic executive decision made in the late 1970’s, effectively to have purged their vaults of virtually all original camera negatives and extemporaneous archival materials, rumored to have been loaded onto a barge and unceremoniously dumped off the California shore, simply to free up badly needed real estate on their back lot. How grotesquely gauche and myopic can a studio get?!? For any collector/film lover, it positively turns the stomach.

So, when Fox Home Video suddenly became inundated with letters from fans and curiosity seekers alike, requesting An Affair to Remember on VHS, the executive powers then ensconced in these front offices were utterly baffled. For here was a movie that had not been seen anywhere since 1957. Did it really have ‘the legs’ to stand on its own some 30 years later? Apparently so, as Fox’s priced to own, slap-shod ‘pan and scan’ VHS tape outsold nearly every other release of that year and became one of their most profitable home video releases of all time. In the interim, An Affair to Remember has made its mark on LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray, with inevitable upgrades to its video master, always to the same effect; an unerring affection from audiences for its lithe and lyrical love story. In retrospect, it is so easy to see why the picture has endured. An Affair to Remember is lush and lovely; the sight of the elegant Grant and devastatingly genuine Kerr locked in chaste embrace; Milton Krasner’s splendid use of the spacious Cinemascope compositions, and, eloquent direction by McCarey, at the pinnacle of his powers, coalesce to set a magical tone for this supposedly Manhattan-based adventure of the heart. Aside: apart from a second-unit few stock shots, most of An Affair to Remember was photographed on sound stages at Fox. Nevertheless, the picture gets deeply imbedded in our hearts and minds, almost from the moment the iconic Fox/‘scope’ logo appears with Alfred Newman’s thunderous fanfare, melting into an aerial view of New York’s snowy Central Park, and, Vic Damone crooning, with appropriate vocal throb, Harry Warren/Harold Adamson’s sentimentally satisfying ‘Our Love Affair’ over the purple script main titles.

What follows is a lush, if slightly ludicrous mélange of nearly every romantic cliché the movies have ever given us; the virtues in Delmar Daves and McCarey’s update, far outweighing its misfires – including several needlessly inserted musical numbers, lip-sync by Kerr to Marni Nixon’s vocals. McCarey keeps the basic structure of Love Affair, augmenting only the essentials with updated jibes made at the ‘then’ still relatively new-fangled infatuation audiences had with television. Even cultural mandarin, Robert Q. Lewis gets into the act (playing himself), as a rather ineffectual announcer, caught unawares by the sudden live broadcast where playboy extraordinaire, Nicky Ferranti (Grant) is supposed to announce his engagement to rock and gravel heiress, Lois Clark (Neva Patterson). But before any of this, we find ourselves on a luxury liner sailing off the warm coastal waters of France, an eager page (Anthony Mazzolo) wandering the decks with a telegram for Ferranti. Owing to his congenial and shy nature, Ferranti’s reputation as a lady killer has preceded him, and he quickly finds a small bevy of adoring fans eager to catch a glimpse. Retiring to a private office to take his ship to shore phone call, Ferranti discovers ex-paramour, the fiery Gabriella (Geneviève Aumont) on the other end, superficially threatening harm after having just learned he is engaged to Lois.  In short order, we also meet the stylish and up-front, Terry McKay (Kerr). Finding Ferranti’s gold cigarette lighter, a gift from Gabriella, and, having read its ‘frightfully embarrassing’ inscription, McKay plies her glib good humor to the situation at hand.

She playfully chides Ferranti’s prowess with the ladies – known as the ‘big dame hunter’. He enjoys this refreshing exchange and pursues her for several days invitation to dinner under the watchful eye of fellow passenger, Ned Hathaway (Charles Watts). Reluctance gives way, and Terry and Nicky become a shipboard item. Fearing repercussions, as Terry is also promised to stock broker, Kenneth Bradley (Richard Denning), she elects, first, to break off their public rendezvous for dinner, then, to hide in her cabin for the rest of their Atlantic crossing to avoid further insinuations from fellow passengers. To prove his intentions towards her are strictly honorable and platonic, Ferranti invites Terry to meet his grandmother, Janou (Cathleen Nesbitt) when their ship pulls into the French Riviera. Reluctantly, Terry agrees and is startled to learn Ferranti is telling the truth. Janou resides on a picturesque hilltop estate, surrounded by memories of her late husband. Overjoyed to see Nicky – likely for the last time - Janou mistakenly assumes Terry is his betrothed.  This miscommunication is quickly resolved, but not before it plants the seeds of doubt in both Terry and Nicky – that each is presently involved with the wrong person. Returning to the ship, the couple reconcile their mutual affection and agree to break off their engagements once they have pulled into New York harbor. Terry is more reluctant to do so, until she and Kenneth observe the television broadcast where Ferranti delicately humiliates Lois by publicly postponing their nuptials for six months. Kenneth realizes Terry met Ferranti and worse, that she has fallen hopeless in love with him. Ever the devoted type, Kenneth bows out of their relationship, but remains Terry’s good friend besides.  

