Their names may not ring familiar, but the story most likely does. Sam Baldwin and Annie Reed were the love-struck characters played by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the 1993 hit movie "Sleepless in Seattle." In the romantic, crowning moment of the film, Annie and Sam meet on the Empire State Building's observation deck to declare their love.
They weren't the first to think of it. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr rendevoused there in 1957's "An Affair to Remember," the tear-jerker that was used as a sub-theme of "Sleepless in Seattle."
"An Affair to Remember" was a remake of director Leo McCarey's own "Love Affair" (1939) with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening starred in yet another remake in 1994. In each version, the romantic leads promised to meet atop the Empire State when they had rid themselves of loveless relationships.
It's a common theme for the building, once the tallest in the world and perhaps still the tallest in legend. New York loves a legend ... and THIS legend comes with its own light show. Colored lighting was introduced with the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, and washing the building in color for various holidays is now a tradition. The building, incidentally, turns red for Valentine's Day.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall | Shah Jehan and Mumtaz Mahal | Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning | Ernest and Hadley Hemingway | Sam Baldwin and Annie Reed
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