Comments on: Suggest your favorite classic romance film

Question: Suggest your favorite classic romance film

sonofslim — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:04:59 -0800

Oh man, I am a sucker for old romances. Your film recommendations, please?

My guilty pleasure: getting hammered and watching whatever's on PBS at 3am. Tonight it was one of my favorites, The Best Years of our Lives. Other films I love include St. Martin's Lane and Ball of Fire. Hook me up with your favorite b&w romantic comedies or all-out weepers, so I can fill my Netflix queue instead of waiting on public television for my fix.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:14:10 -0800

The Philadelphia Story -- features James Stewart (McCauley Connor), Katherine Hepburn (Tracy "Red" Lord), and Cary Grant (best name in movie history: C.K. Dexter Haven). Also some wonderful supporting characters, including Uncle Willy and kid sister Diana. An amazing movie -- silly, serious, whimsical, profound, and simply a delight.

By: chrominance

chrominance — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:31:58 -0800

My Man Godfrey? Ah, but perhaps you've seen it already, in which case, watch it again!

By: night kitchen

night kitchen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:36:15 -0800

Roman Holiday is truly one of the best old romcoms, in my opinion. Stars Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn -- in her first major film role.

By: granted

granted — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:41:13 -0800

I was just coming in here to suggest Roman Holiday. It makes me want to die.

By: griphus

griphus — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:45:34 -0800

Now Voyager is pretty weeptastic. Bette Davis was really pissed off playing the Ugly Girl for the first third or so.

By: doogyrev

doogyrev — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:11:11 -0800

Brief Encounter.... though maybe a bit too British for some !

By: vac2003

vac2003 — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:22:29 -0800

You can't go passed Casablanca in my view. "It's still the same old story/a fight for love and glory"....

By: Neiltupper

Neiltupper — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:26:47 -0800

Brief Encouter is the archetypal weepie and trasncends boundaries. For a romantic comedy, is 28 years old too recent? If not, then Manhattan is a superior b&w film of this genre.

By: Gordion Knott

Gordion Knott — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:48:43 -0800

All That Heaven Allows, the Douglas Sirk movie with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. Heavy handed in parts but affecting.

After viewing, be sure to rent the recent remake, Far from Heaven, with Julianne Moore and Dennis Haysbert of 24 fame.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:48:54 -0800

"To Have and Have Not." (1944) Humphrey Bogart falls for the 19 year old Lauren Bacall in her first movie role, and she wraps him right around her little finger. She sings a Hoagy Carmichael song, with Hoagy playing piano, too!

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:06:38 -0800

"The Clock" is recommended by people who like romances. I thought it was trash, myself.

By: quintno

quintno — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:26:04 -0800

"I Know Where I'm Going"--a 1945 English film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (the directors behind THE RED SHOES and countless other classics). Perhaps the most spirited and sweetest romantic movie ever made.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:35:16 -0800

Max Ophüls' Letter from an Unknown Woman is a classic. (Triva: IIRC Joan Fontaine stars who was the only actor to ever win an Oscar for a Hitchcock movie.)

By: who squared

who squared — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:38:59 -0800

The original Sabrina.

There's also Georgy Girl. Not extremely romantic but in the end, the girl gets a wedding and kids. Isn't that the goal of all romances? I liked it--but then again, I hated Casablanca.

Just for the hell of it, I recommend Gaslight for when you tire of the sappy stuff.

By: loosemouth

loosemouth — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:11:31 -0800

The romantic thread running through Notorious, even though it is a Hitchcock movie about uranium and damn Nazis, makes the movie worth watching over and over. The chemistry between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman works. It contains a very famous kissing scene.

By: meta87

meta87 — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:14:09 -0800

Here are a few I'm fond of off the top of my head:

The Apartment - Jack Lemmon is great in this one, a funny romantic comedy.

Modern Times - The relationship between Chaplin and his orphan love interest is so cute and well done.

Rebecca - Hitchcock. Romance and a great movie.

