My 10 Favorite Movie Kisses: An Eccentric but Hopelessly Old-Fashioned ListFeb 28 '08 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Some of my very favorite romantic movie moments.
Valentines Day has come and gone, but in honor of this season of romance, and to celebrate my 400th review, I thought I would present my list of 10 all-time favorite movie kisses. One caveat before we start: although I’m placing this under the "favorite romantic movies" listing, not all of the movies on my list would qualify as romantic movies, though romance is clearly an element in all of them. Some are musicals, some comedies, some historical dramas. I’ve even included a sports film! My favorite movie kisses don’t tend to be the obvious romantic Hollywood moments. I did briefly consider listing the kiss between Frances Stephens (Grace Kelly) and John Robie (Cary Grant) in 1955’s To Catch A Thief directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Their cool elegance and the literal fireworks that bloom outside the window during their embrace certainly make it a memorable moment. But in addition to being an old-fashioned romantic, I am also someone who loves stories with endearing, complex, or even quirky characters. I like movie kisses to surprise me: by their tenderness, or the way they surprise the characters themselves. Anticipation is another element: the best movie kisses should be something that an audience hopes for, roots for, and doesn’t mind waiting to see! Rather than trying to rank my favorites, I’ll present my top ten in chronological order, beginning with the oldest film. Without further ado, let me present my quirky and hopelessly old-fashioned list. “Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?” Jo Hayden (Judy Garland) and Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) in 1942’s For Me and My Gal directed by Busby Berkeley. I could have chosen any number of romantic scenes involving Gene Kelly. Any Kelly kiss is tender and dashing. But this kiss, from his earliest (and not very well known) film, co-starring the wonderful Judy Garland, is probably my favorite. I think it’s the way realization dawns across Harry’s face after the kiss. Jo has known for a long time that she loves him, but Harry’s been clueless up until this moment. And it breaks all across his merry Irish features all at once. “Now, you listen to me! I don't want any plastics, and I don't want any ground floors, and I don't want to get married - ever - to anyone! You understand that? I want to do what I want to do. And you're... and you're...” Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) and George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) in 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra. Does it get any better than the romantic chemistry between Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart in this movie? I chose their first kiss, the phone-dropping, speech-stopping, tear-inducing, you-know-this-is-the-moment-that-will-completely-change-our-lives kiss. George Bailey’s intensity and Mary’s faithfulness are romantic dynamite. I’ve heard that they actually got this scene in one take. I guess you just don’t mess with perfection. “It’s all in the family…” Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) and Linus Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart) in 1954’s Sabrina directed by Billy Wilder. Humphrey Bogart was one of the most unromantic looking people in the world. And yet there was something about his lined, asymmetrical face, his odd voice and his expressive eyes that made him attractive. Despite the fact that he was years too old for the part of Linus, Humphrey made it work, and the best moment is one of the earliest: when he surprises young, romantic, stars-in-her eyes Sabrina on the tennis court, waiting for a moonlit rendezvous with his irresponsible younger brother David. After champagne and a slow dance, he startles her and us with a swooping kiss. The fine 1995 remake of this film kept the kiss but had Sabrina (Julia Ormond) slap Linus (Harrison Ford). I love Humphrey and Audrey’s understated reaction so much better: her eyes widen in shock, but then as they turn, you see his widen in even more alarm. “We're alike, me and cat. A couple of poor nameless slobs.” Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) and Paul “Fred” Varjak (George Peppard) in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s directed by Blake Edwards, based on novella by Truman Capote. (“Cat” by the way, was really named Orangey. Go figure.) This eccentric little movie wreaks havoc with my emotions, though I’ve never entirely understood its magic. It’s a very strange romance, to put it mildly. But I can’t help it, every time I see Holly and Paul embrace in that drenching rain with her poor, nameless Cat smushed between them (looking as long-suffering as a cat can look) my heart wrenches. No one but Audrey Hepburn could have brought such poignancy to the role of Holly, a lost waif of a woman who is terrified that loving and being loved in return might bring captivity, not freedom. When you finally see her open the door to her heart, it’s heart-breaking. “You brought music back into the house. I had forgotten.” Maria (Julie Andrews) and Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) in 1965’s The Sound of Music directed by Robert Wise. Romance starts here for me. I’ve been in love with Christopher Plummer since I was nine. That was when I first saw this film, on the big screen, when a local theater brought it back. I know many people find this movie cloying or sentimental, but I still love it. Plummer’s Captain is handsome, austere and reserved, and Andrews’ Maria is bright, winsome, and exuberant. When they finally admit they’ve fallen for one another, the silhouetted scene in the gazebo is full of tenderness and even touches of humor. When the Captain gently cradles her face and then tenderly touches her nose with his finger, you just know this is a man whose heart has finally and completely melted. “You know, if everyone is as nice as you, country hospitality is gonna get an awful name.” Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) and Miss Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey) in 1986’s Hoosiers directed by David Anspaugh. Okay, let the heckling begin. This movie is so not a romance, and the romantic sub-plot is (unfortunately) not well developed. But the moments between the middle-aged, supposedly washed-up Coach and the prickly, small-town, never-got-to-realize-my dreams teacher are terrific. That these two people find each other feels astonishing, and the fact that their kiss, out in the Indiana fields, looks a bit chaste and awkward is totally fitting. We really don’t get enough screen time with these two, but what we get is well worth it. And hey, it’s a good basketball movie too. “I said a prayer for the planting of new trees.” Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving) and Sam Posner (Peter Riegert) in 1988’s Crossing Delancey directed by Joan Micklin Silver. Another odd little film that I love. It’s based on a play, and its wonderful Jewish neighborhood setting makes me miss the neighborhood in which I grew up. Izzy is a sophisticated bookseller and Sam sells homemade pickles in an outdoor market. They share a heritage, yet there seems to be an unbridgeable gap in between them nonetheless, because of very different ways they’ve chosen to live their lives. The kiss comes near the very end of the film, and is so different from what we expect, with Sam’s tender declaration that he said a special prayer just that morning in anticipation of this moment. Perhaps a strange thing for him to admit to contemporary and seemingly secular Izzy, and yet it moves her as much as it moves us. “Not without a token…” Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) and Jack Callaghan (Bill Pullman) in 1995’s While You Were Sleeping directed by Jon Turteltaub. While this romantic comedy and even the kiss itself can feel a bit predictable, there’s still something wonderfully bittersweet and funny about Jack and Lucy’s blossoming love. When they finally kiss, they kiss inside a toll booth, which is precisely where the story started. What makes the moment so compelling is that Jack’s whole family is on the other side of the booth, watching them and grinning madly. Given how important their acceptance of Lucy has been for her emotional growth and healing, it’s a great touch…and is the main reason I include this moment on my list. “He is a gentleman, I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal.” Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Colin Firth) in 1995’s mini-series Pride and Prejudice directed by Simon Langton. Equal they are, the ultimate soul-mates. And this is the ultimate Austen adaptation, loved by all fans of her beautiful novel. Of course, no one ever kisses in Austen’s novels…she draws a discreet curtain around those moments. But it doesn’t take much imagination to extrapolate from her genteel prose, and the kiss – this five plus hour film’s closing moment – is completely worth waiting for. Lizzy and Darcy kiss as their wedding carriage rolls away from the church. And we’ve finally, finally! seen a real smile from the reserved, buttoned up Darcy, just moments before he leans in to kiss his bride. “I tried to forget you... I thought I had.” Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) and Captain Wentworth (Ciardan Hinds) in 1995’s Persuasion directed by Roger Michell. What can I say...I’m an Austen fan. This is one of the loveliest and most creative of moments in any of the films inspired by her books. Anne and Wentworth had been apart for eight years, and neither could quite dare to dream they’d ever find themselves together again. The camera focuses on their clinging hands as they draw close, and in a moment of utter whimsy, a circus goes by as they kiss and then walk joyfully down the road, oblivious to the acrobats and animals. It’s a strange moment that works…the whole crazy world going by, and the two of them, so quiet and still and finally at rest in one another’s love, just strolling along. “Stories don't always end where their authors intended. But there is joy in following them, wherever they take us.” Beatrix Potter (Rene Zellweger) and Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) in 2006’s Miss Potter directed by Chris Noonan. The saddest kiss. Zellweger and McGregor almost made me weep with their portrayals of Beatrix and Norman, mostly because I already knew the end of their story. Their shining joy, as they kiss on a rainy train platform, feels utterly believable – and as fleeting and ephemeral as the mists that swirl around them. And there you have it: an eccentric yet hopelessly old-fashioned list of my favorite movie kisses. ~befus, 2008  |
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