Best and Most Memorable
Film Kisses of All Time
in Cinematic History
Part 3
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Best and Most Memorable Part 3 |
Most of these scenes come from vintage, classic Hollywood films, rather than more recent films, and even stretch back to the scandalous The Kiss (1896)! Other discussions of notable romantic or sexual scenes (with more examples of great kissing scenes) may be found elsewhere in this site: Romance Films Genre, or Erotic/Sexual Films Genre, or the History of Sex in Cinema.  are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films |
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(in chronological order by film title) Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 |
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Mädchen in Uniform (Germany, 1931) (aka Girls in Uniform)
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This landmark lesbian film from Germany with an all-female cast was the first movie to portray forbidden lesbian love - it was based on the play by Christa Winsloe about a lesbian relationship in a Prussian girls boarding school; US censors banned the film for its depiction of lesbianism between student Manuela (Hertha Thiele) and teacher Fraulein Elizabeth von Bernbourg (Dorothea Wieck); during a bedtime ritual in the dormitory in which all the schoolgirls were kneeling at the end of their beds and anticipating a goodnight kiss, the teacher kissed all the girls on the forehead, except for Manuela who received an intimate lip-kiss |
 
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Bird of Paradise (1932)
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In this King Vidor-directed exotic tale, beautiful Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio (as Luana - an alluring native princess) tempted love interest Joel McCrea to kiss her - repeatedly - and encouraged him by showing him where to put his lips; later after they had rehearsed many times, their kisses were more romantic and frequent |  
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A Farewell to Arms (1932)
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The greeting kiss between World War I officer and ambulance driver Lt. Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper) and British nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes) was filmed with an impressive subjective camera close-up shot of her coming around his bed and kissing him after he first arrived in the hospital; he responded: "You're lovely" and "You're the loveliest thing I ever saw"; another dramatic kissing scene was in the film's dramatic conclusion when Catherine died in her hospital bed in a maternity ward in Switzerland after her baby died -- with Frederic by her side kissing her and professing his love: ("I'll never stop loving you"); in the scene, her prolonged tearjerking death ("Oh darling, I'm going to die. Don't let me die! Take me in your arms! Hold me tight! Don't let me go...In life and in death, we'll never be parted...I believe it and I'm not afraid") coincided with bells ringing to declare the Armistice; after she died, he carried her in his arms to the window and affirmed: "Peace, peace" - as white doves flew into the air and the screen faded to black |    
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Love Me Tonight (1932)
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This innovative musical masterpiece from Paramount and director Rouben Mamoulian told of a mismatched, commoner/rich girl romance between poor Parisian tailor Maurice Courtelin/aka Baron Courtelin (Maurice Chevalier) and melancholy, love-sick noblewoman Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald); he pursued her into the garden of her family's chateau during a costume ball where she swooned with her eyes closed; he asked her to keep them closed, but she opened them and slapped him twice when he kissed her twice - but then she impulsively kissed and embraced him, and told Maurice that she loved him; he told her: "You don't know who I am...if I were not what you think I am..." although she professed that she didn't care: "You're you. And I love you...Whoever you are. Whatever you are. Wherever you are, I love you!"; he then told her: "You know what I think? I think I'm mad. And that you're mad. And that the whole world is mad. But I'm the luckiest madman of all. And the happiest. Listen, my beautiful princess, I love you. I love you. And whatever comes tomorrow, love me tonight. Love me tonight" |
  