As the time draws nearer for their originally agreed upon reunion atop the Empire State Building, Ferranti manages to become self-sustaining on his virtues as a painter; his work, embraced by Courbet (Fortunio Bonanova) a Manhattan gallery owner. Courbet guides Ferranti to paint from the heart, resulting in a haunting portrait of Janou in her favorite lace shawl. Janou has since passed away. In tandem, Terry has moved out of Kenneth’s penthouse – a kept woman no more, and becoming a popular nightclub chanteuse. On the day of their reunion, Terry pays a call to her favorite dress shop, inadvertently running into Kenneth again. While Ken professes that he will always love her from afar, she cannot contain her giddy excitement to be reunited with Ferranti atop the city’s famed landmark. Fate, alas, has other devastatingly tragic plans. Not looking where she is going, Terry steps from the curb into oncoming traffic and is struck down by a passing car. Meanwhile, high atop, in the Empire State’s observatory, Ferranti awaits his lover’s arrival, unaware anything is wrong. Hours pass. As the last call for the elevator from the observation deck is announced, Ferranti is forced to admit Terry is not coming. Only, now, he bitterly assumes he has been played for the fool. Disillusioned and heart-sore, Ferranti retreats into his work as a burgeoning artist. Meanwhile, Terry, recovered in hospital, but paralyzed from the waist down, endeavors to begin anew as a music instructor for young children.

Time again passes. But the memory of their love affair has not cooled, at least, not for Ferranti, who inadvertently is reunited with Terry at the ballet and wounded to see her seated next to Kenneth, still unaware of the circumstances that prevented their earlier reunion. Unable to forgive himself a final confrontation, just to set the record straight once and for all, Ferranti traces Terry in the Manhattan directory and finds her living in a modest little apartment on a snowy Christmas eve, seated by the fire. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Ferranti presents Terry with Janou’s favorite shawl. Realizes now the reason why all her letters to France were returned unopened, Terry refuses to tell Ferranti the real reason for her missing their engagement. To test her fidelity, he lies to her about never having gone to the Empire State. There’s was not an affair to remember, so it seems; just a figment of fun – diverting and disposable. However, as Terry wraps herself in Janou’s lace, Ferranti cannot help but notice the uncanny likeness she bears to the portrait he painted of his grandmother.  Remembering that Courbet once told him how his painting had been greatly admired by a wheelchair-bound young woman of little means whom he instructed to simply give the painting to out of pity, Ferranti pieces together that the woman at the gallery and Terry are one in the same. Barging into her adjacent bedroom, Ferranti finds Janou’s portrait hanging on the wall and realizes what a fool he has been. Terry has always loved him and loves him still; too proud to saddle him with the responsibility of looking after an invalid.  “If it had to happen to one of us…why did it have to be you?” Ferranti admits, kneeling at her side for their tearful embrace. “If you can paint…I can walk,” Terry optimistically professes. We retreat to Central Park and a brief choral reprise of the movie’s romantic ballad.  

Despite changing times and tastes, it is virtually impossible to watch An Affair to Remember with dry eyes. If the screenplay suffers from too much schmaltz at the beginning and more than a few too many musical interludes along the way, these shortcomings are instantly eradicated in these final moments of our story, fraught with an emotional poignancy rarely achieved on the screen, thanks to Grant and Kerr’s unwavering sincerity. One can easily forgive McCarey his intermittent need to dabble in movie-land clichés, implausible situations, and a tinge of screwball elsewhere, because this penultimate scene leaves nothing less than the proverbial lump in one’s throat.  By the late 1950s, Fox’s patented Cinemascope had revolutionized the movie-going experience. Although the era of widescreen was momentarily successful at staving off the steady decline in theater attendance, as the post-war generation moved to the suburbs and stayed home to watch television for free instead, it also forced film makers to sensationalize stories that, otherwise, were more ideally suited for an intimate presentation. On the surface, McCarey’s Love Affair seems like the perfect example; a modest tale of two people hopelessly committed to one another despite past indiscretions. So, it is saying much of McCarey’s prowess as a director, that the expansive shortcomings of vintage Cinemascope never throw off kilter the intimacy of this love story, stretched to epic proportions. In years to follow, McCarey was circumspect about the reasons An Affair to Remember worked so well. “The first film,” he once told an interviewer, “…was made by an amateur - the second by a master craftsman.”

An Affair to Remember has been available on Blu-Ray for quite some time, in competing digibook and clip case editions respectively. I will simply go on record to state that this vintage DeLuxe color release has never looked as good as it ought and this Blu-ray incarnation is no exception. While Blu-ray’s hi-def bit rate has greatly improved upon the overall sharpness and clarity, color fidelity remains questionable. Flesh tones are very orange/brown. Reds are never true and oranges appear muddy. Blues and blacks lean toward a nondescript teal. Contrast is also weaker than anticipated. I would have hoped and prayed for Fox to remaster such a time-honored classic to perfection for its hi-def release. But no, and so we have what we have on Blu-ray currently. Is it awful? Hardly. But is it true to the original theatrical release? I wonder…and the more times I view this disc, I sincerely think not!  Nothing pops. While DeLuxe is not Technicolor, it still had some striking levels of saturation, favoring rich navy’s, yellows and reds. This disc renders all of these colors dull. The DTS 5.1 audio is solid; the score in particular, benefiting from the upgrade. Extras have all been ported over from Fox's DVD: a tribute to Cary Grant, another to Deborah Kerr and a third – and all too brief retrospective on director, Leo McCarey – along with AMC’s episode of Back-story. It spends more time dishing dirt on Cary Grant’s therapeutic usage of LSD, medicinally prescribed to help the actor cope with his own tragic affair with Sophia Loren, than covering the bases of how this movie was made.  Bottom line: An Affair to Remember is an American classic given short shrift on Blu-ray thus far. As this is the only incarnation we have of this perennially heartfelt movie, it comes recommended with caveats. Judge and buy accordingly. Oh, and bring Kleenex to life’s party. You’ll need it!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

4

VIDEO/AUDIO

3

EXTRAS

3