Love Affair (1939)
“They promised to meet again, and then fate intervened.”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
Leo McCarey's tender shipboard romance pairs a celebrated French playboy with a former nightclub singer, both already spoken for, who find an unexpected and serious love during a transatlantic crossing. A visit to his grandmother on Madeira deepens their bond, and they agree to part, settle their affairs and reunite in six months at the top of the Empire State Building. An accident on the appointed day sets up the film's famous emotional reversal, played with restraint and grace. Buoyed by Dunne's wit and Boyer's worldly warmth, it is a model of classic Hollywood romance, the original that two later remakes would chase.
Cast
About the Director
Leo McCarey — Leo McCarey, a master of mixing comedy and feeling, lets the early scenes sparkle with banter before easing into heartbreak, and he later restaged the story almost shot for shot as An Affair to Remember.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
Love Affair is in the public domain in the United States because RKO did not renew its copyright. The original term expired without renewal, placing the film in the public domain in 1967.
Behind the Scenes
Released by RKO in 1939 and nominated for six Academy Awards, Love Affair was a critical favorite that McCarey himself remade in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, with a further remake following in 1994. When RKO failed to renew the copyright, the 1939 original passed into the public domain and became a television and home-video staple.
Did You Know?
- Maria Ouspenskaya earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her brief role as the grandmother.
- Leo McCarey remade his own film as An Affair to Remember in 1957, reusing much of the structure shot for shot.
- Irene Dunne performed her own songs in the film.
Reception & Legacy
It was warmly praised on release and collected six Academy Award nominations, and it is still widely regarded as the finest of the three versions, prized for the chemistry between Dunne and Boyer.
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