Best and Most Memorable
Film Kisses of All Time
in Cinematic History
Part 5
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Best and Most Memorable Part 5 |
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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Waterloo Bridge (1940)
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The first kiss - between Capt. Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor) and Myra Lester (Vivien Leigh) - was in the romantic light of the Candlelight Club, to the orchestral sounds of "Auld Lang Syne," as they waltzed together and discovered their fresh new love for each other | 
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This classic comedy ended with a happy, romantic conclusion to the farcical affair between scam artist Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich (Barbara Stanwyck) and wealthy heir Charles "Hopsie" Pike (Henry Fonda) involving conflict, deceitfulness, and confusion - she finally succumbed to love and her Prince Charming; after rejecting Jean/Lady Eve twice on the grounds of immorality, a lovesick and innocent Hopsie thought that he had luckily met Jean Harrington again rather than Lady Eve Sidwich; she told him as they kissed and closely embraced at her cabin door: "Why didn't you take me in your arms that day? Why did you let me go? Why did we have to go through all this nonsense? Don't you know you're the only man I ever loved? Don't you know I couldn't look at another man if I wanted to? And don't you know I waited all my life for you, you big mug!"; he replied: "Will you forgive me?"; she responded: "For what? Oh, you mean, on the boat. The question is, can you forgive me?" -- but he still didn't understand that she had repeatedly duped him, and that they were in fact a legally-married couple; he vowed that he loved her no matter what and was finally willing to surrender himself to her: "I don't want to understand. I don't want to know. Whatever it is, keep it to yourself. All I know is I adore you. I'll never leave you again. We'll work it out somehow"; she slowly closed her door as he weakly protested that he was married: "I have no right to be in your cabin" - but she softly replied that his marital status was fine with her: "But so am I, darling. So am I" |
 
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Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) revisited duplicitous, vulnerable-acting femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) in her hotel room. Spade wasn't interested in her tantalizing, innocent act and tried to pry more information out of her, although he was intrigued by her play-acting: ("You're good. You're very good!") - when she quivered: "What else is there I can buy you with?", Spade brutally took her face in his hands and kissed her roughly - he dug his thumbs into her cheeks - and she accepted his lingering kiss | 
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They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
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In the film's poignant ending, infamous cavalry officer General George Armstrong Custer (Errol Flynn) gave a heart-rending farewell goodbye to his wife Elizabeth "Libby" Bacon (Olivia de Havilland) - Note: it was the stars' final screen pairing also! - she sensed disaster and had written about her fears in her diary (he reacted with astonishment to her written words) - the couple shared a few extended looks and kisses - and then after he left, she stood and watched him go - and then collapsed to the floor |    
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You're in the Army Now (1941)
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This comedy film has reportedly the longest kiss in film history - just over three minutes, between Regis Toomey (as Capt. Joe Radcliffe) and Jane Wyman (as Bliss Dobson) | |
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During the Paris interlude scene - a flashback - at La Belle Aurore, Sam (Dooley Wilson) played As Time Goes By ("a kiss is just a kiss") as Rick (Humphrey Bogart) poured a glass of champagne for lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and then offered his familiar toast: "Here's looking at you, kid"; as they embraced and kissed at the open window, artillery fire was heard off in the distance as the Germans approached, and Ilsa was startled and looked toward the street: "Was that cannon fire or is it my heart pounding?"; she was emotionally overwhelmed and expressed her love for him in the midst of the "crazy world": "I love you so much. And I hate this war so much. Oh, it's a crazy world. Anything can happen. If you shouldn't get away, I mean, if something should keep us apart, wherever they put you and wherever I'll be, I want you to know that..."; an emotionally-intoxicated Ilsa initiated a kiss, moving up to meet Rick's lips as they sat together - she abandoned herself to him in a kiss - specially requested: "Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time" - and ironically, it was! In a later scene, Rick and Ilsa encountered each other in the shadows of his dark, upstairs apartment, when she pulled a gun on him to demand the visas, but then fell into his arms and suddenly realized how much she had always loved Rick and still loved him - ending her tender words with a passionate, authentic kiss: "The day you left Paris, if you knew what I went through. If you knew how much I loved you, how much I still love you" |
 
