7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Two people meet on a luxury liner and fall in love, but because they have other lovers waiting for them, they cannot consummate their passion. They vow to find each other again, and if the feelings are mutual, they will be together. But, when a tragedy strikes, it could affect their love.
Starring: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Cathleen NesbittRomance | 100% |
Drama | 60% |
Melodrama | 18% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Valentine’s Day chocolates? Check. Tissue box? Check. Snuggly blanket? Check. Soft-shouldered cuddle partner? Check. Wholesale suspension of disbelief and a general willingness to give oneself over to weepy melodrama? Uh…check. Now you’re ready to watch An Affair to Remember, the 1957 film considered by many to be one of these most romantic movies of all time. Chick-flick fanatics and rom-com connoisseurs will recall this tearjerker and heartstring-tugger for the pivotal role it played in Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle, which was not only directly inspired by An Affair to Remember but also used clips from the film liberally throughout. What’s odd is that An Affair to Remember is itself a nearly scene-for-scene recreation of director Leo McCarey’s own 1939 film Love Affair, substituting Cary Grant for Charles Boyer, Deborah Kerr for Irene Dunn, and Academy ratio black and white for lavish CinemaScope color photography. It may just be a new veneer on an old story, but it’s one of those rare remakes that’s just as successful as the original. Providing, that is, you’re in the mood for a sentimental, this could never happen in real life romance.
Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
Shot on the then relatively new anamorphic widescreen CinemaScope format, An Affair to Remember really does exemplify the classic look of a Hollywood production from the 1950s. The film looks wonderful on Blu-ray, with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's drenched in creamy, lightly exaggerated colors. (Outside of Lucille Ball in Technicolor, you've never seen hair as ginger as Deborah Kerr's here.) Like Fox's other big recent digibook re-release—All About Eve—An Affair to Remember has been carefully restored. The print is in nearly immaculate condition, with few specks and no real debris, and the image is completely natural, with no telltale signs of digital noise reduction or overzealous edge enhancement. There are a few quirks inherent to the way the film was shot and assembled—you'll see brief shifts in color during scene transitions and notice spikes in grain during some shots that appear to be stock footage—but nothing major. I was quite impressed by the picture quality; clarity is usually strong, contrast is perfectly attuned, and you get the sense that each color in the film was thoughtfully considered before being allowed in the frame.
CinemaScope was one of the first formats to implement surround sound—it featured right, left, and center channels, along with a single surround channel—so 20th Century Fox's decision to give the film a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on Blu-ray makes perfect sense. (Although I believe this particular film, as seen in theaters, originally only had a stereo mix.) The rear speakers are mainly used to expand the film's score—which sounds wonderful, audio-wise, if a little schmaltzy in content—but you'll also hear occasional effects, like a foghorn bellowing behind you or an unexpected knock on the door from the left rear channel. All of this is balanced well, and the dialogue throughout is clean and easily discernable. For those that need or want them, English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
An Affair to Remember doesn't feature any new exclusive extras on Blu-ray, but it does come with a fine array of recycled supplements, including a commentary track and several featurettes. The disc comes housed in a sleek 25-page digibook with a plot summary, cast/crew bios, and plenty of stills.
Despite a plot that makes far too many implausible twists, An Affair to Remember is a grand Hollywood romance that every chick-flick fan should see at least once. Not only does it feature the always-charming Cary Grant—a picture of whose face, I believe, illustrates the dictionary definition of "debonair"—but it also concludes with the kind of tearful happy ending that necessitates the presence of a handkerchief, a hand to squeeze, and a shoulder on which to cry. In short, it's the perfect Valentine's Day sob-a-thon. Recommended for capital-R-Romantics of all ages.
1961
1953
1939
1953
Warner Archive Collection
1932
1942
Movie Only Edition
2011
30th Anniversary Edition
1989
1932
1939
1932
1982
Warner Archive Collection
1936
1987
25th Anniversary Edition
1993
1963
Director's Cut | Special Edition
2006
10th Anniversary Edition
2006
Warner Archive Collection
1966
Fox Studio Classics
1947