Title: Love Affair
Year: 1939
Director: Leo McCarey
Country: US
Language: English
When one ponders the great films of 1939 (Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) Leo McCary's Love Affair often is overlooked. It is one of the greastest romance films of the studio era that, much like Capra's It Happened One Nigh (1934), combines melodrama with screwball comedy.
In this, a French playboy (Charles Boyer) and an American former nightclub singer (Irene Dunne) fall in love aboard a ship.
Many of Leo McCarey's films are unique because they present romance from the woman's point of view. In Love Affair Irene Dunne plays a character of great sophistication. She is not shamed for her feelings, but rather embraced for them. The strict Production Code at the time had a fit over a woman having such freedom.
Wonderfully written, the dialogue in Love Affair flows smoothly and packs a punch when it needs to. RKO's musicial Roy Webb composes a remarkable score that plucks at your heartstrings. Cinematgrapher Rudolph Mate pulls off very memorable shots, particularly the shot where the two lovers first meet is in excellent display of camerawork.
They don't make films like this anymore! Modern romance movies are often too obnoxious or contrived to really pack a punch. Love Affair (1939) is a sweet, simple picture that I will revisit many times in the future.
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