Best and Most Memorable
Film Kisses of All Time
in Cinematic History
Part 6
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Best and Most Memorable Part 6 |
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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In his apartment, a kiss sealed the murderous pact between Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) and blonde femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), to kill her husband and collect double indemnity accident insurance; as he grabbed her tightly and dug his fingers into her arm, Neff asserted: "There's not going to be any slip up. Nothing sloppy, nothing weak, it's got to be perfect" | 
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Young Esther Smith (Judy Garland) rushed to her next-door neighbor John Truett's (John Drake) house, where she defended her younger sister Tootie's (Margaret O'Brien) alleged attack by him; without explanation, she punched Truett, knocked him down, and bit him, as she exclaimed: "What do you mean hitting a nine-year-old child?...The next time you want to hit somebody, pick on somebody your own size. If there's anything I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate, it's a bully"; but when she realized John's intentions were good (Tootie resisted when he wanted to hide her from police), Esther again rushed next door to John's front porch to reconcile with him; he accepted her apology: "If you're not busy tomorrow night, could you beat me up again?"; he grabbed her and she finally received her first kiss from him, after which she retorted: "You've got a mighty strong grip for a boy" |
 
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Murder, My Sweet (1944)
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After being temporarily blinded by a gun being fired near his face, Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) was escorted to a cab by Detective Nulty (Paul Phillips), with beautiful redhead Ann Grayle (Anne Shirley) silently following behind; unaware that she was present, she listened into Marlowe's praise of her to Nulty ("She had more than a figure too...She had a face like a Sunday School picnic"); when Marlowe climbed into the back seat of the cab, she silently joined him without his knowledge; when she brushed against him as the taxi lurched, he sniffed the air, and detected her perfume; after realizing that it wasn't Nulty who had entered the cab with him, Marlowe blandly asked: "Nulty, I haven't kissed anybody in a long time. Would it be alright if I kissed you, Nulty?" Grinning, Ann eagerly kissed him without saying a word as the film faded to black -- but not before Marlowe prudently removed his gun from his holster | 
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Romance brewed between the two stars of this film, 19 year-old Lauren Bacall and 44 year-old Humphrey Bogart -- their on-screen and off-screen affair sizzled during the film, and they ended up getting married and living together until Bogart's death in 1957; slender and vagabond nightclub American singer, Marie Browning (Lauren Bacall), nicknamed "Slim", and heavy-drinking charter-boat captain Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart), nicknamed "Steve" both happened to meet during World War II in Martinique; the young, sultry, and stranded Marie appeared in the hallway-doorway of his upstairs room in the Marquis Hotel above the nightclub - she had come from her rented room across the hall; in her first husky, sexy lines to him as she leaned in, she made a simple, deadpan request for a match, but it sounded like an erotic challenge: "Anybody got a match?"; later, at the beginning of one of the screen's most famous seductions, she appeared at his room's door for another visit, again with a liquor bottle in her hand; she said in a husky drawl: "You know, Steve, you're not very hard to figure. Only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times... (She aggressively sat in his lap) The other times, you're just a stinker" (She planted her first kiss on his lips) He asked: "What'd you do that for?" |
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She answered him after their first kiss: "I've been wondering whether I'd like it" - he wanted to know her reaction: "What's the decision?" - and then she give him a second kiss to get a better evaluation after telling him: "I don't know yet"; she recommended to her less-than passive partner: "It's even better when you help"; she then suggested as she left his room, speaking in a low purring voice: "Okay. You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together - and blow" |  
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In the dark, shadowy underground subway tunnel-passage of the train station, housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) succumbed to doctor Alec Harvey's (Trevor Howard) first kiss (after he told her: "I love you so"); as they passionately kissed for the first time, two large, long shadows of approaching passengers darkened the tunnel's wall behind them, a newspaper swirled in front of them, and the roar of the approaching train was heard; the forceful speed of the noisy train represented their passion rising and crashing through the silence. Later, in a memorable scene on their sixth of seven Thursday secret meetings - Alec and Laura took
a ride into the country in a borrowed car, and visited a stone bridge, where they stood together and chatted about their clandestine relationship: They finished their clandestine, forbidden affair with a final cup of tea and a brief and painful parting. This tea room scene was played out a second time (the first time was at the beginning of the film), but this time from the perspective of Laura's subjective memory; they sat at a table - the camera closely centered on them as they had their last intimate conversation together, but were interrupted by matronly gossip Dolly Messiter's (Everley Gregg) loud voice - when Alec's train arrived, although they longed to kiss each other, Alec stated: "I must go. Goodbye"; he rose and shook hands with Dolly and then rested his hand lightly on Laura's right shoulder for a moment, before his final departure; Dolly spoiled their final few, painful moments together, forcing their farewell to be brief and offhandedly deceptive - WITHOUT a farewell kiss. |
 In the tunnel (first time)  In the country  In the tunnel (second time)  In the apartment 
Final Tea Room Farewell Scene |
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As LA detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey
Bogart) drove away from Eddie Mars' (John Ridgely) casino with Vivian Rutledge/Sternwood (Lauren Bacall),
they had an opportunity to stop by the side of the road and kiss each other amidst the intrigue: Marlowe: "Remember I told you I was beginning to like another one of the Sternwoods?" Vivian: "I wish you'd show it." Marlowe: "That should be awful easy." (He kisses her) Vivian: (breathily) "I liked that. I'd like more." (They kiss a second time) "That's even better." Marlowe: "All right. Now that's settled..." Marlowe continued with his detective-questioning: "...Kissing is all right. It's nice. I'd like to do more of it. But first, I want to find out what Eddie Mars has on you" -- his continuing line of questioning angered her |
 
