Here's looking at these classic moments. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the tenderest and swoon-worthy scenes in classic movies.
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00:00-"A franc for your thoughts."
00:02-"In America they'd bring only a penny and I guess that's about all I worth."
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the tenderest and most
00:11swoon-worthy scenes in classic movies. This list does spoil a few movies so here is a spoiler alert.
00:18-"You will not tell?"
00:23-"Tell what? How can I know what goes on 12 feet over my head?"
00:28-"Suppose you sing that song again, slowly."
00:35When looking back at the trajectory of Audrey Hepburn's path to Hollywood icon,
00:39Sabrina is one of the first stops. Hepburn stars as a chauffeur's daughter in love with
00:44a man who doesn't return her affection. Instead, the man's older brother falls for her.
00:49-"How do you say, my brother has a lovely girl?"
00:57-"And how do you say, I wish I were my brother?"
01:00The two twirl on a dance floor in Paris as La Vie en Rose plays. They both realize something is
01:06happening between them, but they don't say it outright. It's all longing gazes and half-revealed
01:11truths, but it's clear in their eyes just how much they're starting to care for each other.
01:15-"Why are you looking at me that way?" -"All night long I've had the most
01:19terrible impulse to do something." -"I never resist an impulse, Sabrina,
01:24especially if it's terrible."
01:25Number 19. Peter admits his feelings for Ellie. It happened one night.
01:29-"Do you love my daughter?" -"Any guy that had fallen
01:34in love with your daughter ought to have his head examined. Now that's a division."
01:37Most modern rom-coms owe a debt to this 1934 Best Picture winner. In it, Clark Gable plays Peter,
01:43a roguish reporter who gets the scoop of his life when he intercepts Claudette Colbert's
01:47runaway heiress, Ellie. Their contempt for each other cools, and when it comes time for them to
01:52part and for her to marry a rich man, Peter has no interest in the reward money.
01:56-"You're a peculiar chap." -"Yeah, we'll go into that some other time."
01:59-"The average man would go after the reward, all you seem to be--"
02:02-"Listen, did anybody ever make a sucker out of you? This is a matter of principle."
02:06Gable plays Peter's frustration and pride brilliantly. Even when he admits to Ellie's
02:11father that he's in love with her, he can't help but spit it out. It makes his pretending that he
02:16doesn't love her all the more suspenseful. -"A normal human being couldn't live under
02:20the same roof with her without going nutty. She's my idea of nutty."
02:23-"I asked you a simple question. Do you love her?"
02:25-"Yes! But don't hold that against me. I'm a little screwy myself."
02:2918. Robin and Marion – The Adventures of Robin Hood
02:33When Maid Marion confides in her nurse about her feelings for Robin of Loxley,
02:37she asks breathlessly what it feels like to be in love. Of course, as it turns out,
02:41Robin has been listening the whole time. -"I must say, I must say!"
02:45-"Keep quiet, Bess. Are you completely mad? Why did you come here?"
02:50-"To see you."
02:51Marion is anxious about the possibility of Robin being discovered,
02:55even denying her love for him to make him leave. Robin is undeterred, only flirtatiously reminding
03:00her that if he goes, he will have to face the bloodthirsty king's guards below.
03:04-"The very thing! Five men-at-arms talk in a group. They'll break the four beautifully.
03:09Goodbye, my lady." -"Robin!"
03:11-"Yes?" -"Please."
03:12-"Then you do love me, don't you? Don't you?" -"You know I do."
03:16-"Well, that's different."
03:17With her confession, he happily climbs back in her window. Their romantic interlude plays out
03:22as throbbing strings fill the soundtrack, and the two embrace for the first time.
03:26-"Do you know you're very impudent?" -"You are. And when my rear-guarding
03:32King Richard finds out about your being in love with me..."
03:34-"I know. He'll make me court Chester."
03:36Number 17. We have the stars. Now Voyager.
03:40-"He allowed this visit as a test. And if I can't stand such tests, I'll lose teeth,
03:50and we'll lose each other."
03:51Real life isn't like the movies. In real life, goodbyes are never quite as romantic,
03:57and the dialogue is never as sharp. But Now Voyager gave us an all-time great
04:01ending that spoke to some big emotions. -"I know you still love me, and it won't
04:06die what's between us. Do what we will. Ignore it. Neglect it. Starve it.
04:13Stronger than both of us together."
04:15At the end of this Bette Davis classic, the man she once loved comes back into her life.
04:19For reasons that feel incredibly unfair, they can never be together. Instead,
04:24Davis' character reminds them both that the sacrifice is worth it.
04:28Her reply to his question about whether or not she'll be happy
04:31is as heartbreaking a line of dialogue as Davis ever spoke.
