---
title: "An Affair to Remember: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/an-affair-to-remember/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/an-affair-to-remember"
critics_score: 71
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# An Affair to Remember (1957): what the critics said

Critics' score 71 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to An Affair to Remember, with praise centred on Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr’s performances and the romance’s balance of wit and sentiment. The favourable reviews find the pair’s restrained comic chemistry persuasive, allowing the tender moments to land without losing the sophisticated humour. McCarey’s light touch also earns approval, particularly for the way comedy gives way to melodrama.

The spread is fairly wide, though none of the reviews is wholly negative: pacing, sentimentality and the later story account for most reservations. Judgements of the filmmaking differ, with Slant Magazine praising expressive widescreen imagery while The AV Club finds the direction dated and utilitarian. Empire questions both leads’ dramatic effectiveness but still responds to the finale’s romance; The New Yorker is less forgiving, admiring the tender, funny shipboard courtship before finding the later developments increasingly ridiculous and sanitised.

## The AV Club — Donna Bowman

Rating A. 23 January 2008. 

Bowman finds the romance successful despite its dated, utilitarian filmmaking and a third act that spins its wheels. She praises the leads’ performances and the gripping final scene.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/an-affair-to-remember-50th-anniversary-edition-1798203669)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1956. 

The review calls the film a winning, funny, tenderly sentimental romance. It praises Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr’s sparkling performances and restrained comic chemistry.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1956/film/reviews/an-affair-to-remember-1200418367/)

## Radio Times — Sue Heal

Rating 4/5. 

The review is positive about this frothy romantic comedy. It praises Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr’s performances and the film’s sophisticated comic style.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-eme6fn/an-affair-to-remember/)

## Slant Magazine — Fernando F. Croce

Rating 3.5/5. 21 January 2008. 

Croce regards the film as an emotionally powerful, dreamlike romance. He singles out McCarey’s graceful blend of comedy and melodrama, along with the film’s expressive widescreen imagery.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/an-affair-to-remember-dvd/)

## Empire — Ian Nathan

Fi1m's normalised score 58/100 (inferred from the text). 25 August 2006. 

Nathan finds the film an effective, if slight and sentimental, melodrama whose romance still has a certain skill. He praises the finale’s hopeless romance, while faulting Cary Grant’s lack of tragic force and Deborah Kerr’s songs and limited emotional expression.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/affair-remember-review/)

## The New Yorker

Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 

The critic finds the film’s shipboard romance tender and funny, but sees the later story as increasingly ridiculous and sanitized. They single out the sweetly staged first kiss for praise and the final line as an all-time howler.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/an-affair-to-remember)

## Collider — Andre Dellamorte

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 2 March 2011. 

The critic finds the film a familiar, occasionally sagging romance, but says McCarey’s light touch makes it worthwhile. He especially praises Cary Grant’s emotionally precise performance in the final scene.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/anaffair-to-remember-all-about-eve-blu-ray-review/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/an-affair-to-remember.md