# Recommend a Classic Romance Movie -- Need Answer Sort of Fast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445 "2016-02-07T18:09:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/1 "2016-02-07T18:09:46Z")
I am thinking of buying my wife several classic ( pre- 1960) Romance movies for Valentine’s Day. Like the typical incompetent guy, it is the last minute and I probably have to place the order in the next couple of days in order to get them here by the 14th. Help! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/2 "2016-02-07T18:25:41Z")
_ **Casablanca** _. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/3 "2016-02-07T18:39:44Z")
You lost me at pre-1960. Does it have to be pre-1960. Kudos for planning ahead. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/4 "2016-02-07T18:42:06Z")
[Brief Encounter](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003094-brief_encounter/) is a true classic from David Lean ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/5 "2016-02-07T18:43:56Z")
[The Quiet Man (1952)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_54) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/6 "2016-02-07T18:48:55Z")
_Sabrina Holiday Bringing Up Baby The Philadelphia Story (I’m seeing a theme here) Wuthering Heights_ ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/7 "2016-02-07T18:50:23Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > You lost me at pre-1960. Does it have to be pre-1960. > > Kudos for planning ahead. 😃 Well, the idea is for older movies. The vision I have is for “timeless love”, which hopefully will be implied from the older pictures. It would be great to find something well-acted and written… but not overly well known now. I am struggling to describe what I mean. My wife enjoys romance novels and Lifetime movies ( though she would never admit this to her peers). Still, quality is important. The plot and acting should have received some critical acclaim. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/8 "2016-02-07T18:55:58Z")
Well if it’s True Love you’re after, go no further than _The Princess Bride_. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/9 "2016-02-07T18:59:04Z")
_An Affair to Remember_ with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, 1957 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/10 "2016-02-07T19:04:06Z")
Is a happy ending required? Several movies mentioned here are classics but awfully sad. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/11 "2016-02-07T19:11:50Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Is a happy ending required? Several movies mentioned here are classics but awfully sad. Quality is most important, but I hope for happiness. Love winning out at the end is kind of a nice message, even if in real life that is often not the case. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/12 "2016-02-07T19:15:49Z")
_It Happened One Night_, with Claudetted Colbert and Clark Gable. It’s not all romance, but it has two people falling in love and being happy in the end. One of only three movies ever to win the top five Oscars. Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress, Best Dirctor and Best Producer. Lots of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/13 "2016-02-07T19:15:58Z")
_Notorious_ (the 1946 Hitchcock film, not the Biggie Smalls biopic). It’s terribly romantic but also a great suspense film, thereby avoiding the ‘chick flick’ label. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/14 "2016-02-07T19:47:43Z")
_Rear Window_ and _To Catch a Thief_. Rawr. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/15 "2016-02-07T20:13:48Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Well, the idea is for older movies. The vision I have is for “timeless love”, which hopefully will be implied from the older pictures. It would be great to find something well-acted and written… but not overly well known now. > > I am struggling to describe what I mean. My wife enjoys romance novels and Lifetime movies ( though she would never admit this to her peers). > > Still, quality is important. The plot and acting should have received some critical acclaim. Thanks. If it’s “timeless love,” you’re looking for, what about [Portrait of Jennie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040705/)? Artist Joseph Cotton meets the spirit of a young girl from the past who should become his true love as a grown woman, only something happened to her before they met in life. Can he change that fate? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/16 "2016-02-07T20:23:30Z")
One of my absolute favorites. From 1924,[“Girl Shy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsB1VGu5Lls) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/17 "2016-02-07T20:26:14Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > _An Affair to Remember_ with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, 1957 This is a remake of Love Affair with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Get the original. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/18 "2016-02-07T20:34:55Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > _It Happened One Night_, with Claudetted Colbert and Clark Gable. It’s not all romance, but it has two people falling in love and being happy in the end. One of only three movies ever to win the top five Oscars. Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress, Best Dirctor and Best Producer. Lots of humor. Best Picture and “Best Producer” are the same award, btw. I think you meant to write “Best Screenplay” (either original or adapted)… ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/19 "2016-02-07T20:37:08Z")
_The Shop Around The Corner_ (1940) with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. The Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan rom-com _You’ve Got Mail_, while not a remake, cribs some elements from it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445/20 "2016-02-07T22:44:52Z")
_ **Roman Holiday** _. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-classic-romance-movie-need-answer-sort-of-fast/745445.md?page=2)