An Affair to Remember (1957)

4/5

Leo McCarey's An Affair to Remember is a surprisingly affecting and powerful tale of true love and bad timing. Nickie Ferrante (Grant) is a notorious playboy Lothario, who is finally settling down and marrying the heiress of a fortune (Patterson). Terry McKay (Kerr) is a professional night club singer, and also currently engaged (Denning). They meet on a transatlantic ocean liner and, of course, fall in love. Once they realize this, unfortunately, the boat is about to dock, and they promise each other that they will meet again in 6 months at the Empire State Building and marry each other then. But things do not quite work out as planned.

The first half of the movie was, I'll be honest, forgettably straightforward. Nothing really stood out, except one scene where they visit Nickie's grandmother (Nesbitt), and I almost stopped watching the movie halfway through. I'm glad I did not give up, however, as the second half is uniquely fascinating and tragically beautiful. The scenes where they break off their respective engagements is ferociously brutal, heart-rending, and touching. What perfect filmmaking, where Kerr walks out onto the balcony and you see the bay door reflecting an image of the Empire State Building by her side. And the final scene brings you to the breaking point--you cannot help but feel with all your heart when you watch it. It is overflowing with regret, with mercy, with pride, and with so much human imperfection as to make your whole body tingle with emotion. Despite any issues I have with the first half of the movie (and all the cheesy singing), I can't help but remember all the good things it delivers on. For any romantic out there, you need to watch this film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050105/

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

2/5

Make Way For Tomorrow is a movie about an elderly couple (Moore, Bondi) who gather their kids together to announce that the bank is taking their house for failure to make payments on it. None of their children can seem to find enough room in their houses, their schedules, or their lives to take them in except for one son (Mitchell). He only has enough space for his mother, so he manages to convince his sister (Risdon) to put up their father until a more permanent situation can be sorted out. And so they are forced to go their separate ways after 50 years of marriage. They miss each other dearly as they try to adjust to their new living arrangements.

The movie itself was competent, but it was overwhelmingly heavy-handed and blunt in its message. It felt like they were hitting me over the head with every lonely composition and sad line of dialogue. Despite the sappy melodrama, a number of parts actually felt realistic. The parents themselves were somewhat annoying, which made the children's frustration easier to relate to. The entire movie was slow-paced, to match the speed of speech of the parents as they complained about random things. The last half of the movie felt a little more spirited--although it didn't make the movie go by any faster--as the couple reunited and relived the happiness they shared in their youth. The most powerful moment for me was a bit earlier on, however, when they are talking on the phone and you realize how much they sacrifice for the little happiness they get by being with each other. All in all, I am not a huge fan of this movie, but then again I am not yet a curmudgeonly grandfather who has shared the majority of my life with a meddling grandmother, although I fully intend to be when I grow up.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029192/