# 100 Most Romantic Scenes in Movie History **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784 "2004-03-17T04:04:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/21 "2004-03-17T17:55:21Z")
> [@flight](#): > > **rjk** , don’t you mean #1 and #2? I suppose they could be #1 and #2, although they’re really inseparable. It never occurred to me to number them. That last scene mentioned by **plnnr** is great too (“We’ll always have Paris.” is a tear-jerker for sure.), but it doesn’t quite make it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/22 "2004-03-17T21:41:29Z")
1. Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and Brick (Paul Newman) are reconciled in their bedroom at the end of _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ (1958). 2. Any of the romantic interludes between Norman Shearer and Roman Novarro in _The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg_ (1927). When I watched it, I thought, yes, _this_ is how it feels to fall in love. 3. Debra Winger and Richard Gere in _An Officer and a Gentleman_. 4. Judy Garland and Robert Walker take a walk through Central Park at night in _The Clock_ (1944), back when that was romantic not scary. 5. Ditto what **flight** said about _Roman Holiday_. 6. Joel McCrea makes love to Jean Arthur in _The More the Merrier_ (1943) as she tries to maintain her composure, but slowly melts at his kisses. 7. Anything romantic with Juliette Binoche. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/23 "2004-03-17T22:19:52Z")
1. Rudolf Nureyev “plays” Nastassja Kinski’s body by seductively caressing her all over with a cello bow in _Exposed_ (1983). 2. Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis slow dancing to the car radio in _Witness_ (1985). 3. It’s not a movie, but . . . [that Volkswagen Cabrio commercial](http://media.eurotuned.com/vwcommercials_nolinking/Cabrio-pink-moon-night-drive.mov) with the two young couples riding with the top down on a country road at night, under the silver-blue light of the moon and stars, with Nick Drake singing _Pink Moon_. One of the loveliest, most romantic things I ever saw. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/24 "2004-03-17T22:28:28Z")
#2: I meant _Norma_ Shearer. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/25 "2004-03-17T23:27:16Z")
Quote: by gigi Originally Posted by Baker Rhett Butler grabbing Scarlett and carrying her up that grand stairway, into the darkness. Then, next morning, she’s stretching in bed and singing to herself. Eeep, I always thought of this as a marital rape scene–all she needed was a good lay and she’s happy again. No offense, but not my idea of romantic. Well, _gee_ **gigi** , I’m sorry if my ideas of romanticism aren’t the same as yours. I thought this was a thread where we could post the scenes _we_ thought were romantic, not one to run down the choice of another. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/26 "2004-03-17T23:48:56Z")
It’s from a TV show, not a movie, but it’s still the single most romantic thing I’ve ever seen. From Buffy: The Vampire Slayer: > [@](#): > > Willow: (after a pause) Do you wanna make out with me? > > Oz: What? > > Willow: (looks away) Forget it. I’m sorry. (decides she wants to know) > Well, do you? > > Oz: Sometimes when I’m sitting in class… You know, I’m not thinking > about class, 'cause that would never happen. I think about kissing you. > And it’s like everything stops. It’s like, it’s like freeze frame. > Willow kissage. > > _He nods his head and smiles to himself. Willow smiles over at him. He > looks up at her._ > > Oz: Oh, I’m not gonna kiss you. > > Willow: (confused) What? But freeze frame! > > Oz: Well, to the casual observer, it would appear that you’re trying to > make your friend Xander jealous or even the score or something. And > that’s on the empty side. (looks off into space) See, in my fantasy when > I’m kissing _you_, you’re kissing _me_. I’m straight, but after that, _I_ want him to kiss me. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/27 "2004-03-17T23:56:30Z")
The “phone call” scene with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in _It’s a Wonderful Life_ ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/28 "2004-03-17T23:58:42Z")
Well, _Punch Drunk Love_ has been mentioned. _Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain_ - At the end when she opens the door and Nino is standing there. _After The Thin Man_ - Jimmy Stewart and the girl he’s lost to another are talking about their past romance. “You can’t just keep loving someone if they don’t love you back.” Stewart softly says “It’s been done.” _Sunrise_ - After they get off the boat in the city, and The Man is trying to convince The Wife that he loves her. Especially in the cafe. The final scene from _Notorious_. ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/29 "2004-03-18T00:00:21Z")
Modern classic: The wordless ending of Lost in Translation ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/30 "2004-03-18T00:07:35Z")
**Out of Africa** - Robert Redford washes Meryl Streep’s hair outdoors. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/31 "2004-03-18T01:44:30Z")
My submission to this thread is the scene in **The English Patient** , when Ralph Fiennes flies back to the cave where Kristin Scott Thomas has died, carries her body out, and flies off. Sure, she’s dead, but he went to a lot of trouble to get back to her and not just abandon her, even though that would be easy to do. Every time I watch that scene, I miss what happens next, because I’m off on a crying jag, upset at the waste of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/32 "2004-03-18T19:38:56Z")
