September Affair (1950) Reviews

• A fine mature romance, with strings attached...

  lora642006-10-11

  This is my first viewing so I can't start by saying it's a favorite, but with Joseph Cotten in the romantic lead and Joan Fontaine with all her charm and understanding, you really can't be far wrong to expect the best in a love story. They meet on a plane flight, he as an untiring industrialist who has placed business and projects before his wife and son, and she as a concert pianist performing in various engagements on tour. An error in flight identity has these two fine people listed on a plane that crashed and they are mistakenly presumed dead. As their budding romance unfolds they both realize it's an opportunity for them to take hold of a new life together. That leads to complications of course, as we can expect. I marvel at the way Joan (Manina) can reflect in her features so many subtle emotions, it's as if we can hear her unspoken words, the thoughts and agonies of a love that has many hurdles to overcome. That is great acting in my opinion.

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• A Great Romantic Movie

  riomar2007-03-01

  I've been a Joan fan for a while now, so when I saw the laser disc for this movie I got it right away. I was definitely not disappointed. This movie has got a great story that could actually happen in real life. Joan gives a great performance as usual, of course Joseph is also perfect as the man she falls in love with at the same time saving her life. A great movie to watch if you like romance and a beautiful setting for a movie Italy.

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• A must see for all Romantics around the world

  peter-1121999-11-03

  This is my favourite movie of all time. I often watch this with friends and family who have never seen the movie and I dare not tell the ending. It is very romantic and at the same time a bit sappy as hollywood Romance movies go. This movie along with An Affair To Remember and Imitation of Life will have most of you in tears. A great 3-pack weekend tear-jerker selection. September Affair is unique in the sense that even though the plot line seems far fetched...It actually could happen and has probably crossed a few peoples minds at that. This movie is not to be missed. Do not Rent this one, purchase it and I assure you you will watch this one over, and over again. I give this movie a 10 out of 10. Enjoy all you lovers. Peter.

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• September song

  jotix1002008-01-06

  "September Affair" was a film that stayed in our mind when we first watched it a long time ago. Seldom seen these days on television, it still keeps the romantic promise we remembered. The premise, which probably looked possible to the 1950 audience that saw it in its original release, seems unreal today, but this is just escapist entertainment, so it has to be watched in that context. One thing that surprises is the Italy of that era where street traffic was devoid of cars, not the nightmare it became as years went by. This is a romantic travelogue in which the action is set, much like some movies that were shot in that country later on. After all, even in black and white, Capri, Naples, Pompeii, Rome, and Florence are wonderful places to visit. William Dieterle's direction serves the film. The stars, Joseph Cotten and Joan Fontaine show great chemistry. Joseph Cotten, a serious actor, makes an excellent David Lawrence, the man whose marriage has reached an impasse. Joan Fontaine is quite likable as Manina Stuart, the concert pianist that falls head over heels and takes a chance with this practical stranger. Jessica Tandy and Francoise Rosay appear in pivotal roles. "September Song" is heard in the background sung by none other than Walter Huston. This film even with its unlikely premise is still a nice way to spend time with pleasant company.

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• Dodsworth in a Parallel Universe

  jjsemple2012-07-23

  Eerily similar in storyline and backdrop to William Wyler's 1936 masterpiece, Dodsworth. It's not so much the script or the direction that doom this film, it's the premise and its execution. Don't get me wrong; I like the film. However, it could have been much better. As other reviewers stated, the actors, their chemistry were excellent. It's the character development that's faulty. Whereas in Dodsworth the triangle is played out logically, along the lines of solid character development so that the hero ends up in Naples with the other woman; in September Affair (1950), love takes a back seat to 1950's morality, or "family values" which state that if you sin, you must pay. To represent this on the screen, the screenwriter uses the deus ex machina device of having the wife morph from shrew to martyr, not by showing us, as a film should do, but by telling us, in a letter no less, that she won't agree to a divorce. But when we actually see her, she doesn't seem all that bad a person. She's not like the woman in the letter and she's not the woman Cotten makes her out to be. With Ruth Chatterton (star of Dodsworth), the character development progressed faultlessly. In September Affair, the wife's character arc is unbelievable. Which is she? A shrew or a noble, long-suffering wife? If the latter, the film couldn't end with Joseph Cotten walking away from that sort of woman. He would have lost favor with the audience. That means forcing credibility to depend on us buying the unbelievable character arc of the wife who somehow morphs from meanie to martyr. He goes back to his wife and I'll bet the first thing she does is revert to her original persona (you can't escape that easily) — her Ruth Chatterton ways, emasculating Cotten out of spite, and he'll end up with no way back to the woman he loves, who loves him because she's also foolishly played the martyr to the point of NO return. The film is a cop out. No film should hinge on the changes in a minor character; it should be the leads whose actions set the course. In fact, the ending even goes against common sense: 1) the wife's new persona has accepted the split, so has the son. That he's alive is enough for her. 2) As for Joan, he loves her and Joan loves him. They've taken it to another level — like John Huston and Mary Astor in Dodsworth, a level the wife can't understand. They are clearly superior in their maturity, their lifestyles, their tastes. Why not let them fade into the Florence sunset together, she with her piano, him with his engineering projects?

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