It Happened One Night - Probably seen this one, but if not a funny romantic comedy with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

You Can't Take it With You - A tad cheesy at times, but I still like it! Another romantic comedy.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 05:00:40 -0800

Desk Set (Spencer / Hepburn). One thing I really like about Desk Set is that it's about two grownups who both know what's going on as they quietly fall for each other, instead of being a glurge-fest. I also really like that nobody gets saved from miserable loneliness -- they were both pretty well satisfied with their lives before they met.

By: JamesToast

JamesToast — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 05:01:18 -0800

I second Notorious. I wish I could see that again for the first time.

By: zarah

zarah — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 05:47:27 -0800

I second the recommendation of Now, Voyager. I'm a weepy sucker for the final scene, with it's most memorable quote. Make it a Bette Davis double feature and watch All This, and Heaven Too.

By: severiina

severiina — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:10:24 -0800

The African Queen. Katharine Hepurn and Humprey Bogart.

By: Soda-Da

Soda-Da — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:15:24 -0800

The Thin Man - William Powell is a 'retired' detective and Myrna Loy is the heiress he just married. They trade quips, drink martinis, and solve crimes all while being very romantic.

Some Like It Hot - Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis witness a mob hit. To escape being hit themselves they get in drag and join an all-woman travelling band that includes Marilyn Monroe. Hijinks ensue.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - Cary Grant and Myrna Loy build a house and it is an expensive but funny and romantic hassle. No one does befuddled like Cary Grant.

By: softlord

softlord — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:21:46 -0800

His Girl Friday - One of the best scripts ever, smart funny romantic and surprisingly progressive, filled with in-jokes.

By: unSane

unSane — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:47:37 -0800

A Matter of Life and Death. David Niven directed by Powell & Pressburger. Released as 'Stairway to Heaven' in the US. Wikipedia gives you a good taste of the flavour.

Nthing Brief Encounter. The ultimate.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:12:44 -0800

Not b&w and not english, but I'm recommending them anyway 'cause odds are that you haven't seen them and I consider them among the best romances ever made. Three films by one director, Patrice Leconte: The Hairdresser's Husband, Monsieur Hire, and Girl on the Bridge.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:17:45 -0800

Actually, now that I think about it, Girl on the Bridge is B&W.

By: julen

julen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:39:14 -0800

I want to second Desk Set which has quietly become my favorite Hepburn/Tracy for all the reasons ROU_Xenophobe mentioned, plus it is set in a research department and features an early computer for bonus fun.

Speaking of Tracy, I also recommend Libeled Lady with Tracy, Loy, Powell and Jean Harlow. Harlow is really, really funny in it and there's lots of good screwball confusion.

Not mentioned yet: Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn/Grant), My Favorite Wife (Grant/Dunne), Top Hat (Astaire/Rogers), You'll Never Get Rich (Astaire/Hayworth), Trouble in Paradise (directed by Lubitsch)

By: alms

alms — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:43:04 -0800

Third "Notorious."

By: nonane

nonane — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:18:01 -0800

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. 1947, Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison, three handkerchiefs.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:47:44 -0800

The Awful Truth, with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Romantic and funny.

By: gursky

gursky — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:21:40 -0800

seconding "Modern Times".

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:43:29 -0800

Desk Set and The African Queen aren't in black and white.

The Shop Around the Corner is cute. "You've Got Mail" is based on it.

By: Oriole Adams

Oriole Adams — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:44:31 -0800

I cannot watch Stella Dallas (starring Barbara Stanwyck) without bawling like a baby at the end.

By: katemonster

katemonster — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:45:18 -0800

Holiday, another Grant/Hepburn movie.

By: nakedcodemonkey

nakedcodemonkey — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:04:55 -0800

Indiscreet is another romantic comedy about adults (Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman) who are intelligent and delightedly single, yet find love sneaking up on them.

Now that you've discovered Ball of Fire, be sure to check out some of Barbara Stanwyck's other romantic comedies including Christmas in Connecticut, the fantastic The Lady Eve, and the lesser-known The Mad Miss Manton. The latter two pair her with Henry Fonda, with a dynamic very similar to Ball of Fire.

