Classic Favorites
Casablanca (1942) — An intense love triangle between a jaded nightclub owner in French-occupied Morocco during World War II (Humphrey Bogart), his ex-lover (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, a famous Czech rebel and nationalist (Paul Heinreid), is at the center of this movie, which is perhaps the greatest love story ever committed to film.
Gone With the Wind (1939) — The beautiful and scheming Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is a Southern belle whose world changes forever with the outbreak of the Civil War. Obsessed by her first love, who is married to another, Scarlett struggles to survive the war and its aftermath, as well as her passionate, tortured relationship with the man who may be her soul mate, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
Roman Holiday (1953) — This romantic comedy stars Audrey Hepburn as the bored Princess Anne, who escapes her entourage during a diplomatic visit to Rome and sets out to have fun, aided by a handsome American newspaper reporter (Gregory Peck) who angles for an exclusive interview but ends up--surprise!--falling in love with her.
From Here to Eternity (1953) — Set on an army base in Hawaii in the days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, this film is the story of the love affair between a sergeant (Burt Lancaster) and the wife (Deborah Kerr) of his commanding officer. Watch for the famous beach scene, when Lancaster and Kerr kiss in the sand as the waves crash over them.
An Affair to Remember (1957) — Terry (Deborah Kerr) and Nickie (Cary Grant) meet and fall in love on a ship traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. Both engaged to other people, they say goodbye, but agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months if their feelings remain the same.
History, Adventure and Romance
Doctor Zhivago (1965) — Omar Sharif is the poet and doctor Yuri Zhivago, who is married to his childhood sweetheart, Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) but carries on a passionate affair with the beautiful, troubled Lara (Julie Christie) against the tumultuous backdrop of the Russian Revolution.
Out of Africa (1985) — Based on the autobiography of the Danish writer Isak Dinesen, this movie stars Meryl Streep in one of her most celebrated performances. As a young wife largely abandoned by her husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer) on a plantation in Nairobi, she interacts with the native population and falls in love with an aristocratic hunter (Robert Redford).
The English Patient (1996) — Set against the backdrop of World War II, this beautifully filmed movie flashes back and forth between the love affair of Count Laszlo Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) and a married woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) in North Africa and an abandoned monastery in Italy, where a Canadian nurse (Juliette Binoche) cares for Almasy, now unrecognizable after being horribly burned in a plane crash.
Shakespeare in Love (1998) — A fun imagining of the young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), who struggles with writer's block until he meets a rich young woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who also secretly disguises herself as a man in order to play the lead in Shakespeare's new play, which will become Romeo and Juliet.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) — In pursuit of a stolen jade sword and seeking to avenge the murderer of his master, the great Chinese warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) enlists the help of Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). Their barely acknowledged love for each other forms the heart of this fantastic martial arts drama, along with the more openly passionate relationship between a rich, rebellious young woman (Zhang Ziyi) and her bandit lover Lo (Chen Chang).
Offbeat Romances
The Princess Bride (1987) — This comedy, a tongue-in-cheek version of a classic fairy tale, tells the story of Wesley (Cary Elwes), a poor stable boy who returns from adventures at sea to rescue his true love, the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright), who has been chosen to marry an evil prince. This sweet, sentimental love story is energized by hilarious supporting performances by Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin and Andre the Giant, among others.
Say Anything (1989) — This charming movie about an improbable match--between the sweet, unambitious kickboxer (John Cusack) and the beautiful, sheltered valedictorian of his high school class (Ione Skye)--undoubtedly caused countless teenage girls (and many women) to long for someone to serenade them with a boombox, as Cusack's character does in what is arguably the film's most classic scene.
When Harry Met Sally (1989) — A modern classic for romantic comedy lovers (especially for those who secretly pine for one of their "platonic" friends), this movie follows two college classmates (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) into adulthood, exploring the question: Can men and women really be friends?
Out of Sight (1998) — The movie's most talked-about scene takes place in the trunk of a getaway car, where a federal marshal (Jennifer Lopez) is locked with a bank robber and prison escapee (George Clooney), only to have sparks fly. The unlikely romance continues over the course of this crime caper, based on a novel by Elmore Leonard.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) — Jim Carrey stars in this terrifically quirky, sometimes off-the-wall romance as a man who discovers that his girlfriend (Kate Winslet) has had her memories of him erased from her mind through a pioneering experimental procedure. He tracks down the doctor (Tom Wilkinson) to have the same procedure done to himself, only to decide that he doesn't really want to forget her.
He first saw her in Sunday school when he was six years old and she was just five. "She had golden curls and beautiful blue eyes," he recalled. They graduated from high school together in 1901, but went their separate ways -- he moved to Kansas City and she to Colorado for a year -- until becoming reacquainted nine years later. It was then that Truman, who once wrote of Bess, "I thought she was the most beautiful and the sweetest person on earth," began his first and longest campaign -- to win the heart of Bess Wallace.
Sadly, most of her letters to him have been lost to history. After showering Bess with attention and letters for more than a year, Harry proposed to her in 1911, but she turned him down. He persisted, and eventually she fell in love with him. He had a standing invitation to dinner at the Wallace home on Sundays, often sleeping across the street, afterwards, on the floor of his cousins' house because travel between Grandview and Independence was arduous. To win her favor -- she was from a wealthy family -- and better his prospects, he entered into a series of business ventures -- mining, drilling for oil, and other speculations -- most ending in disappointment. Although he also served as Grandview postmaster and as a county road overseer, his future remained uncertain.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial -- which probably occurred around 270 A.D -- others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February -- Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)