LOVE AFFAIR

US, 1939, 89 minutes, Black and white.
Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman.
Directed by Leo Mc Carey.

Love Affair is considered a classic '30s romance. It has the familiar ingredients, but is presented with lightness and wit. The success of the film comes from Irene Dunne in the starring role, her screen presence, skills as a comedienne as well as with sentiment and feeling. She also sings. The film also relies on the charm of Charles Boyer, who had made such an impact in Hollywood in the late '30s.

The film has the popular ingredients of the shipboard romance, the island stopover in Madeira where Boyer visits his grandmother, Maria Ouspenskaya. The couple are to meet in six months' time at the top of the Empire State Building. Boyer is there, Dunne has an accident on the way and loses her legs. They encounter one another - and the audience waits for Boyer to learn the truth. While there are comic and light touches, the ending is tearjerking. The film was directed by Leo Mc Carey, veteran of a wide range of comedies and dramas with sentiment in the '30s, from Duck Soup to The Awful Truth. He won his Oscar for Going My Way. In the mid-'50s he remade Love Affair in Cinemascope and colour as An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr and a song by Johnny Mathis.

Warren Beatty remade the film with its original title in the 90s. He starred with his wife Annette Bening. Katherine Hepburn made a cameo appearance.

1.Popular romantic classic of the '30s? A film of its time? Perennial qualities?

2.Small budget, black and white photography, studio sets? The boat, Madeira and the mansion, New York City? The musical score, the songs - and the song of love?

3.The title, its plainness and focus? Audience expectations?

4.Terri, her vivacity, on board ship, the first encounter with Michel? Her standing on her own feet in the relationship, their talking, meals, drinks, dancing? The shipboard romance? Mutual appreciation? Her background, singer, friendship with Ken, buying in Europe? The farewell - and the plan to meet in six months? Her reasons? Renewed friendship with Ken, going to Philadelphia, singing? Back to New York, going to the shop? On her way to be married - and her not turning up? Hospital, her refusal to let Michel know? Her work with the orphans, teaching them to sing? The chance encounter with Michel at the concert? The tension? His coming to her apartment, her not getting up, their roundabout talk, the fact that she did not go to the Empire State? His future, leaving, her grief? His talk about the painting, realising that it was she who got the painting, the reconciliation? Hope for a future? The importance of the visit to Madeira, meeting Michel's grandmother, the peace of the mansion, getting to know them both, the chapel, his art, the gift of the shawl? An attractive heroine?

5.Michel, the newspapers and his reputation, his engagement? On board ship, the autograph-seeking girls, the chance encounter with Terri? The growing bond between the two, his being himself, in her cabin, meals, dancing? Life story? The visit to his grandmother, his family background, love for his grandmother, the chapel, the song, the scarf? Farewell to her? New York, the encounter with his fiancee? His getting a job, painting signs? His own paintings and his dealer? The painting of Terri? Empire State Building, her not turning up, the rain? His disillusionment, going to Madeira, his grandmother's death? The scarf? Return to New York, the concert, his fiancee? Coming to Terri's apartment, his gallantry, his disappointment? Love for her, the gift of the scarf? The painting and his realisation of the truth? A future?

6.The grandmother, on Madeira, her welcome to Terri, the song, the bond between them, the gift of the scarf? Her support of Michel?

7.Lois, the relationship with Michel, society woman? The theatre outing? Ken, his love for Terri, letting her go, supporting her in the accident, the evening at the theatre?

8.Popular ingredients of the love story, American style?