Love Affair (1994 film)

Last updated
Love Affair
Loveaffairposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Glenn Gordon Caron [1]
Screenplay by Robert Towne
Warren Beatty
Story by Mildred Cram
Leo McCarey
Based on Love Affair
1939 film
by Delmer Daves
Donald Ogden Stewart
Produced byWarren Beatty
Starring
Cinematography Conrad L. Hall
Edited by Robert C. Jones
Music by Ennio Morricone
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • October 21, 1994 (1994-10-21)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million [2]
Box office$18,272,894 [2]

Love Affair is a 1994 American romantic drama film and a remake of the 1939 film of the same name. It was directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and produced by Warren Beatty from a screenplay by Robert Towne and Beatty, based on the 1939 screenplay by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the story by Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey. The music score was by Ennio Morricone and the cinematography by Conrad L. Hall. [3] [4]

Contents

The film stars Beatty, Annette Bening and Katharine Hepburn in her final film role, with Garry Shandling, Chloe Webb, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Capshaw, Paul Mazursky and Brenda Vaccaro. [4]

Plot

On a flight to Sydney, sports announcer and former football star Mike Gambril meets singer Terry McKay, each of them engaged. Their plane malfunctions and is forced to make an emergency descent, during which Mike and Terry comfort each other. The plane manages an emergency landing on a remote atoll, and the passengers wait to be rescued by nearby ships.

As Mike gets himself accustomed to the boat he selected, a Russian cruise boat, Terry arrives aboard as well as her ship was being redirected elsewhere. As the passengers get more and more drunk with the Russian crew, Mike and Terry almost have an encounter but it is curtailed by party revelers. She reconsiders and runs to her room.

The next day, with a hangover, Terry says she doesn't want to make a "mess" of her life with an affair and tries to push Mike off the topic. Instead, Mike invites Terry to visit his elderly aunt, Ginny on the isle of Moorea during a routine stopover. During the visit, Terry sees a different side of Mike as they have lunch with his aunt and play music together. The romantic setting kindles their romance and, instead of taking a more convenient jet back to their respective destinations, they continue their romance on the boat for a few more days.

Finally, on the way home on the return flight to New York, they agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in three months' time to test their convictions and current relationships. Terry breaks up with her fiancé Ken Allen, as does Mike with his, Lynn Weaver.

Terry finds work as a singer, mostly in advertisements. Mike, to the chagrin of his agent, is having an existential crisis about his TV career and ruminates about returning to his hobby painting. He quits his job in TV and works as the head coach at a small college. One of his primary pieces is a portrait of Terry in prayer from their idyllic day on the island, wearing his aunt's hand-made shawl.

Months later, on the way to the rendezvous, Terry is struck down by a car while crossing a street jaywalking. Gravely injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Mike, waiting for her at the observation deck at the top of the building, is unaware of the accident. After many hours, in the rain, he finally concedes at midnight that she has rejected him.

Now unable to walk as a paraplegic, Terry refuses to contact Mike and let him see her in her paralyzed condition. Instead, she finds a job as a music teacher in a small elementary school. Six months after the accident, she sees Mike with his former fiancée at a holiday concert featuring Ray Charles, which Terry is attending with her former boyfriend. Mike does not notice her condition because she is seated. Each can only manage a terse hello, with Mike looking irritated.

Christmas Eve arrives and Mike makes a surprise visit, claiming to have come across her address while looking up another name in a telephone directory. Although he steers the conversation to make her explain her actions, Terry merely dodges the subject, never leaving the couch on which she rests. Mike mentions his aunt, now deceased, had left the shawl for her in her will. His aunt had taken a liking to Terry and secretly hoped the two would marry and straighten out Mike's life. Mike mentions, that he "made a painting of you with that shawl." Mike had left it in disgust at the hotel previously and the hotel manager had the restaurant display it.

About to leave her life for good, Mike remarks that the painting was given to a woman recently who very much admired it. He is about to point out that the woman was in a wheelchair when he suddenly pauses, realizing that Terry isn't moving in her couch and making no effort to get up to say goodbye. Mike walks into Terry's bedroom, opens the door and sees his painting hanging on the wall. He now knows why she did not keep their appointment.

