French painter Michel Marnet meets American singer Terry McKay aboard a liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They are both already engaged, he to heiress Lois Clarke, she to Kenneth Bradley. They begin to flirt and to dine together on the ship, but his notoriety and popularity on the ship make them conscious that others are watching. Eventually, they decide that they should dine separately and not associate with each other. At a stop at Madeira, they visit Michel's grandmother Janou, who approves of Terry and wants Michel to settle down. As the ship is ready to disembark at New York City, the two make an appointment to meet six months later on top of the Empire State Building. Michel chooses six months because that is the amount of time he needs to decide whether he can start making enough money to support a relationship with Terry. When the rendezvous date arrives, they both head to the Empire State Building. However, Terry is struck by a car right as she arrives, and is told that she may not be able to walk, though that will not be known for certain for six months. Not wanting to be a burden to Michel, she does not contact him, preferring to let him think the worst. Meanwhile, Terry finds a job working at an orphanage teaching the children how to sing. Six months go by, and during Terry's first outing since the accident, the two couples meet by accident at the theater, though Terry manages to conceal her condition. Michel then visits her at her apartment and finally learns the truth. He assures her that they will be together no matter what the diagnosis will be.
Despite the popularity of his romantic and screwball comedies, Leo McCarey had become tired of directing them. His wife suggested that they should go on a cruising vacation around Europe to combat his writer's block, and when they returned to the United States, they watched the Statue of Liberty pass. McCarey immediately told her his idea about two passengers who fall in love on a cruise but realize that they are both "obligated to somebody else." Actresses like Helen Hayes and Greta Garbo developed interest in starring but the McCarey couple preferred Irene Dunne, who had previously appeared in McCarey's The Awful Truth and was a close family friend. Charles Boyer's reputation as a romantic actor made him McCarey's first choice. There was no official script when the movie went into production. Irene Dunne later noted that the dialog would change frequently and the cast would receive pieces of paper between filming; McCarey's common directing tactic of improvization also continued throughout. However, McCarey gave Dunne the opportunity to choose the signature song for the movie, to which she decided upon "Wishing." Maria Ouspenskaya described working on the film as "an atmosphere of work that is inspirational. Actor, electricians, and cameramen loved their work and did not want to break away from that atmosphere."
Reception
The praise for Love Affair among film critics reflected in Clark Wales' quip: "Recommending a Leo McCarey production is something like recommending a million dollars or beauty or a long and happy life. Any of these is a very fine thing to have and the only trouble is that there are not enough of them." New York World-Telegram declared it "the most absorbing and delightful entertainment of its kind a long time" and another called the film "tender, poignant sentimental without being gooey". On characterization, The New York Times wrote "the facility with which have matched the changes of their script—playing it lightly with a superb utilization of the material at hand." Leo Mishkin added: "Certainly, this Terry McKay of Miss Dunne's is one of the greatest things she has ever done on the screen" The only notable criticism of characters came from Dunne herself, who told Silver Screen years later: "If I had been in that girl's place, far from hiding, I would've trundled my wheelchair up and down the sidewalks of New York looking for ."
In 1967, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. Because of this, the film is widely available on home video and online. The film can be downloaded legally for free on the Internet Archive.
