The 10 Best Classic Romance Movies You Must See Before You Die
A girl can never watch too many love stories. Find out the ones you need to see ASAP.
getty Admit it, you’re just as sappy as we are. Nobody can resist a good cry-fest, whether it's with your girlfriends or forcing your man to watch with you.
And for those moments when you want to have a good cry or feel all mushy inside, consider our choices for the best romantic movies you absolutely must see. Have a box of tissues handy and some surefire way to retrieve your dignity, because these classic romance movies will do a number on you.
1. An Affair to Remember
Sure, a lot of it is cornball 1950s romance, but I defy you not to weep madly when Cary Grant discovers exactly why Deborah Kerr didn’t make it to the top of the Empire State Building that fateful night. And if you don’t, well... you’re obviously heartless.
2. Out of Africa
Streep and Redford. COME ON! With those two, you just know it’s gonna be great. And how it was, is, and always will be. I will never get over the scene with the lions. Ever. It’s just not gonna happen. I’m typing this and starting to well up.
3. Gone with the Wind
It may be a cliché, but there’s nothing quite like Rhett’s unwavering love for that b**** of a belle Scarlet, even if they don’t end up happily ever after.
4. Wuthering Heights
I admit to being a bit of a snob when it comes to adapting the classics into film, especially when it comes to the Bröntes. To date, the 1992 version is the best version. Everything from art direction to cinematography — this version trumps all others by far.
Not to mention a gripping portrayal by Ralph Fiennes (and his piercing blue eyes and jet black hair — smelling salts please!). Fiennes and Juliet Binoche perfectly embody Heathcliff and Catherine. The coffin scene will have you struck dumb with sadness and awe.
5. Sleepless in Seattle
What can I say? Everything’s right in the world when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are paired up. And the fact that my #1 pick plays heavily into this plotline is no coincidence.
Never mind that Hanks and Ryan aren’t on screen together for nearly the entire movie, yet the romance still manages to hit fever pitch. How’d they do that?
6. The Way We Were
Redford and Streisand were the perfect couple in this doomed love story: so different and yet you want their love to triumph over outside forces. Put down Fifty Shades of Grey, rent this movie, and behold what real hot passion is all about.
Come on, look at Redford’s face. Yeah, I don’t want him either.
7. When Harry Met Sally
I love films that have Manhattan as their backdrop and these two knuckleheads (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) did the avoidance dance until they realized that love was staring right at them.
Plus, humor can be quite sexy, and then there is that scene about the fake orgasm that makes me cheer. Yeah, like you haven’t been there before?
8. Annie Hall
Maybe it is me, but I love to see people who should not be together, be together. Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) and Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) are perfectly matched as a neurotic couple that can’t get their love on the same psychologist’s sofa.
And again, there is something sexy about intelligence and insecurity — something. Allen does better than any other human being. I know my friends cover their ears when I say I think Woody is sexy and that I would sleep with him.
9. The Philadelphia Story
The 1940s had a lot of great classic romance movies and I always thought how lucky Katharine Hepburn (Tray Lord) was to have Cary Grant (C.K. Dexter Haven, the name of our first family dog) as her husband, although he was a bit of a drinker and she kicks him out of the house.
And then Hepburn’s character decides to remarry. Oh really? Is Cary Grant in the house?
10. The Last of the Mohicans
Okay, this was not filmed anywhere close to Manhattan, but I will sum this up in three words: Daniel Day Lewis. Daniel Day Lewis in long hair and in love. That is all I need. And there is some storyline going on between him being on and off the screen. Who cares?