Video : Video Valentines

A VCR, a batch of videos and thou.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and there is no better way to stir up the fires of romance than a snug room and some of the greatest love stories ever put on film.

More than 120 films have been made using a variation of the word love in the title, but some are misleading. Who wants “The Love Bug” or “Love at First Bite” on a romantic evening?

Here are some love possibilities ranging from funny to sad to undying to unrequited. Many of these films are memorable because the stars are irresistible. Others have love themes that well up inside us every time we think of love. Some have both.

“Love Story” (1970, Paramount tape and disc) is probably more remembered for the Francis Lai music than the overwrought performances of Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal as two New England college kids who become ill-fated lovers who insist that “love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Writer Erich Segal pulls out all the sentimental stops in this three-handkerchief movie. Two hearts.

The love song for the 1970s was “The Way We Were” (1973, RCA/Columbia tape and disc) and the lovers were Robert Redford as the Joe College, WASP novelist and Barbra Streisand as the Jewish political activist (watching these opposites attract each other is one of the best parts of this patchy film). Two hankies, two hearts.

Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” and Audrey Hepburn’s lovely, tear-stained face make “Breakfast at Tiffanys” (1961, Paramount Home Video) a tender, lovely Valentine gift. Blake Edwards’ film sanitizes the Truman Capote novella with Holly Golightly now just a small-town girl who lives a rather exotic social life. Fast-forward through Mickey Rooney’s ludicrous racist caricature, speed to the end and enjoy the music. One hanky, three hearts.

No one wrote romantic film music to rival Max Steiner. His classic score for “Now, Voyager” will stir up anyone’s passions (1942, CBS-Fox tape and disc). Bette Davis is the shy spinster who falls in love with suave Paul Henreid (this is the film in which he lights two cigarettes, and Davis says, “Oh Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars...”). Four hankies, two hearts.

The same is true with “Intermezzo” (1939, CBS-Fox tape and disc) in which famous violinist Leslie Howard has an affair with his protege Ingrid Bergman (her first English-speaking film). As the Heinz Provost love theme rises, Howard does the honorable thing honorable people did 50 years ago. Three hankies, two hearts.

Marsha Mason seems to be a natural crier. She does more than her share of sobbing in Neil Simon’s poignant comedy “The Goodbye Girl” (1977, MGM/UA tape and disc). Richard Dreyfuss is the actor who rents part of her apartment. Two hankies, two hearts.

The theme from “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” (1955, CBS-Fox Home Video) was

a staple at most l950 weddings (the music was written by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster). The film is pure soapsuds with a Eurasian doctor (played by Jennifer Jones) falling in love with a war correspondent (William Holden) during the Korean War. Three hankies and three hearts.

If “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” is the love story of the ‘50s, and “The Way We Were” the love story of the ‘70s, “The Graduate” is arguably the love story of the ‘60s (Paramount tape and Criterion laser video disc special edition). Dustin Hoffman, a naive college graduate, was not only seduced by a middle-aged woman (Anne Bancroft) but then fell hopelessly in love with her daughter (Katharine Ross). The innovative Paul Simon score sung by Simon and Art Garfunkel and the unforgettable ending are guaranteed to make hearts soar. One hankie, three hearts.

“When Harry Met Sally. . .” (Orion tape, Pioneer Artists laser video disc) is the love story for the ‘80s, delightfully showing a man (Billy Crystal) and a woman (Meg Ryan) struggling to avoid romantic entanglement with each other because of their genuine friendship. No hankies, four hearts.

Perhaps the most appropriate Valentine’s Day film and certainly the most innovative is “Two for the Road,” a marvelous evocation of the ups and downs of married love (1967, CBS-Foxtape and disc). Writer Frederic Raphael (with a devilishly brilliant script), director Stanley Donen (using film in a deliciously clever way) and composer Henry Mancini (whose theme captures the poignancy and fragility of love, from its inception to its maturity) have put together a memorable portrait of a marriage. Albert Finney plays the husband, Audrey Hepburn his wife. The story is framed with the couple traveling through France during their 12 years of marriage. One hankie, five hearts.

If all this is too sophisticated (with a little too much reality for budding romances) , there’s always “Sleeping Beauty” (1959, Walt Disney tape and disc) in which Tchaikovsky’s famous “love theme” saves the day. One hankie, one heart.

No matter what your preference, home video adds a new element to Valentine’s Day, one that rivals the traditional flowers, candy and cards. After all, it’s still the same old story . . . (Casablanca,” CBS-Fox tape and disc, two hankies, four hearts).