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An Affair to Remember (1957)
In director Leo McCarey's romantic tearjerker melodramatic
tale of star-crossed lovers, a CinemaScopic remake of McCarey's original
shipboard romance classic Love Affair (1939), starring Irene
Dunne and Charles Boyer - and referenced in director Nora Ephron's Sleepless
in Seattle (1993) and in Love Affair (1994) with Warren
Beatty and Annette Bening:
- the scene at the end of an ocean cruise before their
ship Constitution docked in New York when wealthy playboyish
bachelor Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and former singer Terry McKay
(Deborah Kerr) decided to reunite six months later (on July 1st
at 5:00 pm) at the top (102nd floor) of the Empire State Building,
as Terry added: "Oh yes, that's perfect. It's the nearest
thing to heaven we have in New York"
- the scene six months later when Nickie waited at
their rendezvous point (a clock chimed 5 times), but Terry didn't
appear (she was injured in an awful car accident (off-screen) on
a busy NYC street on her way rushing to meet him) and there were
ambulances heard blaring at 10 minutes after five
- and then in the conclusion of this romantic, tearjerker
tale of star-crossed lovers, the startling revelation scene six months
later on Christmas Day - regarding the devastating, terrible secret
of why she couldn't keep her fateful appointment with him atop the
Empire State Building - he visited her in her apartment as she remained
unmoving and supine on a couch; he delivered an accusatory and scolding
conversation with her
- he gave her a Christmas present of a shawl from his
now-deceased Grandmother Janou (Cathleen Nesbitt) - which she used
to cover her shoulders; as he was leaving after they diplomatically
shook hands, he casually mentioned that he had once painted a picture
similar to the way she looked: "You know, I painted you like
that with the shawl. I wish you could have seen it...I didn't think
I could ever part with it. But well, there was no reason to keep
it any longer, and, uh, I couldn't take money for it, because, well,
you know.."; he had agreed to have the painting given away free
to a woman in a wheelchair who liked it - "She was..." -
and then suddenly, he paused and went into the adjoining bedroom
- his ultimate discovery in Terry's bedroom that she
had acquired his painting (visible when the camera slowly panned
right to show the painting's mirror reflection in the room) - she
was the recipient of his painting! and had kept her accident a secret
Discovery of Terry's Identity
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- after returning to the living room, he stared disbelieving
at Terry, who requested: "Darling, don't look at me like that";
he had made the ultimate discovery by inferring the devastating,
terrible secret of how fate had intervened on the day they were
to meet - he asked: "Why didn't you tell me? If it had to
happen to one of us, why did it have to be you?"; with a tearful
hug, she explained: "It was nobody's fault but my own. I-I
was looking up. It was the nearest thing to heaven. You
were there. Oh, darling, don't, don't worry, darling. If you can
paint, I can walk. Anything can happen. Don't you think?";
he wiped away her tears and replied: "Yes, darling, yes. Yes,
yes, yes"; they kissed; a chorus sang atop a snowy view of
New York City: "Our Love Affair To Remember"
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Plan to Meet Six Months Later
Tragic Accident
Meeting With Terry on Christmas Day
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