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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Leo McCarey's remake of his
own "Love Affair" is a masterful update of a
pre-war classic for the post war generation. Yet,
regardless of whether you see the original or its
remake, "An Affair to Remember," the net result is
ultimately slated to turn out the same -- bring
Kleenex! Cary Grant stars as Nicky Ferranti, a big
time "dame" hunter who is set to marry an heiress
when he falls, but hard, for Terry McKay (Deborah
Kerr), the park avenue plaything of a wealthy New
York financier, Kenneth Bradley (Richard
Dennings). As in the original, McKay and Ferranti
discover that their love may not be enough to keep
their dreams alive, particularly after one of them
suffers a tragic accident that alters the course
for both their futures.
This is a sort of grand amour canvas on which such
broad, yet stirring strokes have been painted,
that one cannot help but become emotionally
involved.
Unfortunately for McCarey, his remake suffers from
several unwarranted and unwanted musical numbers
during the latter half of the film. Deborah Kerr
(dubbed by Marni Nixon) performs the trite,
"Tomorrow-Land" and later oversees the "Little
Scout" ensemble, featuring a gaggle of coy school
children thrust upon the first time viewer with
disjointed predictability. Truthfully, the plot of
this weepy now seems heavily dated. Though there
are some inspired romantic touches, McCarey's
melodrama does tend to delve into the critical
yawn-and-stretch category of sleepers during its
middle section.
"An Affair to Remember" was something of a
forgotten classic until it became part of a
subplot in the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romantic comedy,
"Sleepless in Seattle." Upon that film's
theatrical release and success, Fox began
receiving oodles of mail requesting that "An
Affair To Remember" be released to home video.
Unlike many other studios that began marketing
their classic movies to television networks as
late night filler in the 1950s, Fox resisted the
opportunity to exploit their catalog titles. The
result was that, for the most part, Fox films
remained something of an enigma on television and
the home video market. Infrequently shown in any
venue, the overwhelming number of requests into
the availability of "An Affair to Remember"
prompted Fox to reconsider its stance on all its
classic movies. Shortly thereafter Fox films began
receiving their belated due on home video. With
the advent of DVD, audiences are once again privy
to the sheer magnitude and beauty of some of Fox's
best-loved classics.
When Fox Home Video first issued this movie on DVD
it was widescreen but not enhanced for 16X9
televisions. There was a considerable amount of
film and digital grit and colors, though dated
throughout, seemed excessively garish. There was
also some slight edge enhancement and aliasing
detected. I am happy to report that most of these
anomalies have been corrected, providing a much
smoother looking, color consistent transfer that
is a marked improvement over the previous DVD.
While fine film grain, dirt and scratches in the
original print are still present, they are not
obtrusive. The soundtrack on both discs is
virtually identical. At times, it has a nice
spread. However, all Cinemascope movies were
recorded in six tracks of stereophonic sound. The
DVD is Dolby Surround rather than 5.1, a curiosity
that could have easily been corrected using the
original stem soundtrack elements.
Extras include an all-too short documentary on the
making of this movie that spends much of its time
dishing dirt on Cary Grant (apparently Grant was
using LSD medicinally to recover from his dismay
over an affair gone dry with Sophia Loren).
Honestly, did I really need another tell-all
debasement of an American icon? Also included are
some stills and a theatrical trailer. Overall, the
extras are disappointing but hey, at roughly
twenty dollars a pop -- depending on where you buy
this movie -- I suppose the customer gets what he
or she has paid for. |
