# Your Favorite Tearjerker? ("Now Voyager" On TCM Sun., May 23) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687 "2004-05-23T20:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/1 "2004-05-23T20:40:31Z")
I’m so hard-boiled you could roll me on the White House lawn, but [this film](http://imdb.com/title/tt0035140/) never fails to reduce me to mascara-ruining sobs the moment the opening music wells up. Maybe because the plot bears a really eerie resemblance to my own life (to the point where certain lines make co-viewing friends look at me and guffaw) . . . But I am a sucker for this movie. Which films–old, new, good, bad?–are you helpless to resist, no matter how many times you say, “I will _not cry_ this time?” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/2 "2004-05-23T21:17:31Z")
I didn’t cry when E.T. _died_. I cried at the scene where the kids reveal him to their mother. She’s scared and makes them leave him. ET reaches out his hand and bawls. He’s sick, dying, and now he’s being abandoned. Get’s me everytime. Also the scene in _Barry Lyndon_ that show’s the child’s funeral procession. I saw it in the theater, and when that music came up I put my head on my husband’s shoulder and cried my eyes out. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/3 "2004-05-23T21:32:32Z")
I do cry everytime E.T. dies, but not so much for him as for the little boy. I always cry when Beth dies in _Little Women_. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/4 "2004-05-23T22:12:37Z")
I was having a minor fit at the notion of **Eve** ’s friends cracking up about her funny brain tumor until I realized I was thinking about _Dark Victory_. Can’t think of any films off the top of my head but I can’t watch the “Class Protector” scene from the prom episode of “Buffy” without choking up. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/5 "2004-05-23T22:17:17Z")
_The Mighty_ (1998) - both when Freak dies and at the very end. Also, let me be the first to say _Dead Poets Society_. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/6 "2004-05-24T02:24:51Z")
**Brian’s Song**. Every single time. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/7 "2004-05-24T02:41:25Z")
For some reason _It’s a Wonderful Life_ gets me every time. And I’ve probably seen it more than any other film. (Two scenes especially – “Buffalo Gal” smashing record scene, and of course, that damn ending…) Recently I saw a film that made me lose it, something I rarely do at the cinema. Sure, the occasional misty eyes or tear – but almost never a serious outpour. The film was _In America_, at the very end. Now I found the film to be excellent, though pretty seriously flawed – didn’t like Mateo, found some things implausible and unbelievable, too sentimental, etc. But at the end, when the little girl turns to her father, I was overwhelmed. It was such an emotional surprise, such a kick in the gut, that I found myself completely shattered. Just beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/8 "2004-05-24T03:55:24Z")
[A Patch of Blue](http://imdb.com/title/tt0059573/)- a blind girl (Elizabeth Hartman) who lives with her absolute horror of mother (Shelley Winters [who won an Oscar for the role]) and alcoholic grandfather meets and falls in love with a black intellectual (Sidney Poitier), oblivious to the racial differences (though her mother certainly isn’t when she learns of it). The movie’s about as subtle as a chainsaw in a sound well, but it works and the “I been done over” scene gets me everytime (as does the knowledge that Hartman jumped to her death from an 8th story window several years after the movie). _Harold & Maude_ I challenge anybody to remain dry eyed after seeing this one the first time _The Miracle Worker_- the Patty Duke version only; it was remade twice with each remake being worse than the preceding. (The most recent starred the kid from the Pepsi commercials, featured Lucas Black [who IRL _is_ from North Alabama] speaking in a godawfully fake southern accent when his real voice would have more than sufficed as authentic and, worst of all, a politically corrected sideplot from the original featuring him and his father.) **MY ULTIMATE TEARJERKER** [Truman Capote’s A CHRISTMAS MEMORY](http://imdb.com/title/tt0165996/) - the original version narrated by Tru and starring Geraldine Page would make Saddam Hussein blubber. (I’ve also seen a stage adaptation [a Two-act play in which the First Act is ‘Thanksgiving Visitor’ and the 8 year old Tru was played by an adult] that was just as powerful.) The TV film was pointlessly and abominably remade with Patty Duke (who short-circuits her Helen Keller points) a few years ago in a version that should be totally forgotten and for which Duke should be fined- it had NONE of the pathos of the original due in large part to being rewritten as a showcase for Duke. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/9 "2004-05-24T03:56:02Z")
