The 50 Most Romantic Movies of All Time

Searching for a flick for date night? Let this list be your guide.

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Amélie

This Technicolor French charmer tells the story of Amélie Poulain, a gamine Parisienne who decides to meddle in her friends and father's lives to improve them for the better. Along the way, the girl who always does for others finally finds love herself.

Starring: Audrey Tatou, Nino Quincampoix

Released: 2001

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The Notebook

Poor boy (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl (Rachel McAdams) fall in love during a hazy Southern summer in the 1930s. Fifty years later, an elderly man reads their story to a woman with Alzheimer's in a nursing home. Please fetch the tissues; we'll just be over here watching the famous "kiss in the rain" scene on repeat.

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams

Released: 2004

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Romeo and Juliet

It doesn't get much more romantic than Shakespeare's tragic tale of star-crossed lovers.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes

Released: 1996

Or, go for the classic Zeffirelli version from 1968 starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey.

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From Here to Eternity

You know that famous scene where a couple is frantically kissing on the beach as waves lap over them? (If not, just look up.) That's from this movie. Watch it to get the backstory behind the epic kiss, then try it yourselves on your next beach vacation.

Starring: Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster

Released: 1953

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Ghost

This supernatural romance in which a murdered husband becomes a ghost to protect his widow most likely spurred an increase in pottery class enrollment and put The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" back onto the charts.

Starring: Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, Whoopi Goldberg

Released: 1990

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Titanic

With five simple words—"I'll never let go, Jack"—our hearts will go on forever when it comes to the story of Jack, Rose, and the ship that was supposed to be unsinkable.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

Released: 1997

Rereleased in 3D: April 2012

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The Bridges of Madison County

A lonely housewife (Meryl Streep) has a passionate four-day affair with a National Geographic photographer (Clint Eastwood) in town to photograph those titular bridges.

Starring: Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood

Released: 1995

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Love Story

Love Story uses the time-honored trope of rich boy and poor girl falling in love, and then being forced to question if they can come to terms with their differences. The two must defy his family's high expectations in an attempt to prove that love conquers all.

Starring: Ali McGraw, Ryan O'Neal

Released: 1970

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The Graduate

A boyish college graduate named Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) returns to his parents' house in California and is seduced by the original cougar, Mrs. Robinson. When Benjamin starts to fall for the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine; however, the ghost of her mother's affair looms large over the budding romance.

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft

Released: 1967

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Up

Warning: You will be crying and thinking about the love of your life within the first 15 minutes of this Pixar instant classic. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer

Released: 2009

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An Affair to Remember

Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant), a playboy and aspiring artist, meets Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) on a transatlantic journey, but both of them are already in a relationship. The two develop a friendship aboard the ship that soon blossoms into love. Upon returning to New York, they vow to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months, single and having started new careers. Unfortunately, fate intervenes in a devastating way, making it even harder for the lovestruck duo to reunite.

Starring: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr

Released: 1957

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The Artist

This sentimental (almost) silent film about George Valentin, a famous actor swiftly fading into obscurity with the advent of "talkies," and the woman who loves him, Peppy Miller—a non-silent actress climbing to the top of Hollywood marquees, is a top contender for this year's Best Picture Oscar. And did we mention Uggie, the adorable Jack Russell terrier that some movie bloggers wanted to see nominated for Best Supporting Actor? Yeah, he's that good.

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman

Released: 2011

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Say Anything

The Cameron Crowe classic that spawned a thousand copycats wearing trench coats holding up boom boxes outside the object of their affection's window. Underachiever Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and valedictorian Diane Court (Ione Skye) fall in love the summer after graduating from high school, and Lloyd must prove his noble intentions to Diane's strict father before she leaves for school in England.

Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye

Released: 1989

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An Officer and a Gentleman

Richard Gere stars as Zack Mayo, a wayward man who enrolls at the Naval Academy in an attempt to restore order in his life. As he struggles to graduate, he finds love with a factory worker named Paula (Deborah Winger) who helps Zack deal with physical and emotional hardships.

Starring: Richard Gere, Deborah Winger

Released: 1982

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Chocolat

What happens when a single mother tries to open a gourmet chocolate shop in a deeply religious and conservative rural French town in the 1960s? A romantic tale starring Johnny Depp (he's always welcome in our romantic flicks) and a town transformed when the inhabitants learn to open their hearts to change and acceptance.

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench

Released: 2000

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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

A salesgirl in an umbrella shop falls in love with a mechanic, but her mother refuses to let them marry on the grounds that they are too young and he is not well-established enough. The two consummate their relationship—and she becomes pregnant—before he heads off to do his mandatory military service, and the odds the young lovers will ever be reunited become insurmountable.