Cast

Background and production

The film is a remake of the 1939 film Love Affair with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne and of the 1957 film An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, both directed by Leo McCarey. The name of Terry McKay's character remained the same in all three films, while a different one was chosen for each of the three leading men.

Love Affair was Hepburn's first big-screen appearance in nearly 10 years [5] (although she had made several TV movies in this time) and marked her last appearance in cinema. It includes the only time that she ever said the word "fuck" on-screen. Beatty personally lobbied 86-year-old Hepburn to appear in the film. He rented a house for her in Los Angeles and had her referred to a special dermatologist, but she did not give a definitive answer until the day of filming. Luise Rainer was also considered for the role. [6]

Filming took place in New York City, Los Angeles and on the islands of Tahiti and Moorea in French Polynesia.

Reception

The remake was neither a critical nor a commercial success at the box office. It grossed $18 million domestically over a budget of $60 million [2] and holds a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 29 reviews. [7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F. [8] The film was nominated for one Razzie Award, Worst Remake or Sequel. [9]

Year-end lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katharine Hepburn</span> American actress (1907–2003)

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.

<i>Love Affair</i> (1939 film) 1939 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey

Love Affair is a 1939 American romance film, co-starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne, and featuring Maria Ouspenskaya. It was directed by Leo McCarey and written by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart, based on a story by McCarey and Mildred Cram. Controversial on concept, the official screenplay was re-tooled and rewritten to appease Hollywood censorship and relied on actor input and improvisation, causing long delays and budget extensions.

<i>The Philadelphia Story</i> (film) 1940 American film

The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 American romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey. Directed by George Cukor, the film is based on the 1939 Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. The socialite, played by Hepburn in both productions, was inspired by Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904–1995), a Philadelphia heiress who had married Barry's friend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Beatty</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1937)

Henry Warren Beatty is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1999, the BAFTA Fellowship in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008.

<i>High Society</i> (1956 film) 1956 American musical comedy film directed by Charles Walters

High Society is a 1956 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Charles Walters and starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. The film was produced by Sol C. Siegel for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and shot in VistaVision and Technicolor, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

<i>Ishtar</i> (film) 1987 film by Elaine May

Ishtar is a 1987 American adventure-comedy film written and directed by Elaine May, and produced by Warren Beatty, who co-stars opposite Dustin Hoffman. The story revolves around a duo of talentless American songwriters who travel to a booking in Morocco and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Capshaw</span> American actress

Kathleen Sue Spielberg, known professionally as Kate Capshaw, is an American former actress and painter. She is best known for her portrayal of Willie Scott, an American nightclub singer and performer in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), directed by her eventual husband Steven Spielberg. Since then, she starred in Dreamscape (1984), Power (1986), SpaceCamp (1986), Black Rain (1989), Love Affair (1994), Just Cause (1995), The Locusts (1997), and The Love Letter (1999). Her portraiture work has been shown in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Shandling</span> American comedian (1949–2016)

Garry Emmanuel Shandling was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer.

<i>Little Women</i> (1994 film) 1994 film by Gillian Armstrong

Little Women is a 1994 American coming-of-age historical drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong. The screenplay by Robin Swicord is based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same title, the fifth feature film adaptation of the classic story. After a limited release on December 25, 1994, it was released nationwide four days later by Columbia Pictures.

<i>Of Human Bondage</i> 1915 novel by William Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had originally planned to call his novel Beauty from Ashes, finally settled on a title taken from a section of Spinoza's Ethics. The Modern Library ranked Of Human Bondage No. 66 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

<i>An Affair to Remember</i> 1957 film by Leo McCarey

An Affair to Remember is a 1957 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is considered among the most romantic films of all time according to the American Film Institute. The film was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence Young (director)</span> British film director and screenwriter (1915–1994)

Stewart Terence Herbert Young was a British film director and screenwriter who worked in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hollywood. He is best known for directing three James Bond films: the first two films in the series, Dr. No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965). His other films include the Audrey Hepburn thrillers Wait Until Dark (1967) and Bloodline (1979), the historical drama Mayerling (1968), the infamous Korean War epic Inchon (1981), and the Charles Bronson films Cold Sweat (1970), Red Sun (1971), and The Valachi Papers (1972).