Well I’m a sucker for a happy ending, so SPOILERS - “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” : Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard and “Cat” huddling together in the rain as “Moon River” plays. “Love in the Afternoon”: Audrey Hepburn (again) confessing she loves Gary Cooper as his train his pulling out of the station, and him snatching her up and pulling her into the car. “Beautiful Thing”: the two guys slow dancing together, and the ‘gals’ following suit. (a bit hokey, but cute.) “Rear Window”: 1. Grace Kelly swooping in to kiss Jimmy Stewart, and 2. the ending; the camera swoops around the courtyard to show all the little dramas in all the windows have ended, and Jimmy Stewart (now with TWO broken legs) sleeps in his chair. Grace flips through a wildlife photography magazine until she knows Stewart’s fast asleep, then pulls out Vogue. (Guess you have to see the whole movie to get it, but it’s very, very sweet.) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/33 "2004-03-18T20:36:14Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Well, _gee_ **gigi** , I’m sorry if my ideas of romanticism aren’t the same as yours. I thought this was a thread where we could post the scenes _we_ thought were romantic, not one to run down the choice of another. Well, I knew I was running a risk in offering a different interpretation, and I am sorry I offended you. I guess it’s like someone saying “I think ‘Every Breath You Take’ is really romantic”, and someone responding with “You do know that’s about a stalker, right?” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/34 "2004-03-18T20:44:50Z")
When Daniel Day-Lewis (as Hawkeye) shouts to Madeleine Stowe under the waterfall in "Last of the Mohicans: “Stay alive, no matter what. Stay alive and I’ll find you.” ::swoon:: ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/35 "2004-03-18T21:29:56Z")
Re GWTW: No matter what your personal interpretation is, you should know that in the book Margaret Mitchell is very sympathetic to Rhett. Scarlett is giddy with pleasure after the incident because she was finally able to banish Ashley out of her mind and enjoy Rhett’s physicality. Rhett, for his part, was wrecked with guilt and very remorseful. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/36 "2004-03-18T22:00:50Z")
John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, drenched with rain, kissing in the cemetery in _The Quiet Man_. ::sigh:: ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/37 "2004-03-18T22:04:57Z")
**Somewhere in Time** Pretty sappy movie overall, but there’s this one scene where Elise (Jane Seymour) is on stage and spots Richard (Christopher Reeves) in the audience distracting her from her lines. The actress playing the maid, trying to get her back on track, asks what her perfect lover would be like and looking Richard in the eye, she extemporizes for about a minute about _him_, enthralling the audience. Shaking that off, she gets back in character and the spell is broken. DD ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/38 "2004-03-18T22:41:57Z")
Actually, **Gigi** , it’s more like saying “Well, it’s about a stalker, and I don’t find stalkers romantic at all, but whatever. No offense, though.” When I think romantic movie scenes, the first thing that springs to mind is the spaghetti scene from _Lady and the Tramp_, followed closely by the boombox scene from _Say Anything_. ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/39 "2004-03-18T22:50:43Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > My submission to this thread is the scene in **The English Patient** , when Ralph Fiennes flies back to the cave where Kristin Scott Thomas has died, carries her body out, and flies off. Sure, she’s dead, but he went to a lot of trouble to get back to her and not just abandon her, even though that would be easy to do. Every time I watch that scene, I miss what happens next, because I’m off on a crying jag, upset at the waste of their lives. Yeah, uh… have you read the book? They really romanticized the heck out of this part. In the books it’s uh… well read it, if you want it to shred this scene for you. Cheers! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784/40 "2004-03-18T22:57:37Z")
In _Dream for an Insomniac_ (this is going to be a spoiler), after Frankie has moved to LA, David suddenly disappears, and she spends hours calling every single Schrader family in Michigan, just to find his parents, so she can find out where he is. He, meanwhile, is rushing to her apartment in LA. He arrives and they make love and Frankie is finally able to sleep for the first time since she was six, because David has filled in a missing place in her life. _sigh_ Not grand and moving or anything, but _sigh_. Of course, there’s that scene in FoTR where Arwen gives Aragorn the Evenstar, and she says “It is mine to give to whom I will . . . like my heart,” when he protests. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-most-romantic-scenes-in-movie-history/234784.md?page=3)