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo

Released: 1964

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Breakfast at Tiffany's

Audrey Hepburn stars as Holly Golightly, a seemingly sophisticated society girl who bonds with Paul, a struggling writer in her building. But appearances are not always what they seem, and Paul is soon enmeshed in Holly's world of mobsters, Hollywood agents, and estranged husbands. Watch this one wearing your favorite LBD and pearls.

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard

Released: 1961

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Annie Hall

A neurotic New York City comedian (Woody Allen, playing himself) meets an equally eccentric, flighty woman named Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, making menswear for women forever fashionable). After the two break up, Allen's character reminisces about moments from their relationship in an attempt to discover what went wrong.

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

Released: 1977

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Beauty and the Beast

Singing clocks and dancing china add charming whimsy to Disney's animated adaptation of the classic fairy tale about a prince condemned to live as a hideous beast until he finds someone able to love him in his creature form. Just your typical "tale as old as time" with evil witches, enchanted roses, and an adorable teacup named Chip.

Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robbie Benson

Released: 1991

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Harold and Maude

If you've ever heard someone jokingly refer to a couple in a May-December relationship as "Harold and Maude" and didn't get the reference, you need to see this film. Harold is a twenty-something obsessed with death who meets 79-year-old Maude when the two are participating in their favorite hobby: crashing funerals (but not in a Will Ferrell's character in Wedding Crashers kind of way).

Starring: Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon

Released: 1971

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The Philadelphia Story

One of the most notable leading men of all time, Cary Grant, stars opposite the equally renowned Katherine Hepburn in one of the original rom-coms. Hepburn plays a rich socialite, and Grant is her tabloid reporter husband whom she divorced for his imperfections. Yet when Dexter (Grant's character) shows up to report on Tracy's (Hepburn's character) upcoming wedding, they're forced to revisit their feelings for one another.

Starring: Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart

Released: 1940

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The Princess Bride

Chances are the majority of men in your life list The Princess Bride as one of their must-see movies – even though it's a fairytale about a princess being rescued by her knight in shining armor. With swashbuckling aplenty, a man named Inigo Montoya on a quest to avenge his father's death, and a gentle giant; however, the tale of Princess Buttercup and her true love Westley is beloved by all who see it.

Starring: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Fred Savage

Released: 1987

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When Harry Met Sally

Can a man and woman ever be "just friends?" That's what this romantic comedy sets out to prove. We don't want to ruin it for those of you who have yet to see it, so we'll leave it at this: "I'll have what she's having."

Starring: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan

Released: 1989

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Wuthering Heights (1939)

If you didn't take to this Emily Brontë classic when you read it in high school, we highly recommend revisiting the tale of Heathcliff and Cathy by viewing its first movie adaptation. Oscar nominee Laurence Olivier plays Heathcliff, a poor adopted boy who falls in (requited) love with entitled Catherine Earnshaw of Wuthering Heights. Due to their social differences; however, it can never be.

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon

Released: 1939

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West Side Story

This adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet recasts the Montague and Capulet familial strife as racial tensions between two rival New York City gangs: the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Caucasian Jets. Maria, sister of Shark leader Bernardo, and Tony, best friend of Jets leader Riff, are the star-crossed lovers in this movie musical with classic songs you're sure to recognize. Watch it "Tonight, Tonight," (see what we did there?).

Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno

Released: 1961

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Gone With the Wind

Set against a backdrop of the Civil War and the South's period of reconstruction, Gone With the Wind brought Margaret Mitchell's famous novel about Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, and the plantation called Tara to the silver screen.

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell

Released: 1939

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The Way We Were

Politically active, Jewish Katie (Barbra Streisand) reunites with apolitical, non-Jewish Hubbell (Robert Redford), whom she knew in college, at the end of World War II. Despite their differences, the two fall in love marry. Over time, however, Katie becomes incensed by Hubbell's increasingly lackadaisical attitude towards his job and politics. Her activism causes friction in his budding screenwriting career, and the two drift apart. Only years later do they finally realize they were at their best when they were together.

Starring: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford

Released: 1973

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Casablanca

With the simple gesture of tilting Ilsa's (Ingrid Bergman) chin up and the line "Here's looking at you, kid," Casablanca entered the pantheon of true romance. The tale of reunited lovers during the fall of Casablanca to the Vichy government is timeless.

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid

Released: 1942

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Legends of the Fall

This is the movie where Brad Pitt has flowing blond locks and rides horses. Need we say more?

Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia Ormond, Anthony Hopkins

Released: 1994

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Sleepless in Seattle

Tom Hanks plays a lonely widower who is, yes, sleepless in Seattle. Annie (Meg Ryan) is a loyal listener to a radio show Hanks' character's son calls in an attempt to help his grieving father find love again. If only these two had cell phones—the whole meeting atop the Empire State Building scene (based on Annie's favorite movie, An Affair to Remember) would have been much less fraught with tension. Then again, where's the fun in that?

Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan

Released: 1993

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