Restless love
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Restless love |
| Original title | Love affair |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Leo McCarey |
| script | Leo McCarey, Delmer Daves , Donald Ogden Stewart |
| production | Leo McCarey for RKO |
| music | Roy Webb |
| camera | Rudolph Maté |
| cut |
Edward Dmytryk , George Hively |
| occupation | |
| |
Restless Love (OT: Love Affair ) is an American melodrama from 1939 with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer directed by Leo McCarey . The film was remade by McCarey in 1957 with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr under the title The Great Love of My Life .
action
The famous French artist Michel Marnet is about to marry the American heiress Lois Clarke. On a boat trip to the United States, he meets Terry McKay, a nightclub singer. Although Terry is also engaged, Michel and Terry fall in love. During a stopover in Madeira, where Michel's grandmother lives, they confess their feelings to each other. Shortly before arriving in New York, the two make a pact to be clear about the sincerity of their love: Both do not want to see each other for six months and only want to if the mutual feelings should still be strong after the time is up they meet on the roof of the Empire State Building.
In the interim, Terry moves to Philadelphia and makes a career as a singer, while Michel paints with success. Both dream of the day of reunion, but when the time finally comes, Terry is run over by a car. She survived, but the injuries render her an invalid. Fearing that Michel would rather arouse pity than real feelings, Terry withdraws completely. Michel, who is waiting in vain for Terry on the roof, is deeply disappointed. In the end, the two lovers still find each other.
background
Irene Dunne had risen to become a popular Hollywood star since the mid-1930s, enjoying success in tearful melodramas like The Secret of Madame Blanche and screwball comedies like Theodora Goes Wild and The Terrible Truth .
Leo McCarey, the director of The Terrible Truth , offered Irene Dunne the female lead in his latest project The Love Match in late 1938 . It was only shortly before the official distribution that the film was renamed Love Affair . The story of two unhappily in love who only find happiness through detours brought Dunne together with Charles Boyer for the first time . The French actor gained fame primarily through his appearances as Napoleon alongside Greta Garbo in Maria Walewska and alongside Hedy Lamarr in Algiers .
The two actors got along very well and the mutual respect helped both of them to make the sometimes difficult filming work harmoniously. Leo McCarey was sometimes forced to work without a finished script. On the one hand, the censorship authorities intervened, trying to prevent any suspicion of a illegitimate sexual relationship between the characters and repeatedly vetoing them. Above all, McCarey was looking for a successful transition between the rather humorous scenes on board the ship at the beginning and the melodramatic twists in the second half. In the end, it was Charles Boyer who suggested upgrading the initially short scene in Madeira. Nevertheless, Dunne and Boyer were forced to improvise more or less in a number of shared shots, as there were no finished dialogues in the morning. In the end, both actors declared restless love for their favorite films. The great financial and artistic success of the film established the two as a screen couple , who appeared together in When Tomorrow Comes and Model Reluctantly . Irene Dunne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress , but lost to Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind .
Leo McCarey made a remake in 1957 under the title The Great Love of My Life . In 1993, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening released another remake, this time under the original title Love Affair . Irene Dunne repeated her role alongside William Powell on the popular radio show Lux Radio Theater in April 1940 and, again with Charles Boyer at her side, again in July 1942 for the Lux Radio Theater.
Awards
The film went to the 1940 Academy Awards with six nominations, but won none:
- Best movie
- Best Actress: Irene Dunne
- Best Supporting Actress: Maria Ouspenskaya
- Best script: Leo McCarey
- Best art direction
- Best Song: Wishing (Will Make It So)
The New York Times named him one of the ten best films of 1939.
Reviews
The critics praised the intelligent direction by Leo McCarey and the balance between humor and pathos.
Thus the New York Times called in their criticism Restless Love one
“Extraordinarily beautiful film. [...] As co-writer, director and producer, Leo McCarey can mainly be blamed for the success of the film, but the credit to Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer for the undertaking is almost as great as the change in the script Have played believably - at first lightly, then sadly, but always believable, always in character, always with an outstanding use of the script. "
Web links
- Love Affair in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Love Affair at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank S. Nugent : THE SCREEN; 'Love Affair,' a Bitter-Sweet Romance, Opens at the Music Hall - 'Ice Follies' at the Capitol . In: The New York Times . March 17, 1939 (English, online at NYTimes.com [accessed May 5, 2019]): “extraordinarily fine film [...] As co-author, director and producer, Leo McCarey must be credited primarily for the film's success , but almost as large a measure of acknowledgment belongs to Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer for the facility with which they have matched the changes of their script — playing it lightly now, soberly next, but always credibly, always in character, always with a superb utilization of the material at hand. "