<i>Sabrina</i> (1995 film) 1995 American romantic comedy by Sydney Pollack

Sabrina is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Pollack from a screenplay by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel. It is a remake of Billy Wilder's 1954 film of the same name, which in turn was based upon the 1953 play Sabrina Fair.

<i>How to Make an American Quilt</i> 1995 film by Jocelyn Moorhouse

How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 American drama film based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Whitney Otto. Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, the film features Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan and Alfre Woodard. It is notable as being Jared Leto's film debut. Amblin Entertainment optioned Otto's novel in 1991, and were able to persuade Steven Spielberg to finance the screenplay's development. How to Make an American Quilt received mixed reviews from critics. It was a box-office success, grossing $41 million against a $10 million budget. The film was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

<i>The Iron Petticoat</i> 1956 film by Ralph Thomas

The Iron Petticoat is a 1956 British Cold War comedy film starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn, and directed by Ralph Thomas. The screenplay by Ben Hecht became the focus of a contentious history behind the production, and led to the film's eventual suppression by Hope. Hecht had been part of the screenwriting team on the similarly themed Comrade X (1940).

<i>Little Women</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Mervyn LeRoy

Little Women is a 1949 American comedy-drama film with script and music taken directly from the earlier 1933 Hepburn version. Based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same name, it was filmed in Technicolor and was produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay was written by Sally Benson, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch and Max Steiner. The film also marked the American film debut of Italian actor Rossano Brazzi. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, whose acting career had spanned four decades, died in 1948; Little Women was his final film.

<i>Town & Country</i> (film) 2001 film by Peter Chelsom

Town & Country is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Chelsom, written by Buck Henry and Michael Laughlin, and starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling, Andie MacDowell, Jenna Elfman, Nastassja Kinski, Charlton Heston, and Josh Hartnett. Beatty plays an architect, with Keaton as his wife, and Hawn and Shandling as their best friends. It was Beatty's and Keaton's first film together since 1981's Reds, and Beatty's third film with Hawn, after 1971's $ and 1975's Shampoo.

<i>Mixed Nuts</i> 1994 American film

Mixed Nuts is a 1994 American Christmas dark comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, based on the 1982 French comedy film Le Père Noël est une ordure . Co-written by Ephron and her sister Delia, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Rob Reiner, Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, and Liev Schreiber in his film debut.

<i>Mother Careys Chickens</i> (film) 1938 film by Rowland V. Lee

Mother Carey's Chickens is a 1938 American drama film starring Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler. The film was directed by Rowland V. Lee and based upon a 1917 play by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Rachel Crothers, which in turn was adapted from Wiggins' Mother Carey's Chickens.

<i>Travels with My Aunt</i> (film) 1972 film based on the 1969 novel

Travels with My Aunt is a 1972 American comedy film directed by George Cukor, written by Jay Presson Allen and Hugh Wheeler, and starring Maggie Smith. The film is loosely based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene. The film's plot retains the book's central theme of the adventurous, amoral aunt and her respectable middle class nephew drawn in to share her life, and also features her various past and present lovers who were introduced in the book, while providing this cast of characters with different adventures to the ones thought up by Greene, in different locales. It was released on December 17, 1972.

References

  1. ↑ "Whose Labor of Love Is 'Love Affair'? : Movies: Glenn Gordon Caron is the director, but Warren Beatty got the final cut. Hollywood gossips are asking who really did the directing". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  2. 1 2 3 "Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  3. ↑ "Love Affair 1939". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Love Affair 1994". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ See Hepburn's filmography.
  6. ↑ "IMDb trivia". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  7. ↑ Love Affair (1994) , retrieved 2022-06-07
  8. ↑ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  9. ↑ "IMDb awards". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  10. ↑ Travers, Peter (December 29, 1994). "The Best and Worst Movies of 1994". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ Maslin, Janet (December 27, 1994). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  12. ↑ Ross, Bob (December 30, 1994). "Versed in the worst". The Tampa Tribune (Final ed.). p. 18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.