AFI's Top 100 Love Stories

The weather is turning colder, and pretty soon the snow will be flying. What better way to pass the time than to watch a good movie? About a month ago I saw this poster hanging in my library.

1. "Casablanca" - 1942
2. "Gone with the Wind" - 1939
3. "West Side Story" - 1961
4. "Roman Holiday" - 1953
5. "An Affair to Remember" - 1957
6. "The Way We Were" - 1973
7. "Doctor Zhivago" - 1965
8. "It's a Wonderful Life" - 1946
9. "Love Story" - 1970
10. "City Lights" - 1931
11. "Annie Hall" - 1977
12. "My Fair Lady" - 1964
13. "Out of Africa" - 1985
14. "The African Queen" - 1951
15. "Wuthering Heights" - 1939
16. "Singing' in the Rain" - 1952
17. "Moonstruck" - 1987
18. "Vertigo" - 1958
19. "Ghost" - 1990
20. "From Here to Eternity" - 1953
21. "Pretty Woman" - 1990
22. "On Golden Pone" - 1981
23. "Now, Voyager" - 1942
24. "King Kong" - 1933
25. "When Harry Met Sally" - 1989
26. "The Lady Eve" - 1941
27. "The Sound of Music" - 1965
28. "The Shop Around the Corner" - 1940
29. "An Officer and a Gentleman" - 1982
30. "Swing Time" - 1936
31. "The King and I" - 1956
32. "Dark Victory" - 1939
33. "Camille" - 1937
34. "Beauty and the Beast" - 1991
35. "Gigi" - 1958
36. "Random Harvest" - 1942
37. "Titanic" - 1997
38. "It Happened One Night" - 1934
39. "An American in Paris" - 1951
40. "Ninotchka" - 1939
41. "Funny Girl" - 1968
42. "Anna Karenina" - 1935
43. "A Star is Born" - 1954
44. "The Philadelphia Story" - 1940
45. "Sleepless in Seattle" - 1993
46. "To Catch a Thief" - 1955
47. "Splendor in the Grass" - 1961
48. "Last Tango in Paris" - 1972
49. "The Postman Always Rings Twice" - 1946
50. "Shakespeare in Love" - 1998
51. "Bringing Up Baby" - 1938
52. "The Graduate" - 1967
53. "A Place in the Sun" - 1951
54. "Sabrina" - 1954
55. "Reds" - 1981
56. "The English Patient" - 1996
57. "Two for the Road" - 1967
58. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" - 1967
59. "Picnic" - 1955
60. "To Have and Have Not" - 1944
61. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - 1961
62. "The Apartment" - 1960
63. "Sunrise" - 1927
64. "Marty" - 1955
65. "Bonnie and Clyde" - 1967
66. "Manhattan" - 1979
67. "A Streetcar Named Desire" - 1951
68. "What's Up, Doc?" - 1972
69. "Harold and Maude" - 1971
70. "Sense and Sensibility" - 1995
71. "Way Down East" - 1920
72. "Roxanne" - 1987
73. "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" - 1947
74. "Woman of the Year" - 1942
75. "The American President" - 1995
76. "The Quiet Man" - 1952
77. "The Awful Truth" - 1937
78. "Coming Home" - 1978
79. "Jezebel" - 1939
80. "The Sheik" - 1921
81. "The Goodbye Girl" - 1977
82. "Witness" - 1985
83. "Morocco" - 1930
84. "Double Indemnity" - 1944
85. "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" - 1955
86. "Notorious" - 1946
87. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - 1988
88. "The Princess Bride" - 1987
89. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" - 1966
90. "The Bridges of Madison County" - 1995
91. "Working Girl" - 1988
92. "Porgy and Bess" - 1959
93. "Dirty Dancing" - 1987
94. "Body Heat" - 1981
95. "Lady and the Tramp" - 1955
96. "Barefoot in the Park" - 1967
97. "Grease" - 1978
98. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" - 1939
99. "Pillow Talk" - 1959
100. "Jerry Maguire" - 1996



I decided to set a goal and watch every one of these movies. I had seen a few of them on the list, but I decided to watch them again as it had been awhile since I've seen them.

My library carries many of the old titles. Another great source is the TV channel Turner Classic Movies. They played 13 movies from the list in September, 4 in October, and 8 are scheduled in November.

I like having a list and checking things off when I accomplish them. I  am enjoying the older movies from the 1940's. The women's make-up is just so perfect with long eye-liner extending past their lashes, perfect lipstick, coiffed hair, and their eyes always seem so shiny. Also I noticed that whenever the camera fixes on the woman, it is a softer lens, almost like there is Vaseline on the lens. (I've heard that was a trick used in the profession; don't know if it is true or not!)

One thing I'm puzzled about is where they come up with the names of the some of the movies. I don't know what it has to do with the movie - like Random Harvest.

Love Story was released in 1970, and is considered one of the most romantic movies of all times. It is number nine on the list. I remember seeing this movie when it first came out and being all choked up about it. I watched it again and it hardly moved me. Ali MacGraw was kind of crass in this movie.

City Lights is number 10 on the list.

It is a silent film written, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin. He is a tramp who falls in love with a blind girl who sells flowers. It is a sweet and funny film. I was surprised that I liked it.

Some interesting facts about the top 100 romantic films:

*Cary Grant is the most celebrated actor, starring in the six films in the top 100. Humphrey Bogart is next with five.

*Hepburns make up 11% of America's Greatest Love Stories. Katharine stars in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "On Golden Pond," "Bringing Up Baby," "The Philadelphia Story," "Woman of the Year," and "The African Queen." Audrey Hepburn graces "Two for the Road," "Roman Holiday," "Sabrina," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "My Fair Lady."

*Seven of AFI's top 10 greatest love stories feature couples that do not end up together in the end.

*The AFI countdown contains approximately 187 fights and 260 kissing scenes, proving that lovers quarrel, but more often than not, they make up.(cited)

If romance is not your cup of tea (really?), then there's 100 best thrills, 100 best movies,  100 best musicals, 100 best laughs.... whatever floats your boat! You can find it here!

You just need to add popcorn!