LOVE AFFAIR (1939)

An international playboy, Michel, is traveling by liner across the Atlantic to be with his new fiancee who happens to be an heiress. By accident he meets an American woman, Terry, who herself is traveling alone to be with her wealthy fiancee. They talk and despite their resistance, it becomes very apparent that they are made for each other. A nice, simple romance ensues, but once they get to America they agree to part for six months and if they still want to be with each other then they meet at the observation deck of the Empire State Building at an appointed time.

Both Michel and Terry break off their engagements and work extra hard to build up some money. The fateful day comes and as Terry is walking up to the building she's struck by a car and her legs all fucked up. Now she's confined to a wheelchair and too embarrassed to talk to Michel, but Michel doesn't know any of this and he believes that she simply didn't want to see him. He's heartbroken.

I wasn't crazy about this movie. It's too sentimental for my tastes, plus it's very dated. I am a fan of both Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, so I did enjoy it, but I'll never watch it ever again. The most positive thing I say about it is Irene Dunne was absolutely beautiful, especially during the final scene. Worth watching, but just barely.

Remade in 1957 as AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

NINJA SCROLL (1993)

Back in the day, a freelance ninja (Kibagami Jubei) is walking across a bridge minding his own business, when out of nowhere some bandit buttholes try to jack his shit, but instead he murders the fuck out of them fools. Skip forward a little bit and this totally badass stone guy (like literally made out of rock) brutally murders an entire group of highly skilled ninjas. Shit happens and the next thing you know, Jubei is being hunted by a mysterious group of freak monster assassins! It's awesome!

 

I remember first watching NINJA SCROLL on VHS back in the 1990's and thinking it was badass.  And it was.  Watching it again now (January 2021), it still starts out really strong, but definitely runs out of steam by the last act.  That said, it's 100% worth watching for anybody interested in animation and/or just looking for a good movie to watch.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)

The story (and director) is exactly the same as the one from 1939's LOVE AFFAIR. On a cruise ship, a penniless playboy engaged to an heiress falls in love with a penniless singer who herself has a wealthy fiancee. When the liner arrives in NYC they agree to meet in six months if they still love each other. She doesn't make it because she's in an accident and is too embarrassed to tell her beloved that she's now confined to a wheelchair.

Nice story, but I did not like Deborah Kerr. I thought she was an bore from beginning to end. In a perfect world it would have been the original's Irene Dunne reprising her role, but this time opposite Cary Grant. That would have been awesome! Especially if they would have deleted all those scenes of children singing. Oh, my fucking Satan that shit was torture!

Technically, AATR was a better film than the original, but it's still nothing special. Grant does a decent job, but honestly that script wasn't all that great the first time around and now on the second go through it's lost all of it's appeal. I can't recommend it. I know it's a popular romance movie, but I found it boring with zero spark between Grant and Kerr. Skip it.

It says "Terry" on the subtitle but it clearly sounds like he says "Hello, Debbie."