04:35-"Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars."
04:39Number 16. Reunited. City Lights.
04:52Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in this post-Silent Era silent romance about
04:57a street tramp who falls in love with a woman who's blind. After a bizarre set of circumstances,
05:02he ends up with a millionaire's money, and can get it to the woman before he's arrested.
05:06The two meet again months later. Her sight has been restored by an operation she could
05:11only afford because of him. But she does not recognize him. We watch transfixed as the two
05:17nearly miss each other. Only the touch of his hand clues her in to who he is.
05:28Number 15. Shall We Dance. The King and I.
05:41Rodgers and Hammerstein were known for a certain brand of polished and highly romantic musicals,
05:46where music became the bridge between even polar opposite people. A visiting governess,
05:50Anna Leonowens, finds herself falling for the brusque but handsome King Mungut of Siam.
05:55Their words clash constantly, but here is where they make an undeniable connection.
06:06Her lesson in dance and English customs turns into a sweeping and unforgettable
06:10dance across his opulent palace. His enthusiasm and her sudden shyness mark a huge transformation
06:16in their relationship. Whatever walls of propriety were up before are tumbling down with every step.
06:22Come on. We'll do it again.
06:24Number 14. Shut Up and Deal. The Apartment.
06:27Are you all right? I'm fine. Are you sure? How's your knee? I'm fine all over.
06:38Mind if I come in? Billy Wilder's romantic comedies could get surprisingly dark.
06:43In this one, Jack Lemmon stars as Cece Baxter, an unmarried executive who loans out his apartment
06:48to his married co-workers so they can carry on affairs. He falls in love with one of their guests,
06:53the depressed and sarcastic elevator operator Fran.
06:56I wonder how long it takes to get someone you're stuck on out of your sister.
07:00If only that intense, I'm gonna pump for that.
07:03Realizing that she loves him, Fran runs to tell Baxter, but is terrified when she mistakes the
07:08sound of a cork popping for a gunshot. Once they're alone together, Fran cuts right through
07:12the mush, ending the movie with a quip instead of the traditional kiss as the credits roll.
07:17I love you, Miss Kubelik. Three. Queen.
07:23Did you hear what I said, Miss Kubelik? I absolutely adore you.
07:30Shut up and deal. Number 13. You Were Meant for Me.
07:33Singing in the Rain. Kathy, I'm trying to say something to you, but I'm such a ham.
07:39I guess I'm not able to without the proper setting. What do you mean? Well, come here.
07:47There's a reason it's considered the best of the classic Hollywood musicals.
07:51Singing in the Rain brings to life a love story set during Hollywood's transition to the sound
07:54film era. Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds' love story is punctuated by dance numbers that are
07:59equal parts rigorous and effortless. Life was a song, you came along.
08:08I've laid awake the whole night through.
08:13The two meet and share a song on an empty studio set, which springs to life all around them.
08:19As they dance in and out of pools of colored lights and match step by step,
08:23it's not just a great dance sequence, it is a tribute to the magic of movies.
08:27And they meant you just for me.
08:40Number 12. The Phone Scene. It's a Wonderful Life.
08:43You know, I didn't come here to... What did you come here for then?
08:46I don't know. You tell me. You're supposed to be the one that has all the answers. You tell me.
08:50Why don't you go home? That's where I'm going. I don't know why
08:52I came here in the first place. Having had a fight, George Bailey and
08:55Mary Hatch are about to potentially part ways forever when a chance phone call from an old
08:59friend comes through. To hear him on the phone, they have to stand achingly close to each other
09:04while the friend yammers on. The whole time, they can barely contain the building tension.
09:09Will you tell that guy I'm giving him the chance of a lifetime, do you hear?
09:12The chance of a lifetime. He says it's the chance of a lifetime.
09:20Modern viewers expecting a wholesome Christmas classic might be surprised at how intense and
09:24passionate the whole scene is. The end result turned out to be so passionate that censors
09:28demanded part of it be cut from the film. I want to do what I want to do. And you're...
09:34And you're...
09:37George, George, George.
09:46Number 11. Kissing in the surf. From here to eternity.
09:50Taking a chance on 20 years and 11 worth for making dates with the company commander's wife.
09:55And her acting like, like Lady Astor's horse. And all because I got here on time.
10:03Well, on the other hand, I've got a bathing suit under my dress.
10:06Nowadays, the sight of Debra Carr and Burt Lancaster frolicking on a beach and kissing
10:10in the hot sand is so heightened, it's almost a parody of other scenes.
10:14That's proof of how this moment infiltrated pop culture.
10:17Large.
10:18Homer.
10:20I've got sand in my underpants.