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A final notorious, and infamous show-down scene at the film's end was the climax of all the confrontations between "bad" Lewt (Gregory Peck) and half-breed Pearl (Jennifer Jones); when Lewt appeared in the rocks at a long distance from her, Pearl took aim and shot her lover to end their passionate love-hate affair, and then crawled forward as she re-cocked her gun, while he shot back and seriously wounded her; as the ex-lovers continued their bloody shoot-out in the hot desert sun, she cried out for him: "Lewt, hold on, Lewt, Hold on. Wait for me, Lewt," and lustfully crawled toward him; they stretched their hands out toward each other, as Pearl requested: "Just hold me. Hold me once more", and Lewt replied: "Little bob-cat" - he died mid-kiss, and she died shortly thereafter in a bloody embrace in his arms in the dust; earlier scenes showed Lewt forcefully kissing a resistant Pearl when he told her: "Don't you pretend nobody ever did that before!", a passionate love-making scene accompanied by thunder and bolts of lightning, and kisses for the "bob-tailed little treecat" |    
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During a phone conversation with Sam Wainwright (Frank Albertson), hometown sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed) and George Bailey (James Stewart) were squeezed together to share the same earpiece extension, listening and talking on the same phone; he was romantically attracted and couldn't deny that he loved her with this close proximity, but such an admission would mean remaining in Bedford Falls, where he had been forced to stay against his will and give up his other dreams; in a long closeup of them ear to ear with the phone between them, they listened to Sam while George squirmed and tried to contain himself, standing so close that he could smell Mary's hair; she looked upward at him and with her lips almost on his lips reinforced what Sam has said in a whisper, but she was almost unable to say the words: "He says it's the chance of a lifetime"; the phone suddenly dropped to the floor, and instead of grabbing and embracing Mary with a kiss, George held her fiercely by the shoulders and violently started shaking her, passionately protesting that he didn't want to get married: "Now, you listen to me! I don't want any plastics, and I don't want any ground floors, and I don't want to get married - ever - to anyone! You understand that? I want to do what I want to do. And you're...and you're" - then, he ran out of words; she responded by crying helplessly, silently, and then the conflicted George all of a sudden reversed himself and pulled Mary to himself in a fierce and passionate embrace - he overcame his resistance to her and started to kiss her all over her upturned face, holding her intensely; their undeclared love for each other overwhelmed both of them; after a quick cut, the next scene was in the hallway of the Bailey house and the sound of the Wedding March |
 
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The film has been known for having at the time of its production 'the longest kiss in film history' (but to circumvent censorship was composed of lots of pecks and necking, interspersed with whispers of discussion); the famous marathon kissing scene was a romantic interlude between unflappable government agent Devlin (Cary Grant) and Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) in her apartment that lasted almost three minutes; it began on a scenic Rio hotel balcony, and was entirely shot in a tight closeup of their faces; they rapidly alternated passionate, clinging kisses and whispered endearments, first on the balcony over the beach, and then continuing with nibbling bites and nuzzling hugs as they walked from the balcony to the telephone (where he engaged in a conversation) and then to the front door; during part of their conversation when he was dialing the telephone (calling his hotel for his messages), Alicia told him: "This is a very strange love affair" - and he asked why as she kissed him, and then she replied: "Maybe the fact that you don't love me"; after connecting with the hotel, he responded as he kissed her: "When I don't love you, I'll let you know"; when she further stated: "You haven't said anything," he told her: "Actions speak louder than words" |   
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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
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After Cora's (Lana Turner) dramatic entrance into the cafe, she and hired worker Frank (John Garfield) officially met and spoke for the first time. She began bossing and sizing him up while he made suggestive advances towards the untouchable yet glamorous woman. Suddenly, Frank grabbed her and planted a kiss on her lips. She reacted with great poise - she pulled out her vanity mirror, cleaned up the smudged lipstick on her lips, and then reapplied the lipstick before leaving - without a word. Soon, after a moonlight swim, they would be sharing more furtive, passionate and intimate kisses In this film noir's finale, as the star-crossed lovers were driving along the highway and near their home, Frank (John Garfield) asked for a long-awaited kiss. Cora (Lana Turner), who was painting her lips with lipstick, promised: "When we get home, Frank, then there'll be kisses, kisses with dreams in them. Kisses that come from life, not death." He responded: "I hope I don't wait." She replied lovingly: "Darling" and then they kissed, but she soon cried out frantically: "Look out, Frank!" Distracted during a 'kiss that comes from life' while he was driving, he ran off the road, killing Cora ('with a kiss that comes from death') in a fatal auto accident |
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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. 