The very end of _12 Monkeys_, as young Bruce Willis is going back to the car with his parents. The fact that “What a Wonderful World” is playing during this scene may be what really gets me. ---
**Author:** ![Riqay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Riqay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riqay)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/10 "2004-05-24T04:45:42Z")
_Casablanca_. Just thinking about Rick and Ilsa … I know exactly how he feels – one day she’s there and the next day she’s gone – and it gets to me every time. Speaking of _Buffy_ moments, I always well up during the final ep of season 2 when Buffy has to kill Angel to save the world from Acathla. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/11 "2004-05-24T06:56:39Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Which films–old, new, good, bad?–are you helpless to resist, no matter how many times you say, “I will _not cry_ this time?” Old: **Now Voyager** - yes, I’m with you on that. New: **Big Fish** - when young Will is telling his father the story at the end. Good: **Moulin Rouge!** - it’s not about Satine’s death, it’s about Christian’s _reaction_\* that leaves me in breathless tears. Bad: **The Promise** - a truly wretched movie that I absolutely adore, just because of Kathleen Quinlan. Everything about it is awful, but she shines, is so beautiful (inside and, after the plastic surgery, out), and I cry for her every time. One more… Unusual: **The Iron Giant** - who’da thought I’d go blubbering over an animated pile of metal?? Ok, two more… Special mention for **The Elephant Man** - I don’t even want to _know_ anyone who doesn’t cry while whatching this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/12 "2004-05-24T06:57:45Z")
Sigh. Preview preview preview. Why can’t I remember to preview? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/13 "2004-05-24T09:50:04Z")
\*\*Out of Africa Dances With Wolves What Dreams May Come Legends of the Fall\*\* ---
**Author:** ![SaxFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SaxFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaxFace)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/14 "2004-05-24T11:48:17Z")
_sigh_ “Now, Voyager!” Oh, that is the best one of all. Thanks again for letting me borrow your book, Eve, reading it was so satisfying. I gave it back to you, right?! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/15 "2004-05-24T12:42:02Z")
**Terms of Endearment** When Debra Winger has to say goodbye to her two sons…boy, that’s rough. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/16 "2004-05-24T13:25:17Z")
**Equipoise** , _The Iron Giant_ gets me every single time too. I love that movie. Another one that always gets the tears flowing is _Homeward Bound: The Incredible Jouney_. The people who play humans (as opposed to animals) in this movie are just terrible, and it’s really hard to watch. But at the end, when that old dog comes limping over the hill after everyone thought he was a goner…man, I just lose it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/17 "2004-05-24T13:52:23Z")
> [@SaxFace](#): > > _sigh_ “Now, Voyager!” Oh, that is the best one of all. Thanks again for letting me borrow your book, Eve, reading it was so satisfying. I gave it back to you, right?! Which book was that? Yep, sobbed my way through _Now Voyager_ again and winced at some of the scenes that hit too close to home . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/18 "2004-05-24T13:58:37Z")
\*Old Yeller Bambi\* Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![SaxFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SaxFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaxFace)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/19 "2004-05-24T16:26:23Z")
Eve, it was your “Now Voyager” book, of course!! Our local video store has no old movies and it really sucks. And none of the movies I want to see have English subtitles. I’m movie-less. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687/20 "2004-05-24T16:37:23Z")
> [@SaxFace](#): > > Eve, it was your “Now Voyager” book, of course!! Hmmm . . . lemme check my bookshelf . . . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tearjerker-now-voyager-on-tcm-sun-may-23/246687.md?page=2)