Behind the scenes:

Tired of the summer movie blockbusters featuring super heroes with more on their mind than romance? ...don’t despair. Although romantic movies have become an endangered species, through the magic of interlibrary loan, love can be yours and it won’t cost a thing. Classic love stories, period pieces and exotic locales are available free on video and DVD through the L.A. County Library system. All you have to do is order them online at https://catalog.colapl.org and they’ll be delivered to the library nearest you.

You don’t have to winnow through battles for Imhotep’s soul in the recent “Mummy” series, looking for love scenes. Just order “Valley of the Kings,” a 1954 classic starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker as archaeologists on the track of a lost 18th dynasty tomb. It includes plenty of plausible Egyptology plus a love story that seethes across Egypt, ending in a dramatic duel at Abu Simbel. Filmed on location with a lavish production budget, the new “Mummy” CGI scenes just can’t compete.

Further romantic seething in exotic settings can be experienced in 1950’s “King Solomon’s Mines,” starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr, a couple whose chemistry keeps the romantic fires crackling in the Congolese jungle during a search for the fabled lost treasure. And if you found “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” a bit of a bore romantically, try the 1954 extravaganza, “The Naked Jungle,” which served as inspiration for Indy’s insect armies. Young hunk Charleton Heston sweeps a not-unwilling Eleanor Parker off to the South American jungles while escaping the dreaded marabunta (army ants).

But for a good basic romance nobody does it better than the British. The 2004 BBC version of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, “North and South,” is subtle but intense. An independent girl from southern England meets a grim but profoundly attractive Yorkshire mill owner, played by Richard Armitage (Guy de Guisborne in BBC America’s present “Robin Hood” series). As stormy as the Yorkshire landscape, Armitage strides across the screen channeling Edward Rochester from “Jane Eyre.”

Then there is always Jane Austin. The 1995 six-part series “Pride and Prejudice,” starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, is one of the most brilliantly filmed romances in the last 15 years. Firth’s Mr. Darcy became an overnight sex symbol in Britain and his love scenes with Ehle sent the actor’s career into orbit. In the same year, Austen’s last novel, “Persuasion,” was made into a movie of intense unrequited love starring Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root. Although remade numerous times, these particular productions stand up well to repeated viewings. And remember, at the library it’s all free! See you at the movies!

SUSAN JAMES can be contacted via e-mail at lcnews@valleysun.net.