10:22Me too. Let's go home.
10:24In its original form, their loving embrace, set against sumptuous footage of crashing
10:29waves captured in crisp black and white, was enough to send 1953 audiences into a frenzy.
10:35This is romantic melodrama at its very finest. There's so much longing between
10:40the soldier and a superior officer's wife that it practically burns a hole in the screen.
10:44I never knew it could be like this. Nobody ever kissed me the way you do.
10:50Number 10. The final goodbye. Brief Encounter.
10:53Okay, so technically Brief Encounter isn't a Hollywood film. It's a British one.
10:58But this 1940s classic is too iconic to leave out of our list.
11:03Do you think we should never see each other again?
11:06I don't know. Not for years, anyway.
11:09The movie tells the story of an emotional affair between two married people,
11:13Laura and Alec, who have a chance meet cute at a train station.
11:17Like many films of the era, it's both melodramatic and painfully restrained.
11:22In the much-parodied Denouement, the couple have agreed that they must part forever,
11:27and are saying a final farewell.
11:29I want to die. If only I could die.
11:34If you died, you'd forget me. I want to be remembered.
11:38However, they're interrupted by a friend just as Alec's train arrives,
11:43and are therefore denied those longed-for last moments together.
11:47This heartbreaking finale has become one of the most famous breakup scenes in movie history.
11:52I felt the touch of his hand on my shoulder for a moment,
11:55and then he walked away, away out of my life forever.
12:06It may be a cliché, but kissing in the rain is one romantic trope we cannot get enough of.
12:12Breakfast at Tiffany's gives us the definitive example.
12:16Holly, I'm in love with you.
12:18So what?
12:19So what? So plenty.
12:22The most memorable image of the movie is Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly in that dress.
12:28But the most romantic scene comes during the film's finale.
12:31You're a chicken. You've got no guts.
12:34You're afraid to stick out your chin and say, okay, life's a fact.
12:37People do fall in love. People do belong to each other.
12:41Because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness.
12:44Holly is hit with the realization of what and who she really wants.
12:48She begins frantically searching for Paul, who in turn is looking for her lost cat.
12:53She discovers them both down an alleyway,
12:55and all three are reunited in a rain-soaked embrace.
12:59It's a very different ending from the book, but it's so romantic that we don't care.
13:19There are an abundance of passionate scenes in this epic romantic saga,
13:33although some of them are pretty problematic.
13:35Still, Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara remain one of the most iconic movie couples of all time.
13:41You're coarse and you're conceited. And I think this conversation's gone far enough.
13:47They're always at cross-purposes and they fight like cat and dog,
13:50but there's no denying that chemistry.
13:52For Rhett and Scarlett, it's not always the big dramatic moments that are the most romantic.
13:57We love it when they're playfully sparring together, as in this memorable scene.
14:01She tries all her tricks on him and he gives as good as he gets.
14:06No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing badly.
14:09That's what's wrong with you.
14:11You should be kissed and often and by someone who knows how.
14:14I suppose you think you are the proper person.
14:17I might be, if the right moment ever came.
14:24This epic drama film is not the best known Hollywood movie today,
14:29but back in the 1940s, it was a commercial and critical success.
14:33The plot follows three men who are returning to civilian life after World War II.
14:44I hope Wilma is a swell girl.
14:50The most touching storyline involves Homer,
14:52a young middle-class man who has lost both his hands in active service.
14:56He worries that his fiancée Wilma will no longer want him.
15:00You don't know what it'd be like to have to live with me,
15:03to have to face this every day, every night.
15:09But I can only find out by trying.
15:11And if it turns out I haven't courage enough, we'll soon know it.
15:15In a beautifully tender sequence, Homer lets his guard down
15:19and shows Wilma the reality of his new life.
15:30She accepts him wholeheartedly.
15:33The moment is made all the more poignant as Homer was played by a real veteran
15:37who had also recently lost his hands.
15:39I told you I loved you.
15:42I love you, Wilma.
15:48I always have and I always will.
15:56The Sound of Music's romantic duet was famously filmed in silhouette
16:00as the lead actors got the giggles and struggled to keep a straight face.
16:04However, they did manage to hold it together for our favorite romantic moment of the movie.
16:09When Maria and Captain Von Trapp dance the Lendler.
16:23Maria is attempting to teach Kurt the steps of the Austrian folk dance
16:27while the captain watches from the doorway.
16:29After a few moments, he decides to cut in.
16:31Do allow me, will you?
16:39It's a beautifully understated scene that tells us all we need to know
16:49about the couple's feelings for each other.
16:51For the length of the dance, we're able to watch them together
16:54and their chemistry is unparalleled.
16:58I don't remember anymore.
