Five Film Romances to Class up Your Date

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So, you’re planning a stay-at-home date: you’ve got a nice dinner planned, and you thought that afterwards you’d put on a romantic film to enjoy together. You’re looking for one that will complement the night you have planned the way the right wine complements a meal, one that will show you have an eye for quality and sophistication. Your thoughts naturally drift to the romances of Hollywood’s golden age and you wonder which of them will provide just the right mood.

If that’s happened to you, but you don’t know where to start, here are five classic Hollywood romances that’ll lend an air of black-and-white distinction to your dates.

1. Laura

A beautiful fashion executive is found dead in her apartment. As detective assigned to her case sifts through her various wealthy and unscrupulous acquaintances, and digs into her past and character, he begins to find himself falling in love with the dead woman.

PC: IMDB

Laura is sultry and sophisticated: heavily shadowed, with urbane, witty dialogue and a gripping plot. I won’t give away the film’s big twist, but suffice to say it makes for both a charged romance and a fascinating mystery. It’s anchored by a strong cast, including Vincent Price as Laura’s roguish fiancée and Gene Tierney, one of the great beauties of Hollywood, as the title character.

The shadows are soft and heavy, and the mood is dreamy and intimate; an evening of candles and fine brandy in a room flavored with smoke.

“Love is eternal. It has been the strongest motivation for human actions throughout history. Love is stronger than life. It reaches beyond the dark shadow of death.”

2. The Thin Man

Wisecracking, gin-guzzling married couple Nick and Nora Charles are drawn into a complex murder investigation involving an old acquaintance and a motley collection of suspects.

PC: IMDB

A lot of film romances stop when the couple’s on their way to marriage, which is perfectly acceptable, but The Thin Man films took the opposite tact by giving us one of the most charmingly romantic married couples in all of cinema.

Nick and Nora, played to perfection by William Powell and Myna Loy, live out marital bliss by trading sarcastic barbs and doing their best to outdrink each other.

They’re so suited to one another, so comfortable in each other’s company, and so obviously fond of each other that any time they’re onscreen is pure delight. The mystery here is secondary: it’s all an excuse to watch these delightful characters enjoy one another’s company.

The Thin Man is fast, clever, and sharp: a raucous party where everyone is intelligent and handsome, everyone likes each other, and everyone is just a little bit drunk.

“Waiter, will you please serve the nuts? I mean, will you please serve the guests the nuts.”

3. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

A small-town poet unexpectedly inherits a huge fortune, sweeping him into New York society where his sincerity clashes with the rich snobs he encounters. Meanwhile, he begins a romance with a working girl…unaware that she’s actually an undercover reporter.

PC: IMDB

A tribute to the attractive power of virtue, Frank Capra’s charming comedy see’s Gary Cooper showing up the hypocrisy and emptiness of the big city snobs he encounters by proving smarter, more confident, and more honest than any of them give him credit for.

In the process, we get to see how even a cynicism-encrusted tough dame like the incomparable Jean Arthur could find his sincerity and decency irresistible.

The film is warm, sweet, and filled with small, simple pleasures: an evening in the country with the smell of fresh air and books, wholesome food, and good conversation.

“He's got goodness. Do you know what that is?... No, of course you don't. We've forgotten. We're too busy being smart alecks. Too busy in a crazy competition for nothing.”

4. Top Hat

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers…yeah, that’s all you need to know. He falls in love with her, she thinks he’s already married, there are some jokes, some songs, and they dance.

PC: IMDB

Now, for those who are unaware, Fred and Ginger danced in the same sense that Rembrandt painted or Jascha Heifetz played the violin: they could move their bodies across a dance floor with the speed and precision that some people can move their fingers across a piano.

You simply watch in awe that the human body is capable of doing what they do.

And though the film is mostly just an excuse to get one or the other of them dancing, it is an amusing romantic comedy in its own right and well worth watching for the charm and entertainment value of its two stars.

Elegant, rapturous delight: an evening at the theater watching master performers at work, the low lights, the soft embrace of fine clothes, the sound of live music.

“Isn’t this a lovely day to be caught in the rain?”

5. The Lady Vanishes

On a train in central Europe, a young woman wakes up to find that not only has her elderly traveling companion vanished, but that everyone says she never existed in the first place. She and a traveling musician then have to discover whether she’s losing her mind or caught in the midst of a conspiracy.

PC: IMDB

Screwball romance meets espionage mystery. Who but Alfred Hitchcock could pull that off with such style and panache? Could switch so deftly from a tone of dread and creeping madness to one of lighthearted adventure and romance?

With the director’s trademark light touch and macabre humor, the film dances nimbly from one tone to another, moving with the speed and assurance of a roaring locomotive to its thrilling and romantic conclusion.

Exciting, funny, and romantic: a moonlit drive together where you’ve completely lost your way and are making jokes to stave off panic: dark, intimate, and a little alarming, but thrilling at the same time.

“My father always taught me, never desert a lady in trouble. He even carried that as far as marrying Mother.”

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