Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

MtnShelby I've had the good fortune in my life to visit all of the major locations in this film at least once, and three times for two of them. How wonderful to revisit Capri through this film, albeit in black and white and decades before I traveled (which made the cinematography all that more interesting). But the film isn't a documentary (thank goodness with the understandable but annoying Italian clichés and stereotypes). . . so there's that troublesome plot with, as others have pointed out, some fundamental flaws that require an enormous suspension of disbelief. I just couldn't get past these challenges, nor could I find much to celebrate in two people abandoning all responsibilities to conduct an adulterous affair as "ghosts" of themselves. Despite very solid acting and an always lovely Joan Fontaine, I just could not be swept away be the charm and the fantasy and found myself squarely in line with the grande dame piano teacher as she chastises Joan's character for her behavior. I know many viewers adore this film, and I suppose at some level I can see why (even as I watched the film I had a brief urge to sell everything and go back), but the premise of the romance just doesn't work for me.

mark.waltz It is ironic that 1950, the year this very romantic movie came out, marked the passing of Walter Huston and the critical reception he received for his final film, "The Furies". Paramount, which released both "September Affair" and "The Furies", wisely integrated the song "September Song" in this Joan Fontaine/Joseph Cotten romance where two strangers meet in Italy while waiting for a plane back to New York City and spontaneously decide to take a few extra days to explore local islands and coastal cities they hadn't had the chance to visit. She's a single concert pianist, and he's a married businessman separated from his wife (Jessica Tandy). Their romance really begins when they visit an Italian eatery where the proprietor gives them a selection of American records to play. Their favorite of the group? Huston's "September Song", which he made famous years ago in the Kurt Weill Broadway musical "Knickerbocker Holiday".At first, these attractive people are just strangers sharing an experience, but when you're surrounded by the Isle of Capri, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, you're bound to fall in love, if not with the scenery, then with the companion you're sharing them with. Before even a few days go by, they learn that the plane they were on crashed and that they are presumed dead. Temptation wins, and the two decide to "play dead" for real, with Cotten putting money down on a house and Fontaine bringing in her "adopted aunt" Françoise Rosay for guidance, receiving advice that in reality she really doesn't want to hear.But this is a doomed affair to remember and once the wife discovers that Cotten wrote a check out to a woman she's never even heard of, the table is set for their discovery. Tandy, who played a lot of vindictive wives during the early part of her career on film, takes a different turn here. She's softer, wiser, and more accepting, even if their growing son (Robert Arthur) isn't. What will the confrontation bring? September is the exit of summer and entrance into fall, so changes are inevitable.With echoes of Kurt Weill's beautiful melody echoing in your ears, "September Affair" is an engrossing love story that certainly must rank amongst the top. You know there's no way in severe post-code Hollywood that adultery would be allowed or that the perpetrators could escape the consequences. In addition to Weill's classic showtune, there's also a Golden Globe winning score (by the equally legendary Victor Young) which enhances the romantic settings. The doomed affair is already foretold in Fontaine's eyes the moment she learns that the wife has arrived, and even if it continues for a while after, she still has that knowing look that a love like this is definitely not going to be long-term. Still, you can't help but root for these nice people, even if he has neglected a wife and son for a woman he just met. That's what makes this love story such a classic, every element of it (under the direction of William Dieterle) engrossing.

Neil Doyle Except for a haunting version of the title song sung by Walter Huston, this is a trivial romance about two people who decide to run away for awhile among some lovely Italian settings before reality sets in and they realize they must return to their banal domestic lives at home.All of this happens after a plane crash finds Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten presumed dead, therein giving them a new start on their unhappy lives.With a more polished script and inspired direction, this might have been worth seeing. Fontaine and Cotten do their best to be sincere and charming, but none of it seems to matter when the predictable outcome looms like an elephant in the living room. Fontaine's career was approaching its gradual decline when she found herself trapped in this sort of banality that required nothing more than her still fresh looks and simple charm.Not much can be said for Jessica Tandy as Cotten's shrewish wife, nor Francoise Rosay, Robert Arthur and Jimmy Lydon in thankless supporting roles.Summing up: Trivial, pallid romance.

Jonathan Doron Joseph Cotten doesn't seem to be the first name that comes to mind for a love story.This one, like many after it, starts with two people meeting on an airplane. The switch from small talk to "lets spend the next two hours together" is a bit hasty. As always, Italy looks beautiful (even in black & white). I couldn't imagine anybody wanting a "friend" who knocks down everything as Joan's Maria. Kinda too much like a tourist publicity at times, the titles of the cities not helping.SPOILER AHEAD: I don't know of they couldn't have stayed together, but I sure didn't like her stating the reasons at the airport gate. The name does hint it's not going to last.PS (non-spoiler) On the plane to New York he asks the man next to her if they could switch seats and he declines. How about she exchanging seats with the woman next to him?