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While on a cruise together, ugly-duckling turned, sexually-mature chic New Englander Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) began a shipboard romance with kind fellow passenger Jerry (Paul Henreid), and after a day trip of sight-seeing in Rio, Charlotte missed her boat's departure due to a car accident and the stranded couple sought overnight shelter in an abandoned cabin during a rainstorm; before rejoining her ship, Charlotte spent five amorous days with Jerry in Rio - sight-seeing, eating in restaurants, and dancing; in one famous scene together, cigarette smoking became more and more a sensual, shared, intimate act as he first performed the trick with her; on a balcony as they talked about happiness and his growing feelings for her, he noticed: "My darling, you are crying"; Charlotte buried her head in his chest and teary-eyed, said: "I'm such a fool, such an old fool. These are only tears of gratitude - an old maid's gratitude for the crumbs offered"; when Jerry replied: "Don't talk like that" and took her chin in his hand, Charlotte admitted: "You see, no one ever called me 'darling' before"; in close-up, they shared their first mutual kiss - a passionate but gentle one; although she responded, "Let me go," they kissed again; and then in the next famous scene at the Rio airport as Charlotte departed, Jerry brought her flowers; both believed that they might never see each other again - she knew that Jerry was married and wouldn't desert his wife; he lit two more cigarettes and passed one to Charlotte, as she said: "I hate goodbyes." Jerry: "They don't matter. It's what's gone before." Charlotte: "No, it's what can't go after." Jerry: "We may see each other - sometime." Charlotte: "No, we promised. We are both to go home." Jerry: "Will it help you to know I'll miss you every moment?" Charlotte: "So will I, Jerry, so will I. (Smoke curled up in front of them as they kissed goodbye.) Goodbye." (They kissed one more time when she turned back) |   
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Poor, struggling inventor and visionary architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) was married to frustrated wife Gerry (Claudette Colbert), who threatened divorce - walking out on her beleaguered husband after a five-year marriage to become an "adventuress"; she could make him happy by finding a new, wealthy husband (pre-approved and in his "good graces") who might help him realize his ambitions - or offer him a business partnership; she was confident that enamoured men would 'faint at her feet'; upon their return home after dinner and a little tipsy, Gerry matter-of-factly stated: "You know we don't love each other anymore. We're just habits, bad habits...And when love's gone, there's nothing left but admiration and respect"; when she was unable to unzip the back of her dress, he assisted and had her sit on his lap - and their love and fondness for each other was rekindled as he reminded her: "You don't think this is a little intimate, do you? Doesn't mean anything to you anymore to sit on my lap, huh?...What if I kiss you there?...Or there?" She shuddered under the spell of his passionate kisses on her back, but denied any effect: "It's nothing." However, she succumbed as he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her to himself on the couch; when he asked: "That doesn't mean anything to you anymore, huh?", she breathlessly replied: "Almost nothing" (as her toes curled forward!) - and she allowed herself to be limply carried upstairs to their bedroom - their kissing was a prelude to lovemaking |   
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Random Harvest (1942)
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In this great romantic film, wealthy aristocrat Charles Rainier (Ronald Colman) sustained a shell-shocked head injury during WWI, and became an amnesiac named John Smith (or "Smithy"), institutionalized at the Melbridge County Asylum; he met music hall actress Paula Ridgeway (Greer Garson) who took him to a countryside cottage to recuperate; eventually he found the courage to ask her to marry him in an idyllic scene under a tree where they shared a picnic: -- Smithy: "I'm asking you to marry me...Never leave me out of your sight. Never again"; she was uncertain: "Smithy, you do mean it? You do want it? Really?"; he assured her: "More than anything else in the world. My life began with you. I can't imagine a future without you"; she joked: "Oh, I better say 'yes' quickly, before you change your mind. It's yes, darling"; he relaxed back onto the ground with his arms outstretched: "Oh, oh, now, now, I can relax!" - but she reminded him that they should properly seal their engagement with a kiss: "Smithy...But, darling, you proposed to me, and I've accepted you...Smithy, do I always have to take the initiative? You're supposed to kiss me, darling"; he took her in his arms: "Oh, my..." |
 