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Love Me Tonight (1932)
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As the couple came together for a kiss shortly later in the film, tailor Maurice Courtelin /the Baron (Maurice Chevalier) recommended to Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald) as he was measuring her with a tape: "The important thing is not to hurry" - and then he aggressively kissed her; they were spied upon - and confronted in a compromising position with the Princess in her underwear, but Maurice/the Baron explained that he was only suggesting improvements to her riding costume: "I was only fixing the Princess' riding habit" |   
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Polly Tix in Washington (1932)
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In this early, 15 minute child exploitation film, one of the Baby Burlesks shorts (with toddlers playing adult roles), four-year-old Shirley Temple (in only her second film role) was featured as Polly Tix - a high-priced call girl/prostitute (!) sent by corrupt officials to influence a backwoods politician | 
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Sexy and unshaven Indochinese rubber plantation manager Dennis Carson (Clark Gable) was involved in a love triangle between sexy Saigon prostitute-on-the-run Vantine (Jean Harlow) and virginal (but married) upper-class adulteress Barbara "Babs" Willis (Mary Astor); during a torrential jungle rainstorm, Carson rescued Babs in his arms and "took" a kiss from her after reaching shelter; jealousies surfaced soon after and Babs - in a jilted rage - resorted to wounding Carson with a shotgun, leaving him by film's end to be happily treated by Vantine during his recuperation |  
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Hold Your Man (1933)
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This was the third of six films co-starring Jean Harlow (as good-hearted working-class charmer Ruby Adams) and Clark Gable (as flirtatious small-time con man Eddie Hall); in one scene, Eddie gave Ruby a crushing, body-clenching kiss and they experienced one night of pre-marital sex (leading to her subsequent pregnancy) - the censorial Hays Code forced her wicked ways to be punished with a two year sentence in a woman's reformatory for 'bad girls' as an unwed criminal mother; she was able to be reunited with Eddie and hastily marry him in the reformatory chapel to make her an honest and respectable woman | 
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In a pre-Code film, with lesbian leanings regarding the real-life bi-sexual 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden (portrayed by Greta Garbo), the monarch expressed her romantic attraction to her own lady-in-waiting Countess Ebba Sparre (Elizabeth Young) whom she affectionately kissed on the lips, and then professed her desire to remain a bachelor: (Chancellor: "But your Majesty, you cannot die an old maid," Christina: "I have no intention to, Chancellor. I shall die a bachelor!") | 
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The Painted Veil (1934)
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MGM's soap-opera drama was based upon W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel of the same name and set in colonial China; early in the film, Greta Garbo (as Austrian spinster Katrin Koerber) and Cecilia Parker (as younger sister Olga Koerber) shared a lesbian kiss - although it was disguised, due to restrictive Hays Code rules just put into effect, as an intense series of multiple kisses between sisters on Olga's wedding day |
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The Scarlet Empress (1934)
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This stylish, unorthodox biopic starred Marlene Dietrich as Russia's Sophia Fredericka (renamed Catherine the Great) in a frank and suggestive way by director Josef von Sternberg (the sixth of their seven collaborations); the film was filled with erotic images and motifs, and portrayed the fur-hatted queen ruler as a sexually-depraved, dominatrix ruler; in one scene of adulterous seduction, she appeared with a gauzy veil over herself before allowing Russian emissary Count Alexei (John Lodge) to vow his love for her ("Catherine, I love you, worship you") before he leaned down to kiss her behind the veil - when they kissed, she gripped the veil with her fist and drew it aside to reveal their affectionate kiss, and then asked for sexual favors; in an earlier scene, she had clandestinely met Alexei in a haybarn, where she seductively kept replacing a piece of straw between her lips and warned: "If you come closer, I'll scream" - he removed every strand and then coyly answered: "It is easier for you to scream without a straw in your mouth" - before kissing her |
  
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In the first of The Thin Man series of films, the rich, carefree husband-wife detective team, composed of Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy), were known for sleuthing, solving murders, wisecracking one-liners, affectionate witticisms, delightful teasing and one-upmanship, alcoholic fun with plenty of martinis, a wire-haired terrier named Asta (actually named Skippy), and a loving relationship - often punctuated with quick kisses and slight hiccups; during a Christmas party, as the drunken party-goers sang Oh Christmas Tree, Nora embraced and kissed Nick, and told him what she thought about all the low-life guests he had gathered together: "Oh, Nicky. I love you, because you know such lovely people" |
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As Nick prepared to leave Nora to work on a new case - the disappearance of 'thin man' Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis) - Nora was upset and pouting because the retired Nick had brought her to New York while engaged in a dangerous assignment ("just to make a widow of me"), although she had urged him to get involved; she resisted a good-bye kiss, but she affectionately told him: "Take care of yourself" and he laughed: "Why sure I will"; she retorted: "Don't say it like that. Say it as if you meant it" to which he replied: "Well, I do believe the little woman cares"; before grabbing him for a kiss, she said: "I don't care. It's just that I'm used to you, that's all"; as he left, she teasingly threatened Asta: "If you let anything happen to him, you'll never wag that tail again" |  
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Introduction: What makes
a memorable screen kiss? Is it the passion, the circumstances, the buildup,
the dialogue, the unpredictability, the awkwardness, the sexiness or
eroticism, the cinematography, the unique quality...? Although any list
of the best, most romantic, and most indelible kisses through film history
is difficult to create, there are a number of kissing scenes in movies
that are unforgettable and deserve special mention. 