Our February posts began with 1939's "Love Affair". I thought it would be fitting if our final post of February featured the last of that iconic film's remakes. 1994's "Love Affair" tells basically the same story with minor differences. A man and a woman meet on a trip and fall in love. Pledging to meet on top of the Empire State Building after they get their lives together, tragedy strikes before they can be reunited. Can they ultimately get together?
The film's cast includes Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Katharine Hepburn, Garry Shandling, Chloe Webb, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Capshaw, Brenda Vaccaro, Carey Lowell, Ed MacMahon, Dan Castellaneta, Rosalind Chao, Mary Hart, and Ray Charles.
Aging football star and playboy Mike Gambrill and singer/musician Terry McKay meet on board a plane bound for Sydney, Australia. Both are engaged to other people. Mike is instantly attracted to Terry, and she, knowing his tempestuous history with women, is naturally cautious.
During the flight, the plane has trouble with its engines and is forced to make an emergency landing on an atoll in the South Pacific. With no way to get airborne again, the passengers must make alternative arrangements.
They are picked up by a Russian ship bound for Tahiti, where they can make a flight connection. On board the ship, Mike and Terry spend time together, and Terry begins to succumb to Mike's charms.
At one of the ship's ports of call, Mike asks Terry if she would like to accompany him on a visit to his aunt, who lives on a neighboring island. She agrees and is swept up by the magic of the island.
Mike introduces Terry to his aunt, Ginny. Ginny ends up liking Terry very much, and the feeling is entirely mutual. She offers Terry some sage advice. "The trick in life isn’t getting what you want,
my dear. It’s wanting it after you get it," she says. Ginny also dishes up such classic lines as "If I'd have known I was going to live to eighty-six, I wouldn't have let the maid go."
Before they go, Ginny plays the piano for them. (It's such an exquisitely filmed scene, and the beautiful theme song is not to be missed. [shout out to the great Ennio Morricone]) Reluctantly, Terry bids her farewell, and she and Mike head back to the ship.
On board the ship, Mike and Terry dive headfirst into a romantic relationship, which changes them both and makes them rethink everything they know about love.
On the plane back to New York, Mike and Terry discuss the future. They agree to get their lives in order and meet on top of the Empire State Building in three months so they can begin their lives together.
Of course, part of that means breaking things up with their respective partners, which they do. Afterwards, Terry gazes longingly at the place she and Mike are to meet in three months.
When that day comes, however, Terry is unable to keep the appointment. She gets hit by a car on her way to meet Mike and becomes paralyzed. As part of her recovery, Terry doesn't want Mike to know what happened. Kept in the dark about Terry's whereabouts and the reason she didn't show up, Mike is horribly upset.
Mike gets a coaching job with a university, and Terry begins to teach music to children. She must also adjust to life in a wheelchair.
Several months later at an evening benefit concert featuring Ray Charles, Mike and Terry run into each other. All they can say is "hello".
Mike looks Terry up the next day seeking an answer to the question of why she never met him. Terry artfully dodges those questions and reminds him of a promise they made when they got off the airplane: that if one of them didn't show up, there would be no questions asked.
Don't worry. Everything comes out all right in the end. The truth about Terry is revealed to Mike, and they embrace.
Mary Hart........................................Herself
Ray Charles......................................Himself
And that's it for Love Affair. Warren Beatty asked Katharine Hepburn to appear personally. He arranged for a rented house in Los Angeles for her, and he also referred her to a special dermatologist. With all these special perks, Hepburn didn't agree to appear until the actual day of filming. This film marked her final appearance on the big screen.
Here's a bit of trivia: the in-flight movie featured on the New York to Sydney flight was 1993's "Free Willy", which had been released the previous year.
