Eight great romantic movie couples for Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day arriving Sunday, make a date with these romantic film couples (all available on DVD).

1. Ellie (Claudette Colbert) and Peter (Clark Gable) in “It Happened One Night”

In 1934 the New Deal was lifting spirits from the Depression sinkhole, and got inspired help from Frank Capra’s comedy. Colbert is the runaway heiress (at that time, they were as abundant as aviatrixes) whose tracks are covered and whose heart is stolen by sarcastic reporter Gable. The movie saved Columbia Pictures, won five top Oscars (movie, actor, actress, director and Robert Riskin’s ace script), and reputedly put a dent in the garment trade because Gable didn’t wear an undershirt. It remains a great time trip.

Peter: “Why didn’t you take off all your clothes? You could have stopped 40 cars.”

Ellie: “Well, I’ll remember that when we need 40 cars.”

2. Slim (Lauren Bacall) and Steve (Humphrey Bogart) in “To Have and Have Not”

They were brought together in 1944 by director Howard Hawks. Bogart was 44, Bacall was 19, they fell in love despite his prowling wife who had a notorious temper. The script is one good snapper after another. This is what “screen chemistry” is all about, cooking a broth of atmosphere that includes fishermen, thugs, Vichy creeps, fabled character actor Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael at the piano. It takes the macho starch out of Hemingway and injects the pure juice of sex appeal.

Slim: “I’m hard to get, Steve. All you have to do is ask me.”

Steve: “You know what you’re getting into. It’s gonna be rough.”

3. Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) and Devlin (Cary Grant) in “Notorious”

In 1946, film noir was coming on strong, and Hitchcock bottled the flavor his way, with huge skill. Bergman is the sad lady in a jam whom Grant treats like a slut, at times cruelly but with witty, erotic shadings, as she spies for him. Their sexy byplay has a charge of tension that pays off very romantically. The great villains include Claude Rains, who gazes up at Bergman with tranced awe, and Madame Konstantin as his horrid Nazi mom. This is the only movie to blend uranium, Rio, horseback riding and the most dangerous cellar prior to “Psycho.”

Alicia: “Don’t ever leave me.”

Devlin: “You’ll never get rid of me again.”

4. Natasha (Audrey Hepburn) and Pierre (Henry Fonda) in “War and Peace”

There was later a vast Soviet version, but the most engaging treatment of Tolstoy’s opus colossus is King Vidor’s 1956 epic, shot mainly in Italy. Hepburn was coltish but also surprisingly deep as Natasha, who works her way through love for Prince Andrei (Mel Ferrer) and dalliance with a sexy cad (Vittorio Gassman) before coming home to the heart of decent Pierre. It has Napoleon (Herbert Lom), fine battles, Nino Rota’s score and a terrific ballroom, but the slow bonding of the fated couple is what keeps it wonderful.

Natasha: “You’re like this house. You suffer, you show your wounds, but you stand.”

Pierre takes her hand and leads her into their new life.

5. Annie (Diane Keaton) and Alvy (Woody Allen) in “Annie Hall”

Both are darling, but he’s the supreme Jewish kvetchnik, she’s the ultimate WASP ditz.  Never has courtship been a wittier pairing of opposites. Allen’s 1977 comedy summarizes the special art of New York romancing with ageless charm. Keaton was his finest partner on film, and though the love affair is fated not to end well, it still ends with a bittersweet smile that lingers like the last sunny glow on a Manhattan high-rise.

Annie: “You’re what Grammy Hall would call a real Jew.”

Alvy: “Oh. Thank you.”

6. Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) in “Before Sunrise”

“The Third Man” seemed to own Vienna on film, then came Richard Linklater’s delectable celebration of the old Austrian city as a platform for the dawning romance of two tourists who have just met. It’s 1995 and they walk around town, constantly talking (young but bright talk), savoring every morsel of discovery. So do we, and in 2004 they had a swell sequel in Paris, “Before Sunset,” in which the couple made maturity enchanting.

Jesse: “Why do you think everybody thinks relationships are supposed to last forever anyway?
Celine: “Yeah, why? It’s stupid.”

7. Bridget (Renee Zellweger) and Mark (Colin Firth) in “Bridget Jones’s Diary”

Zellweger famously put on pounds to play the title role and, after this was a 2001 smash, did a sequel with a too-skinny script. The first movie is amusingly coy and toying as she fiddles with caddish Hugh Grant, then lasers onto shy, fumbling but fated Firth. Her acting goes far beyond her very good Brit accent. Firth has all the subtlety that bloomed so fulfillingly in last year’s “A Single Man.” In that he is sadly gay, here he is delightfully Zellwegered.

Bridget: “Did I really run ’round you lawn naked?”

Mark: “Oh yes. You were four and I was eight.”

8. Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) in “Titanic”

Back in 1997 and ‘98, James Cameron made his $200 million gamble pay hugely, not only because he created the fated ship so vividly (indeed lovingly) but because he made two gorgeous actors its motor. It won 11 Oscars, including the Big One. Cameron now has “Avatar” and the stars still shine, yet Winslet and DiCaprio will never again have such impact. Although we could guess who will go down with the ship, “Titanic” still lives for its fans because the lovers had such an astonishing, brief time together.

Jack: “Where to, Miss?”

Rose: “To the stars.”

Have your own romantic favorites?  Share them in Comments.

See more by David Elliott:

‘The Last Station’ plus more movie reviews, news

Academy Award nominations: Kudos, gripes, observations

‘Edge of Darkness,’ Jewish Film Festival plus more movie reviews, news

David Elliott is the SDNN movie critic.

Tags: "Notorious, "War and Peace", Annie Hall, audrey hepburn, Before Sunrise, best romantic movies, Bogart Bacall, Bridget Jones's Diary, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Colin Firth, David Elliott, Diane Keaton, Ethan Hawke, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Julie Delpy, Kate Winslet, Lauren Bacall, Leonardo DiCaprio, movies for Valentine's day, movies to watch on Valentine's Day, OCLNN, Renee Zellweger, romantic movie couples, SDNN, SWRNN, Titanic, To Have and Have Not, valentines day, Woody Allen

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