Holiday Affair, with Mitchum and Janet Leigh, has a sweet melancholy that slowly blossoms into love.

You've got to do a Cary Grant/Irene Dunne triple feature. Penny Serenade is a classic weepie. Then in the The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife they play separated couples deciding whether to divorce or fall hopelessly back in love with each other.

Love Affair is the classic star-crossed lovers flick. Might as well see that and a couple of its remakes (you can safely skip the Beatty/Bening one).

By: lagreen

lagreen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:59:03 -0800

I found one of my favorite movies by watching PBS at 3 am: An Affair to Remember. Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr and an ending that makes me cry every time I watch it.

By: of strange foe

of strange foe — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:08:28 -0800

I'd second The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Lady Eve, Indiscreet (not B&W though), and The Shop Around the Corner. The director of TSATC also made "Ninotchka", as in "Garbo laughed!"

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:12:21 -0800

2nding The Philadelphia Story and An Affair to Remember.

Wuthering Heights! Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff!!

By: of strange foe

of strange foe — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:15:25 -0800

Digging further in Cary Grant's catalog: Father Goose (1964), The More the Merrier (1943).

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:16:52 -0800

Oh, hell! nobody's yet said Gone With The Wind?

By: SoftRain

SoftRain — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:31:32 -0800

I'd agree with what most of what people have suggested (except Stella Dallas -- it makes me bawl too, but I'd hardly call it romantic, most of the story's about a single mom who doesn't want to get married again).

Brief Encounter is wicked-amazing.

Also: Holiday, with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. It's based on a Phillip (The Philadelphia Story) Barry play, and directed by George Cukor, who also did the film version of The Philadelphia Story a few years later.

Woman of the Year -- the first Hepburn-Tracy movie, it remains surprisingly modern.

By: matteo

matteo — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 13:16:11 -0800

Adam's Rib

By: eve harrington

eve harrington — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:57:27 -0800

I have to nth Notorious-- so incredibly sexy and there's a scene when Bergman is giddy and drunk with love, completely disarming performance and it makes her comeuppance in the scene totally heartrending.

I also recommend The Lady Eve-- screwball comedy at its absolute best, lovely, romantic, twisted, funny.

By: rob511

rob511 — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:35:08 -0800

The original Unfaithfully Yours is one of Sturges's lesser known classics, with patrician Rex Harrison (a stitch), yummy Linda Darnell, and that great lummox Rudy Vallee. Clever as shit.

By: wannalol

wannalol — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:49:34 -0800

I would highly recommend Portrait of Jennie with Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones. It is a very atmospheric and haunting love story.

By: Kirjava

Kirjava — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:54:09 -0800

I absolutely love The Best Years of Our Lives! Mrs. Miniver is in a similar vein of family-focussed war weepies.

The Palm Beach Story is a hysterical screwball comedy in the vein of 'Some Like it Hot' brilliantly written by Preston Sturges.

Ship of Fools is definitely an all-out weeper, a voyage set in the shadow of WWII and filled with numerous doomed romances. Over-the-top, but the story of the exiled Contessa and the ship's doctor is heartbreaking.

By: estherbester

estherbester — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 19:48:19 -0800

All previous suggestions are great, especially the Sturges and Lubitsch films, but Holiday was definitely the first one that came to my mind.

Also, I just watched A Letter to Three Wives yesterday, and recommend that as well.

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:02:10 -0800

+1 Mrs Miniver

Mrs Miniver, A Matter of Life & Death, Brief Encounter

That's a fucking AWESOME sunday.

By: srah

srah — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:29:02 -0800

I haven't read through the whole list so I don't know how many "nths" these get, but let me say:

It Happened One Night
You Can't Take it With You
My Favorite Wife
Casablanca
In the Good Old Summertime (not b/w but it's SO MUCH better than terrible You've Got Mail that I feel everyone should see it. :) )
The Ghost and Mrs Muir