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After Paula (Greer Garson) was married to amnesiac John Smith (or "Smithy") (Ronald Colman), they lived together for about three years and had a baby son - until he was hit by a taxi in Liverpool when going there to apply for a newspaper job - he regained his memory of his real identity as wealthy aristocrat Charles Rainier, but lost all memory of his life as John Smith and his relationship with Paula; she tracked him down and became his devotedly faithful secretary named Margaret Hansen, just hoping for the day he would unlock his memory and remember her; in the film's conclusion, he approached their familiar-looking old cottage after going through the squeaky gate and blossoming bough - he used a long-treasured key to open the door; behind him at the gate, Paula/Margaret (with tear-stained cheeks) softly called out to him: "Smithy? Oh, Smithy! Oh darling!" -- he recognized the voice - and remembered his former life with her - he turned around, softly responded "Paula!", and they came together to embrace and kiss as the music built to a crescendo -- and a fade to black brought "The End" to the screen |  
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The studio originally shot two different conclusions to the film -- one where Cary Grant (as wrongly-convicted arsonist-fugitive and ex-boyfriend Leopold Dilg) got the girl, and one where Ronald Colman (as law professor, Supreme Court nominee and fellow boarder Professor Michael Lightcap) won Jean Arthur's (as schoolteacher Nora Shelley) affections; the film ended with both Dilg and Nora in Washington, to see Lightcap take his rightful place on the judicial bench - although Nora winked at the judge, she raced after Dilg for a film-ending embrace in the hallway of the US Supreme Court building | 
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Woman of the Year (1942)
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This was the first of nine films teaming Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy together, an opposites-attract tale; it told about successful New York Chronicle newspaper sportswriter Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy) who taught celebrated, sophisticated, no-nonsense, career-minded political columnist Tess Harding (Katharine Hepburn) (working for the same newspaper) about the simple pleasures of life; in a taxi-cab ride scene together, Sam confessed to Tess as she rested on his chest: "I love you"; she was surprised: "You do?" and he replied: "Positive"; she affirmed: "That's nice" but then asked: "Even when I'm sober?" to which he told her: "Even when you're brilliant" - followed by a kiss which was soon interrupted by the nosy cab driver's untimely: "This is it!"; in her dark apartment, they kissed again - she encouraged and invited him to kiss her a third time when he observed that her pretty portrait was "a little too high to reach" and she responded: "I'm not"; although he was a "bundle of nerves," she was "relaxed" and wanted to continue to kiss him (and presumably be more intimate), but he left hurriedly when she went to the kitchen for a glass of milk -- forgetting his hat, which she sent to him in a box with a note asking: "What's the hurry?" |
  
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For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
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This film had the famous kissing scene between expatriate American demolition expert and mercenary Robert "Ingles" Jordan (Gary Cooper), fighting with the anti-fascist Republican guerrillas against Franco's nationalistic forces in the mid-1930s, and blue-eyed, short-haired, innocent, rescued peasant woman Maria (Ingrid Bergman); after he cradled her hed, she laughed as she told him: "I like - I don't know how to kiss or I would kiss you. Where do the noses go? Always I wonder where the noses will go. (He gave her a quick peck on the lips) They're not in the way, are they? I always thought they would be in the way. (She kissed him) Look, I can do it myself. (She kissed him again)...Oh, did I do it wrong?" (To prove that she was kissing him correctly, he grabbed her for another kiss) |   
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This wartime comedy film had a sexually-exciting, brownstone apartment front steps kissing scene on a balmy summer night in wartime Washington DC, that occurred between single working woman Connie Milligan (Jean Arthur) and young Air Force sergeant Joe Carter (Joel McCrea) - both roommates; walking her home, she was provocatively dressed in an off-the-shoulder black lace evening dress, with a string of white pearls around her soft neck, and her hair was decorated with a white flower. On the way, she turned a streetcorner and nearly walked into one of many kissing couples on the sidewalk. As they talked about his family, he kept taking off and putting on her wrap, putting his hand on her bare shoulder, and taking her arm in his; when she asked about his girlfriends, they almost kissed in a shot framed between two small tree trunks, but then she resisted and pulled away, asking: "Are you afraid to get married or something?"; as he embraced her, they collapsed on the front steps of their shared apartment; she spoke about her plans for her own marriage and her future with her fiance, an older man, forty-two year old ("a safe and sane age") government official - her stuffed-shirt boss, Charles J. Pendergast (Richard Gaines): "I consider myself a very lucky little lady...being engaged to Mr. Pendergast." All the while, Joe was amorously embracing her, caressing her, and fondly touching her hands, arms, and shoulders - she vainly attempted to ignore his advances to make out -- she fended off his nuzzling and roaming hands exploring her entire body (both in and out of view of the audience), and tried to conceal her growing desire by incessant talking. She held out her engagement ring for his approval and he responded by kissing her wrist. Connie became visibly distracted and her voice cracked when he admired and then nuzzled her bare neck. She said: "Well you see, that's the way with those older men like Mr. Pendergast. A girl gets to appreciate their more mature..." He interrupted her mid-sentence when he passionately kissed her on the lips - when he released, she finished the sentence: "...viewpoint." She paused, looked away for a second, and then took the two sides of his face with her hands and boldly kissed him back - harder. But then, she realized that they were getting too involved - she stood and politely stated: "I've gotta go. Good night, Mr. Carter." He responded: "Good night, Miss Milligan." She ascended the stairs into the building and shut the door. He began walking away and then sheepishly remembered that he was leaving his own apartment: "I almost forgot where I lived." Connie held the door open for him. As they bedded down in adjacent rooms - shot from outside in a frame split by the wall between them, they discussed how uncomfortable and restless they were, and Joe finally admitted: "I love you Connie" and she responded likewise: "I love you more than anything in the world." |
 
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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. 