From the Heart: 10 Romantic Movies for Valentine’s Day

What are the 10 most romantic movies ever made?

An informal poll of film intelligentsia--critics, historians and buffs--resulted in this list of movies that, on Valentine’s Day, would be perfect to cuddle up in front of. Here are the Top 10 that are available on video:

1--”Wuthering Heights” (1939, Nelson). This was a surprise, nosing out the obvious choice, “Casablanca.” Romantics love stories about long-running affairs that override mighty obstacles, such as class and culture conflicts. In pre-Victorian England, the love between Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) and Cathy (Merle Oberon) hurdles all sorts of barriers. Movies about tormented lovers don’t get much better than this. William Wyler directed.

2--”The Way We Were” (1973, RCA/Columbia). Another surprise, that this too, beat out “Casablanca.” This is a particular favorite of romantics who relish tragic affairs based on the opposites-attract theory. You can’t get more opposite than political activist Katy (Barbra Streisand) and WASP-ish Hubbell (Robert Redford). Their relationship goes through hellish times but a fragile chemistry holds it together. As they grow older, however, the chemistry changes. Arguably the best performance of Redford’s career.

3--”Casablanca” (1942, CBS-Fox). Even if this wasn’t judged the most romantic movie ever made, it’s certainly the best--at least in terms of cinematic qualities. As just about everybody knows, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), probably the most famous doomed lovers in screen history, meet again in his Casablanca cafe, reigniting a romance that apparently ended after a Parisian fling. The thorn in their affair is her husband, Victor (Paul Henreid), an anti-Nazi leader. Is there a more effective love theme than “As Time Goes By”?

4--”Roman Holiday” (1953, Paramount). A superb romantic comedy about a bored young princess (Audrey Hepburn) who, during a Rome visit, takes a holiday from her predictable royal life and falls in love with a reporter (Gregory Peck) who’s secretly writing a story about her. Will she succumb to her heart and give up the throne? Will he really write that lucrative story? Romantics love royalty-commoner affairs because they inevitably involve great self-sacrifice. Hepburn won best-actress Oscar for this. William Wyler directed.

5--”Sayonara” (1957, CBS-Fox). The most romantic movie ever made about an interracial affair. In Japan during the Korean War, a pilot (Marlon Brando) and a Japanese theatrical star (Miko Taka) get caught up in an against-all-odds romance that’s opposed by both cultures. It’s one of several Japanese-American affairs in this movie. What really endears this one to romantics is a subplot: the marriage between a soldier (Red Buttons) and his Japanese wife (Miyoshi Umeki) that ends tragically. Buttons and Umeki won supporting-actor Oscars. Josuha Logan directed.

6--”Gone With the Wind” (1939, MGM/UA). At the core of this sprawling Civil War epic, told from the point of view of Southern aristocracy, is a rocky romance between Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Romantics cherish this one because it so effectively deals with this question: Can two strong-willed, selfish, independent people live together happily ever after? Decades later, actors who played dashing rogues were still using Gable’s performance as reference. The memorable love theme enhances this movie’s romanticism.

7--”Out of Africa” (1985, MCA). Two strong individuals, played by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, in a muted, offbeat romance that’s more subtle than passionate. A favorite among romantics both because of the setting, the beautiful Kenyan landscapes, and the tragic ending. Purists always charge that Redford is miscast as the English adventurer and he probably was. But so what? That doesn’t ruin the movie’s romanticism.

8--”A Man and a Woman” (1966, Warner). Many critics deride this as a shallow movie with the slick, glossy look of a TV commercial. But as directed by Claude Lelouch, it was probably the most popular romantic movie of the ‘60s. The story--about a romance between a race-car driver (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and a film script-girl (Anouk Aimee)--isn’t much but Lelouch effectively establishes a gloriously romantic mood throughout.

9--”Now, Voyager” (1942, MGM/UA). In one of the most romantic of the wartime movies, Bette Davis plays a wallflower transformed into a chic lady who falls in love with a suave married man (Paul Henreid). But director Irving Rapper’s upbeat tale has a sad ending. Famous for its romantic cigarette-lighting scenes: Henreid, two cigarettes dangling from his mouth, lights both and hands one to his lover. Back then those scenes set a romantic trend.

10--”Brief Encounter” (1945, Paramount). Dark, austere, English movie, directed by David Lean. Two prim, married people (Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson) carry on a clandestine romance that briefly lights up their drab lives. As usual, that doomed quality adds spice and tension to the affair. The usual unhappy ending. Terrific performance by Howard.

Postscript: “Three Coins in Fountain,” a 1954 movie filmed in Rome, with the famed Fountain of Trevi as its centerpiece, would have been No. 6 on the list, but it’s not yet on video. It stars Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire and Louis Jourdan.