Who doesn't love a great love story, whether we're reading it or watching it? I've been talking about "top five most romantic" lately, from real life couples to fictional couples. Now let's talk romantic movies. Here are my top five in no particular order.
Casablanca (1942) – This romantic drama, set during World War II, tells the story of embittered ex-patriot, Rick Blaine, and his former lover, Ilsa Lund. Rick, who owns an upscale club in Casablanca, finds his life is turned upside down when Ilsa and her husband Victor Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance leader walk into his club.
Laszlo and Ilsa are trying to escape to America so he can continue his work against the German occupation.
Rick and Ilsa rekindle their love affair, and Rick promises to help Laszlo escape while leading Ilsa to believe that she will stay behind with him. Rick finds he must choose between love and honor. In the end, Rick makes Ilsa escape with her husband, telling her she will regret it someday if she doesn’t, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergmann’s performance brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. No wonder it’s the American Film Institute’s (AFI) number one most passionate film of all time.
Shakespeare in Love (1998) – This delightful romantic comedy depicts a fictional love story
between the great playwright, William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes, and his muse, Viola de Lesseps, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Rich with references to Shakespeare’s works, the film is amusing and the screenplay witty. Shakespeare is writing Romeo and Juliet at the time, but is suffering from writer’s block. Once he meets Viola, the words flow, the imagination soars and he finishes the play. Clearly, their secret love affair serves as the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet, especially since the lovers know their future is doomed. Shakespeare is married, and Viola is being sold off by her father to marry Lord Wessex (played by the yummy Colin Firth).
Viola marries Wessex, and Viola and Shakespeare part, resigned to their fates. The film ends with Shakespeare drafting the beginnings of Twelfth Night, Viola still his muse, as he imagines her washed up on the beach of a foreign land following a shipwreck, "For she will be my heroine for all time, and her name will be ... Viola.”
Pride and Prejudice (1995 BBC Production) – Of course you knew this had to make the list, since Elizabeth and Darcy is my number one most romantic couple of all times. With the 200th Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice last month, I celebrated the momentous occasion by watching for the umpteenth time my DVD of the mini-series. Jennifer Ehl and Colin Firth will, in my mind, always be the Elizabeth and Darcy.
Emma (1996) – This is my favorite depiction of Jane Austen’s sparkling romantic comedy destined
some 150 years later for the silver screen. The cast is marvelous, including the snotty Mr. Elton, played with perfection by Alan Cumming. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a vivacious, sharp-witted Emma to Jeremy Northam’s gentle Mr. Knightley.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) – One of my mother’s favorite movies, I saw this the first time when I was a young girl, and have loved it ever since. A young widow, Lucy Muir, played by Gene Tierney, and her daughter, move into Gull Cottage, reputedly haunted by its former owner, sea captain Daniel Gregg, played by Rex Harrison. Gregg appears to her on her first night in the cottage. Lucy is not afraid of him and finds him handsome, in a harmlessly roguish sort of way. After Lucy’s income dries up, Gregg offers to dictate his life story to her for a book. Their connection grows during this time, and the ribald memoir becomes a bestseller.
In the meantime, she meets a real live man, Miles, and falls in love. After he proposes to her, Gregg decides to leave her to her life, telling her in her sleep that he was only a dream. She later learns that Miles is already married. She lives out her long life in peace in the cottage.
**Spoiler Alert** At the moment of her death, Captain Gregg appears. Reaching out, he lifts her young spirit free of her body and the two walk arm-in-arm out the front door and into the fog to spend all of eternity together. Gets me every time.
The Young Victoria (2009) – This beautifully crafted film starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend,
depicts the story of Queen Victoria, before she ascends the throne, through her early years as Queen, and her courtship and marriage of Prince Albert. If you read my
June 11th blog post, you know the story of their great love affair, which is one of enduring passion, deep commitment, and touching remembrance.
Other romantic movies that deserve recognition include
An Affair to Remember,
Out of Africa, and
Gone with the Wind.
Your turn. What are your favorite romantic movies?
who refuses to listen to her friend George Knightley when it comes to
arranging marriages. Emma is stubbornly certain she knows the best match for
all involved. The complications Emma runs into, with Austen’s cast of droll
characters, each mistaken in their beliefs as to who loves whom, including Emma
herself, makes for delightful comedy. Emma must learn she isn’t always right,
but it takes a spark of jealousy to make her realize she has loved Mr.
Knightley all along. 
