The Film Experience

Before each Smackdown, we look at alternate possibilities to the actual Oscar ballot...

by Nick Taylor

Camila Henriques wrote a great article last week on Deborah Kerr’s performance in An Affair to Remember, a film whose cultural resonance feels like a tribute to the star power of its lead couple. A remake of the romantic drama Love Affair (1939) from its original director Leo McCarey, the film follows wealthy socialites Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) and Nick Ferrante (Cary Grant), who fall in love over the course of an eight-day transatlantic cruise to New York despite being engaged to other people. The relaxed pacing, resplendent colors, high production values, picturesque photography, and appealing slow-burn chemistry between Kerr and Grant reads like an open invitation from McCarey to luxuriate in the sheer handsomeness of what he’s put together. The economy of Love Affair is missed, though for my money the film’s besottedness with itself keeps An Affair to Remember from fully matching the emotional complexity of its predecessor. Especially in the early going, McCarey seems content to let his leads luxuriate in their own charisma without asking them to do all that much. But nonetheless the film is able to evince real moments of depth that linger long after the credits have rolled. And wouldn’t you know that the first such moment arrives when Terry and Nick make a surprise visit to his Grandmother Janou, played in this iteration by Cathleen Nesbitt.

In both films, Terry and Nick’s time with Janou is the catalyzing event that leads them to acknowledge their love for each other...

Everything that separates the tonal and emotional wavelengths of Love Affair from those of An Affair to Remember requires Nesbitt’s interpretation of Grandmother Janou to affect this almost-couple from a different angle than the O.G. Maria Ouspenskaya did in 1939, cutting through the airs Terry and Nick use to keep from talking about their feelings with a combination of earth-mother sincerity and toughness. The elongated running time of An Affair to Remember at least means the film devotes more time to Janou, though this ostensible benefit might backfire without an actress who could use this added time to her advantage.

Nesbitt dispels any such fears as soon as we see Janou walk out of her private chapel, still ruminating over her prayers, only to light up with shock and excitement once she clasps eyes on her grandson before giving him a hug as soon as he’s in range. Clad in a fine black dress and white shawl, moving with a slowness equally befitting of age and grace, looking every bit at home in the technicolor spectacle of her gorgeously overgrown garden and well-kept villa despite how it contrasts with her clothing - this is a star’s entrance, casually magnetic without relying on the kind of cultural attache Kerr and Grant pull from so liberally. McCarey’s blocking ensures Nesbitt’s face is onscreen nearly the entire time Janou is in the film, and she rewards his attention through her marvelous expressiveness. The sheer might behind Janou calling out “Niccolo!”, holding his face in her hands and speaking to him in French is the first moment in An Affair to Remember that actually suggests a life before Terry and Nick walked onto that cruise ship. Her bond to Grant feels lived-in and real, and Nesbitt will only deepen this relationship as the film continues.

Even more than her early interactions with Nick, it’s her conversation about him with Terry over tea that really elevates the proceedings. Her recollections on Nickie’s youth and her thoughts on his life now are all the more vivid because Nesbitt conveys Janou’s perspective so clearly. She shades this widowed grandmother's views of her grandson with pride and fondness but also some genuine worry, aware of the dissatisfaction in his soul that’s kept him from true happiness. Hell, she even adds subtext to some of her line readings, rather than just playing the most obvious beats in the script as directly as possible. Nesbitt’s ability to play across a wide spectrum of emotions over a few lines of dialogue without breaking from the film's even-keeled presentation is so unfussily effective that watching her sift through old memories feels almost atmospheric. I love how she treats Terry like a lifelong confidant from the moment they start talking, regarding her with a mixture of outright candor and straight-faced humor, at least until she starts grinning at her own jokes. She’s also quite open about believing Terry to be a perfect match for Nick, not just mistaking her for his fiancée when they first meet but dropping a very. long. pause. after saying her grandson needs a good woman to keep him grounded. If you’re impressed by her subtlety, just wait til Terry asks Janou to toast Nick’s impending marriage only for her to wish them well on the remainder of their voyage.

But all too soon, we say our goodbyes to Cathleen Nesbitt. Nick gives her the best present a grandson ever gave his grandmother, and coaxes her into playing the piano for them soon after. The serenity of this scene, as Janou is lost in her memories even as she’s relishing the chance to play for Terry and Nick, while each of them looks at the other like they’ve finally realized they're love, is one of the most beautiful moments in the whole film. When they’re interrupted by the blast of the cruise’s foghorn announcing its imminent departure, Janou’s smile drops out of sight until she’s staring at her grandson again, her voice sounding like she’s trying not to cry as she says “I don’t like boat whistles.” before she sees them on their way. Maybe it’s the leftover goodwill from her scenes, maybe An Affair to Remember was shot in sequence, but the palpable yet unobtrusive depth of Nesbitt’s playing feels like it hangs over Terry and Nick as they finally come to grips with their budding romance, not just nudging the characters but also their actors to realize what's what. It doesn’t feel coincidental to me that the finale (the other loveliest scene in the film) reaches a similar peak as the piano scene right about the time Terry gets a gift from Janou in the mail. Yes, it's more of a screenwriting conceit that Janou keeps showing up at just the right moment, but it's an even greater tribute to Nesbitt for making this character resonate so memorably. She doesn't just avoid the traps other artists in An Affair to Remember fall into but cajoles them to do a little better. The film seems sad to leave her in her villa, but it can rest easy knowing Nesbitt has crafted a performance even a half-committed fan of this immortal film is happy to remember.