17:02Your face is all red, is it?
17:05I don't suppose I'm used to dancing.
17:09Number 5.
17:10Love is Here to Stay – An American in Paris
17:18We all love a romantic dance scene
17:21and classic Hollywood has got some great moments to choose from.
17:24From Funny Face to The King and I, we are spoiled for choice.
17:28However, since Paris is known as the city of lovers,
17:32we had to include this swoon-worthy scene from An American in Paris.
17:36Gene Kelly's leading man Jerry begins by serenading Leslie Caron's Lise
17:40with the George Gershwin jazz standard Love is Here to Stay.
17:54Of course, these two talented dancers are soon turning
17:57the moonlit Seine riverbank into their own private stage.
18:00They give us a picture-perfect routine that showcases the talents of both
18:04while still maintaining the tender intimacy of new love.
18:26Number 4.
18:27As Originally and Most Beautifully Planned – The Philadelphia Story
18:31This classic romantic comedy follows a divorced couple
18:34who find themselves falling in love for the second time.
18:37Catherine Hepburn plays Tracy, a socialite engaged to be married.
18:41Her resolution wavers when her ex, Cary Grant's Dexter, comes back into the picture.
18:53The final scenes of the film see Tracy calling off her marriage to potential husband number two.
18:58Luckily, however, Dexter is there to step into the breach
19:02and propose a more satisfying resolution to the story.
19:20It's a sweet, funny and hopelessly romantic moment that'll make you believe
19:24in second chances and happy endings.
19:27And if you like it that much, you can see it all over again in 1956's High Society.
19:36Number 3.
19:37Somewhere – West Side Story
19:39West Side Story has so many romantic moments it's hard to pick a favorite.
19:43However, the scene that best summarizes the movie's theme is the duet Somewhere.
19:58The remake gave this song to Rita Moreno's Valentina,
20:01but in the original, it's all about Tony and Maria.
20:04At this point in the film, the lovers have declared their feelings for each other,
20:08but it's already beginning to look as if their romance is doomed.
20:27Somewhere is a heartfelt love song with lyrics that are both hopeful and tragic.
20:32The couple acknowledges that their love can't flourish in this time and place,
20:36but they hope that eventually they can be together.
20:58Number 2.
20:59Here's looking at you, kid.
21:00Casablanca
21:01Casablanca's Rick and Ilsa fell in love during the war,
21:04while she believed her husband to be dead.
21:07When the star-crossed couple meets again, everything has changed.
21:10I saved my first drink to have with you, dear.
21:14No, no, Rick, not tonight.
21:16Especially tonight.
21:19Why did you have to come to Casablanca? There are other places.
21:22I wouldn't have come if I'd known that you were here.
21:24Throughout the movie, Rick's bitterness and cynicism
21:27eventually make way for a desire to do the right thing.
21:30Unfortunately, that means he must give up the woman he loves.
21:34In the heart-rending finale, Humphrey Bogart's hero utters his immortal catchphrase.
21:41Now, now.
21:44Here's looking at you, kid.
21:46It's a reminder of Rick and Ilsa's shared romantic history together,
21:50and all the more poignant as they may never meet again.
21:53It's not all bad though, after all.
21:55We'll always have Paris.
21:57We didn't have, we lost it until you came to Casablanca.
22:00We got it back last night.
22:03When I said I would never leave you.
22:06And you never will.
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22:27Yeah, she wants to meet me at the top of the Empire State Building.
22:30On Valentine's Day.
22:33It's like that movie.
22:34What movie?
22:35An Affair to Remember.
22:36Did you ever see it?
22:38One of the best scenes in Sleepless in Seattle is the moment when Rita Wilson
22:42describes the final moments of the classic Hollywood movie An Affair to Remember.
22:46Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Carr,
22:48it's the story of two people who love each other but are kept apart by circumstance and pride.
22:53No, I remember we said that if we could make it, we'd be there.
23:00And if one of us didn't show up, it would be for a darn good reason.
23:05When Carr's Terry is hit by a car,
23:07she's unable to meet Grant's Nikki at the top of the Empire State Building as originally planned.
23:12It's not until he comes to visit her years later that he realizes why she didn't show.
23:17It's a close call, but the couple is finally
23:19reunited in a scene that doesn't leave a dry eye in the house.
23:23It was the nearest thing to heaven.
23:28You were there.
23:32What classic movie moment made you believe in love?
23:34Tell us in the comments.
23:36Now let's see, where does this game begin?
23:38Oh, I know, it's simple.
23:40We'll start where you're in love with me.
23:43You are, aren't you?
23:44Because I am with you.
23:46Terribly.
23:46Do you agree with our picks?
23:48Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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