Love Affair (1939) ****

Released in 1939 (one of the greatest years in film history), Leo McCarey's Love Affair is a beautifully filmed, sentimental Hollywood romance which McCarey himself would remake in 1957 as the equally beautiful and tearjerking An Affair To Remember. I've seen AATR more than once but this was my first time watching LA and the latter may have just eclipsed the former as the version I like better (and that's saying a lot, as Cary Grant is my favorite actor). Irene Dunne—who two years earlier starred in McCarey's The Awful Truth (review)—is wonderful and radiant here, Charles Boyer is debonair and oozes charm, and Rudolph Maté's cinematography is simply gorgeous. The two leads have a delightful, playful chemistry. This Affair is indeed Lovely.

Leo McCarey Feature Films Ranked