Love Affair

Love Affair

Directed by Leo McCarey • 1939 • United States
Starring Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya

Golden-age Hollywood’s humanist master Leo McCarey brings his graceful touch and relaxed naturalism to this sublime romance, one of cinema’s most intoxicating tear-wringers. Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer are chic strangers who meet and fall in love aboard an ocean liner bound for New York. Though they are both involved with other people, they make a pact to reconnect six months later at the top of the Empire State Building—until the hand of fate throws their star-crossed affair tragically off course. Swooning passion and gentle comedy coexist in perfect harmony in the exquisitely tender LOVE AFFAIR (nominated for six Oscars), a story so timeless that it has been remade by multiple filmmakers over the years—including McCarey himself, who updated it as the no less beloved AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER.

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Love Affair
  • Love Affair

    Directed by Leo McCarey • 1939 • United States
    Starring Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya

    Golden-age Hollywood’s humanist master Leo McCarey brings his graceful touch and relaxed naturalism to this sublime romance, one of cinema’s most intoxicating tear-wringers. Irene Dunne and Char...

Extras

  • Farran Smith Nehme on LOVE AFFAIR

    Best known today for DUCK SOUP (1933) and THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937), Leo McCarey made LOVE AFFAIR (1939) at the height of his career, and it received rave reviews and was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. In the following interview, recorded in October 2021, critic Farran Smith Nehme...

  • About the Restoration

    In the following 2021 interview, Serge Bromberg, producer, film preservationist, and founder of Lobster Films, discusses the restoration of LOVE AFFAIR and explains why the film was long available only in poor quality.

  • Looking for Sally

    Directed by Leo McCarey • 1925 • United States
    Starring Charley Chase, Katherine Grant, Noah Young

    The following short film, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charley Chase, was made for Hal Roach Studios, where McCarey got his start in the industry.

  • Mighty Like a Moose

    Directed by Leo McCarey • 1926 • United States
    Starring Charley Chase, Vivien Oakland, Ann Howe

    The following short film, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charley Chase, was made for Hal Roach Studios, where McCarey got his start in the industry.

  • LOVE AFFAIR Radio Adaptation, 1940

    A huge success on its release in theaters, LOVE AFFAIR was a natural choice for adaptation on the popular program “Lux Radio Theatre,” produced by Cecil B. DeMille. This version, starring Irene Dunne and William Powell, aired April 1, 1940.

  • LOVE AFFAIR Radio Adaptation, 1942

    A huge success on its release in theaters, LOVE AFFAIR was a natural choice for adaptation on the popular program “Lux Radio Theatre,” produced by Cecil B. DeMille. This version, with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer reprising their screen roles, aired July 6, 1942.