Dashing French playboy Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer) is sailing to America where he plans to marry a wealthy heiress when he unexpectedly meets Terry McKay (Irene Dunne) and is immediately smitten. Their onboard flirtation results in a pact that they will meet in six months atop of the Empire State Building. When the agreed upon date finally arrives, Terry is tragically struck by a car and leaves the frustrated Michel waiting in vain.The power of love leads the two into crossing paths once again.

Love Affair, perhaps one of the most fondly-remembered romance movies of the 1930s, garnered many Academy Award nominations, including Dunne for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), Best Story and Best Song ("Wishing").

The magic of a shipboard romance charms a Frenchman and American woman (Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne, respectively) into each other's arms, but promises made to other people and the notoriously fleeting nature of affairs convince the couple to part ways for six months and meet again atop the Empire State Building to see if their love is a lasting one. Although their hearts remain true, an accident and a misunderstanding might lead to heartbreak.

LOVE AFFAIR was written, directed, and produced by Leo McCarey as his first major foray into drama after a successful directorial career in comedies, including projects with the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy. McCarey remade LOVE AFFAIR almost 20 years later as the better-known AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as the star-crossed couple. Film buffs continue to debate which film is the better, though viewers of either will be swept up by the timeless romance captured so effortlessly--twice!--by McCarey and his delightfully well-matched actors.