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Romantic Gift Ideas

THE ROMANTIC FAVORITES COLLECTION is a treasury of four romantic films in one box; Bridget Jones-The Edge Of Reason / About A Boy / Love Actually / Notting Hill, almost eight hours of funny, touching, romantic entertainment for about five bucks a movie! Aside from being four movies I love, it’s a huge bargain I couldn’t resist.
So I stuck it at the top of this list.
JoAnne

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Rent online, exchange online or in the store. First month is only $9.99, or
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Fandango lets you buy movie tickets online, in advance. Bypass the box office line and go straight to the popcorn the next time you head for the theater.

The American Film Institute has published many ‘100 Greatest’ lists over the years. One of our favorites is “America’s 100 Greatest Love Stories.” We have included the top ten from that list below. We’ll be adding more soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, immerse yourself, and a friend, in some classic American romance!

CASABLANCA 1942 (b/w) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Raines; Director: Michael Curtiz. One of the all-time-great romantic stories, set in World War II North Africa, with an ending that will pull at the heartstrings of even you ‘tough guys.’

GONE WITH THE WIND 1939 (color) Based on one the best selling books of all time, Gone With The Wind stands among the greatest epic dramas ever filmed. Vivien Leigh is Scarlett to Clark Gable’s Rhett in cinema’s greatest epic of passion and adventure. With its immortal cast, magnificent cinematography, and sweeping score, this cherished classic continues to wow audiences today.

WEST SIDE STORY 1961 (color) This brilliant film sets the ageless story of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and populated by a cast that would all go on to become big stars, it is filled with some of the great music and song of the American theatre.

ROMAN HOLIDAY 1953 (b/w) This is the film that brought Audrey Hepburn to prominence. The world movie audience went weak at the knees, and Hollywood awarded her an Oscar. The endlessly charming Hepburn had her first starring role in this sweet romance, playing a European princess on an official tour through Rome. Gregory Peck co-stars, and William Wyler directed.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER 1957 (color) In this poignant and humorous love story, nominated for four Academy Awards, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Though each is engaged to someone else, they agree to meet six months later at the Empire State Building if they still feel the same way about each other. Have a box of tissues handy.

THE WAY WE WERE 1973 (color) Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand star as sociopolitical opposites. He’s a WASP novelist, and she’s an activist. They, nevertheless, strike up a romance in the 1930s, and have a rocky relationship through the next two decades, that reflects much of America’s history. Sydney Pollack directed.

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO 1965 (color) David Lean’s masterpiece film based on Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize winning novel about a doctor-poet in revolutionary Russia. The streets of Moscow, the snowy steppes of Russia, the house in the country taken over by ice; these are re-created with Lean’s unerring sense of grandness. The movie is so lush and so long that it becomes an irresistible wallow. Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, and Tom Courtenay head an all-star cast which includes Alec Guinness. Won five Oscars.

ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE 1947 (b/w) George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all – and it’s Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore star in, and Frank Capra directs, one of the most-loved romantic films of all time. We dare you not to cry.

LOVE STORY 1970 (color) Probably the tear-jerkingest romance of the 70s. Based on Erich Segal’s novel, Ryan O’Neal, Ali McGraw, and Ray Milland star in Arthur Hiller’s teary-eyed adaptation. The movie that gave us the much-mocked refrain, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

CITY LIGHTS 1931 (b/w silent) The film that best represents the many aspects of director-writer-star Charlie Chaplin at the peak of his powers. Silent, except for music and sound effects, the story involves a Tramp’s attempts to get money for an operation that will restore sight to a blind flower girl. The film culminates in one of the most moving scenes in the history of cinema, a luminous and heartbreaking fade-out that lifts the picture onto another plane. Don’t stay away from this one because it’s silent!

Don’t see anything in the list above to get your romantic juices flowing? Then take
a look at “25 Romantic Movies Worth Watching More Than Once” (a list by Charles Cordova).