Greatest Tearjerkers Films - Scenes and Moments

Greatest Tearjerker Films, Scenes and Movie Moments
of All-Time

Introduction: There are many names for tearjerker films - 'women's pictures', 'weepies' or weepers, melodramas, soap operas (or soapers), and more recently, 'chick flicks'. There are many kinds of touching, emotionally stirring films and dramas that bring a tear to the eye, and cause a swelling in the heart. Pathos-filled tales of doomed or short-lived romance, tragic deaths or losses (loss of life, loss of love, loss of dignity, etc.), recovery (recovery of life, recovery of love, recovery of dignity, etc.), or difficult domestic situations are common plot themes in these kinds of films.
Many sites and film books have attempted to compile listings of the most tearjerking moments, scenes and films throughout cinematic history. See various choices of great tearjerkers in Entertainment Weekly's choices for the Top 50 Greatest Tearjerkers, UK's Channel 4 website of 100 Greatest Tearjerkers (see below), and O Magazine's compilation of 50 Greatest Chick Flicks. The following sources are indicated by icons in this site's compilation:

- UK's Channel 4 website of the 100 Greatest Tearjerkers

- Entertainment Weekly's November 28, 2003 issue of the 50 Greatest Tearjerkers

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.

Greatest Film Tearjerkers, Moments and Scenes
(alphabetical by film title) - Part 10
Intro | 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 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Movie Title
Brief Scene Description Example

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
#26

The scene of Matthew's (John Hannah) poignant reading of W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues at the moving funeral of "splendid bugger" Gareth (Simon Callow), following his sudden heart attack: ("Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come..."); also the final scene of Charles (Hugh Grant), after an aborted 'fourth' wedding ceremony, finally declaring his real love for Carrie (Andie MacDowell) in the rain (Carrie: "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed") and awkwardly asking for her hand in marriage - with Carrie's response: "I do", accompanied by a kiss and a lightning bolt in the sky.

Frankenstein (1931)

The heart-breaking, initially-censored scene in which the Monster (Boris Karloff) played with a little girl named Maria (Marilyn Harris) at lakeside - she was not repelled by his hideous appearance or fearful of him and invited him to play and be her friend. They joined in a game of flinging flower-petals into the lake, one-by-one, to watch them float. When the Monster's few flower blossoms were gone, he puzzled for a moment at his empty hands, and then innocently and ignorantly picked up Maria and tossed her into the water - where she quickly sank and drowned. He staggered away from the lake - expressing some confusion, despair and remorse - shaking and wringing his hands and possibly perceiving the horrible thing he had just done.

Fright Night (1985)

The drawn-out, excruciating yet poignant death of freshly-sired teenaged vampire "Evil" Ed Thompson (Stephen Geoffreys) after being stabbed with a wooden stake while in wolf-form by washed-up B-movie horror/vampire actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall).

The Front (1976)

The mentally-deteriorating, despairing and troubled character of TV comedy actor and Grand Central host Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel) - including the scene in which he was fired for being a suspected Communist and then committed suicide in his hotel room by jumping from the window; and the bittersweet finale after cashier/bookie and 'front'-man Howard Price (Woody Allen) testified before the HUAC and told the committee to "go f---k themselves" - when he boarded a train bound for federal prison as he kissed girlfriend Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci) and crowds waved placards of support - Frank Sinatra's rendition of Young at Heart played on the soundtrack as the real-life dates of blacklisting were posted after the cast and crew's names.

Gallipoli (1981, Aus.)
#21
#45

The senseless, suicidal bayonet charge scene of young Australian soldiers against impenetrable Turkish trenches in 1915, and the famous death moment of Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) - captured in freeze-frame - to Tomaso Albinoni's mournful Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ - before charging the guns, Archy chanted the mantra that his track coach and uncle Jack (Bill Kerr) used while training him: ("What are your legs? Springs, steel springs. What are they gonna do? Hurl me down the track. How fast can you run? As fast as a leopard. How fast are you gonna run? As fast as a leopard. Then let's see you do it...")

