Will You Take Romance?

[moira finnie]

Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I wondered:
What do you think makes a good romance on film?

By romance, I mean just a moment or an entire movie in which two characters click--emotionally, intellectually, physically, or spiritually. Looking forward to your recommendations. Must there be a happy ending?

[movieman1957]

The first one that comes to mind is "The More The Merrier." It's not the first time McCrea and Arthur see each other, although there are sparks even with her mouth full of toothpaste. Later on, as in a lot of movies, there is a moment when they finally figure out what their heart has been telling them.

I think it's right before the famous stoop scene. They are strolling along asking questions of each other. Their chat just leads to the kissing and then the realization they had better stop and go home only to then remember they go home to the same apartment. Pure bliss after.

[mrsl]

The Duke and Maureen in the rain at the church ruins in The Quiet Man, when they finally just very simply look at each other and without a word admit they're in love.

Yes, I prefer a happy ending, within reason. For instance, even though we had to lose Robert Walker, at least, at the end Dad was coming home in Since You Went Away.

I also think a good romantic movie was Pretty Woman, where they were both falling throughout the whole movie.

Anne

[jdb1]

I've given these examples of my favorites before:

1. Everyone in Grand Central Station silently taking a partner and waltzing to beautiful music as Robin Williams watches Amanda Plummer walk by in The Fisher King.

2. Tracy grabbing Hepburn by the hand, looking into her eyes, and saying "I'll bet you write wonderful letters" in Desk Set.

[Sigh]

[MissGoddess]

I tend to respond more if there is alot of tension between the couple in the beginning, if for some reason they are in conflict or resisting one another. I don't find it too romantic if they are already together from the start, even if a conflict comes later on. A rare exception might be The Thin Man movies, but they are more fun and sexy to me than "romantic.". And they began to lack sexiness once the child came.

Yes, I love the "opposites attract" scenarios or the fate-stands-between-them stories. These tend to seem more romantic to me. I don't like unhappy endings, though many of my favorite romantic movies are saddled with them.

I might add that the leading man has to be the kind I find interesting or I fail to see much romance.

[Ann Harding]

I suppose my favourite 'romantic' pictures are always about a couple separated by distance, time or death like in the Ghost and Mrs Muir, One Way Passage, Portrait of Jennie and Peter Ibbetson. I really don't mind unhappy endings. The more tragic, the better!!! That's probably why I love operas.

[melwalton]

WARNING: FOLLOWING COULD BE A SPOILER.


RE: happy ending. I think it depends on what makes a happy ending. I thought 'Brief Encounterr had a happy ending although the lovers did not wind up in each others arms.
For a truly romantic film, I'd want a good musical background, say Schubert or Chopin, like
Till We Meet Again' slow paced. ( action is fine but, not always with romance ). Subtle. There's a place for passion but I like a slow and easy story for romance.
Just offhand, I recall the ending of the movie 'Hold Back the Dawn' with Boyer and deHavilland running toward each other. With a little time, I think, I can come up with some other scenes.
A very good topic, Ann. Good for you .... mel

[melwalton]

Moira
I'm very sorry. I just realized I thanked Ann for your post. I was sober, too. Very good topic. Topical, too.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love a good romantic movie.

My favorites Letter From an Unknown Woman, Brief Encounter, The Philadelphia Story, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Casablanca, Notorious, City Lights, Sunrise and The African Queen.

As you can tell it's not one of my favorite movie genres

[jdb1]

Unhappy endings can be satisfying in a romance, especially if they involve noble and tragic sacrifices.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Some films that are romantic to me:


Voyage to Italy (1953)
The Mummy (1932)
You Only Live Once (1937)
Three Comrades (1938)
The Red Shoes (1948)
Goodbye Again (1961)
Come Live With Me (1941)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
The Garden of Allah (1936)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1987)
SpellBound (1945)
Notorious (1946)
Red (1994)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
The Shop Around The Corner (1940)
Some Came Running (1958)
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Howard's End (1992)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Hiroshima mon Amour (1959)
Days of Heaven (1978)
City for Conquest (1940)
Four Daughters (1938)
When Harry Met Sally (1988)
Humoresque (1946)
City Lights (1930)
Senso (1954)
El Cid (1961)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Floating Weeds (1959)
Saturday's Children (1940)
Day of Wrath (1943)
Of Human Bondage (1934)
The Scarlet Letter (1926)
Ju Dou (1990)
My Best Friends Girl (1927)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Port of Shadows (1938)
ANY GARBO FILM

There's a lot more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

[stuart.uk]

Moira

here's a list All That Heaven Allows. it appears a happy ending with Hudson and Wyman reuniting, but i wonder if in the end Wyman will end up disowning her two-faced son who oppossed the marriage for his own selfish reasons

Love Pain And The Whole Damn Thing ends with 30 something Maggie Smith reunited with teenage lover Timothy Buttons, but as she's terminally ill tagedy is just around the corner

Limelight ends with the death of Chaplin's aging Calvero, but it allows Claire Bloom to marry the other man, nearer her own age, she loves Sidney Chaplin jnr

a surprise choice, but Stagecoach with ex-con John Wayne and dance hall girl Claire Trevor riding of into the sunset for a life of resspectabilty

Brief Encounter

Shadowlands has a true and sad ending

Random Harvest

[ChiO]

Mr. Arkadin said:

Some films that are romantic to me:

Day of Wrath (1943)

Yikes! Now I have to pull it off the shelf and watch it yet again. Love the movie, but "romantic" is not a descriptor of it for me.

The "romantic" movie that never fails to have me in tears at the end is KING KONG (only the original -- the other two have me in tears, but that's for a different reason). LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN, BRIEF ENCOUNTER, and DR. ZHIVAGO (yeah, I'm a sentimental old fool -- but it's the Guinness-Tushingham ending that gets to me, not Sharif's death scene) follow closely.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I find the doomed romance between Anne and Martin, a fleeting moment of sunshine in a very dark film. It's interesting though that the sun never shines on their love. The outdoor scenes where they are together seem to be shot at dusk (much like Vampyr's shots) as the film is awash with gray. The brightest outdoor scenes are the burning of the witch.

[ChiO]

Mr. Arkadin said:

I find the doomed romace between Anne and Martin, a fleeting moment of sunshine in a very dark film.

There is only one word in the above that I question and, therefore, providing cause for me to watch (with pleasure) again, that word being "romance". It certainly is "doomed" and it is a "relationship", but the incestuous aspect of the relationship is an impediment for me viewing it as a "romance". If it provides "a fleeting moment of sunshine", it may be because it sheds light on the extent of the sickness that pervades every soul.

Of course, the only character I believe and have any empathy for is the "witch". What a brilliant film and, for me, perhaps the best early non-American film noir. Nobody has a happy path out of their plight.

The feel-good movie of the year! I'll try to watch it tonight -- at the coldest and darkest hour.