When those first sparks of romance fly

“See anything you like?” That’s the tempting question put to a smitten Henry Fonda by a coy Barbara Stanwyck in Preston Sturges’ screwball gem “The Lady Eve.” As the cardsharp Jean, Stanwyck purposely trips Fonda’s wealthy ale magnate in order to meet him. Now, staring up at her, it’s clear he’s fallen in more ways than one. Later, she’ll resurface incognito as Eve, and Fonda will pratfall repeatedly as he unknowingly falls for the same woman twice.

Ever since humans lifted their eyelids, the power of finding love at first sight has packed a heart-pounding punch. As a screenwriter, I’ve analyzed what makes these moments work on film. As a filmgoer, I’ve fantasized about how they might occur in life. Why do these moments move us? Is casting everything? Are the scenarios so perfectly plotted that attractions are inevitable?

Here’s a list of some memorable first looks in the movies.

Hugh Grant’s Charles just glimpses Carrie (Andie MacDowell) at the first of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and then spends the reception unraveling around her. When a friend asks, “Is it love at first sight?” he demurs, but the charming way he melts at her makes it obvious.

Clearly, chemistry counts, and adrenaline doesn’t hurt. In “Out of Sight,” escaped convict George Clooney scans federal marshal Jennifer Lopez with a flashlight while they’re stuck together in the trunk of a getaway car. Left wanting more, they’ll search for each other with only fleeting luck until, finally, they get a second chance to make a first impression.

When the look fits, fantasy becomes reality. Christine (Emmy Rossum) first sees the Phantom (Gerard Butler) as the masked hunk appears in her mirror, reflected over her own image. Mesmerized, she lets him lead her, deer-in-headlights, to his opera house lair for some intimate hands-on singing.

Some couples are just made for each other. In “Woman of the Year,” Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play journalists who’ve been sparring in print. Summoned to the editor’s office, Tracy first sees Hepburn as she straightens the hose on an outstretched leg. The looks on their faces tell us she’s won this round. “Will you kiss and make up?” asks the editor. “I’ll kiss,” offers Tracy, and we know they will.

Sometimes, there’s no keeping a perfect pair apart. In “Top Hat,” Fred Astaire’s exuberant tap dance awakens Ginger Rogers in the hotel suite below. When she comes up to complain, Astaire does a double take at the negligeed sight of her. Once she’s back in her silken bed, Astaire resumes the number as a gentle sand-dance, patting the floor as though tucking her in, sweeping his feet to soothe her to sleep. It’s one of the sexiest scenes in their films, as Rogers drifts into slumber with a smile on her face.

An ardor-filled glance can make time stand still. In “West Side Story,” Maria (Natalie Wood) and Tony (Richard Beymer) cross the enemy lines of a crowded dance floor to sway in a glow all their own. The choreography and visual effects illustrate what they both feel and will later sing: “Only you, you’re the only one I’ll see....”

Love can stop you dead in your tracks. It stops Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in “The Godfather” when, while hiding in Sicily, he sees the Italian woman he will make his wife. “I think you got

hit by the thunderbolt,” says

his bodyguard. Soon after, Michael’s bride is killed in a botched assassination attempt. He lives, but his humanity is lost forever.

Love may be blind, but even blindness can be transcended in the movies, revealing deeper emotions and greater insight. A moving example is in Charlie Chaplin’s silent masterpiece, “City Lights.” Here, Chaplin’s Little Tramp loves a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) who mistakes him for a wealthy gentleman. But when her vision is restored, she laughs at him, unaware of his true identity. It is only when she takes his hand to put a coin in it that she realizes he is her benefactor, recognizing him with their touch. “I can see now,” she says, as their faces fill with the grateful joy of seeing each other anew.

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Screenwriter Devra Maza has written about film and baseball for The Times.