Ghost (1990)
#9
#5

The scene of Sam Wheat's (Patrick Swayze) death while grieving Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) cradled him in her arms, also the seriously passionate pottery wheel scene - to the tune of the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody - in which spirit-ghost/lover Sam revealed himself to Molly at her pottery wheel; and the scene in which spiritualist medium Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) convinced the bereaved Molly that Sam was trying to contact her by using Sam's favorite expression: "Ditto"; and the finale in which Sam bid Molly goodbye before he passed on into The Light.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

The scene in which ghostly sea captain and lover Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), Gull Cottage's former owner who had been haunting her bedroom and thoughts in his non-flesh-and-blood form, bid good-bye to Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) while she slept, telling her that she must find her own way in life - and that she was only dreaming of a sea-captain haunting the house: ("You've made your choice, the only choice you could make. You've chosen life and that's as it should be. And that's why I'm going away, my dear. I can't help you now...You must make your own life amongst the living, and whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbor in the end...It's been a dream, Lucia"); and the transcendent ending in which white-haired, elderly widow Lucy dies in her British seaside cottage's chair when captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), greets her with outstretched hands: "And now, you'll never be tired again, come Lucia, come my dear" - and - rejuvenated and young again, she walks off, hand-in-hand with him downstairs and through the front door into the afterlife with him.

Gladiator (2000)
#98

The scene of the moving last moments of condemned, enslaved and vengeful Colosseum gladiator "The Spaniard" (Russell Crowe) or Maximus - as he experienced visions of his murdered family - now in the afterlife - after being mortally wounded in the arena, and Lucilla's (Connie Nielsen) urging by his side: "Go to them" and being assured that he had greeted them: "You're home."

Glory (1989)
#16

James Horner's moving score accompanied by the Boys Choir of Harlem; the bull-whipping scene in which rebellious runaway soldier Trip (Denzel Washington) was punished - his back scarred from repeated lashings after being tied to a cart wheel - on false charges of desertion (he was looking for his shoes) with his steely eyes locked on white regiment leader Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) as a single tear flowed down his cheek; and the unit's pre-battle campfire spiritual scene in which ex-gravedigger Sgt. Major Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) led the soldiers in prayer and singing - including Trip's confession: ("Y'all's the only-est family I got. I love the 54th"), followed by the stirring battle-cry "Give 'em Hell, 54" shouted by Union soldiers (led by screenwriter Kevin Jarre) as the Massachusetts 54th Regiment marched to launch a doomed suicidal assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina; and Shaw's self-reflective moment as he looked out over the sea one last time and freed his horse; the scene of the frenzied assault on Fort Wagner after the men had been stirred by the death of Shaw, making it as far as the inner sanctum, but ultimately destroyed by the interior cannons; also the final shot of Shaw's burial in a mass grave with his soldiers (including Trip) - and the end credits shot of "The Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial" relief sculpture by August Saint-Gaudens in Boston Common.

Created in 1996-2008 © by Tim Dirks. All rights reserved.

Introduction: There are many names for tearjerker films - 'women's pictures', 'weepies' or weepers, melodramas, soap operas (or soapers), and more recently, 'chick flicks'. There are many kinds of touching, emotionally stirring films and dramas that bring a tear to the eye, and cause a swelling in the heart. Pathos-filled tales of doomed or short-lived romance, tragic deaths or losses (loss of life, loss of love, loss of dignity, etc.), recovery (recovery of life, recovery of love, recovery of dignity, etc.), or difficult domestic situations are common plot themes in these kinds of films. Many sites and film books have attempted to compile listings of the most tearjerking moments, scenes and films throughout cinematic history. See various choices of great tearjerkers in Entertainment Weekly's choices for the Top 50 Greatest Tearjerkers, UK's Channel 4 website of 100 Greatest Tearjerkers (see below), and O Magazine's compilation of 50 Greatest Chick Flicks. The following sources are indicated by icons in this site's compilation: - UK's Channel 4 website of the 100 Greatest Tearjerkers - Entertainment Weekly's November 28, 2003 issue of the 50 Greatest Tearjerkers Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.
Greatest Film Tearjerkers, Moments and Scenes (alphabetical by film title) - Part 10 Intro \| 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 \| Part 26 \| Part 27 \| Part 28 \| Part 29 \| Part 30
Movie Title	Brief Scene Description	Example
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) #26	The scene of Matthew's (John Hannah) poignant reading of W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues at the moving funeral of "splendid bugger" Gareth (Simon Callow), following his sudden heart attack: ("Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come..."); also the final scene of Charles (Hugh Grant), after an aborted 'fourth' wedding ceremony, finally declaring his real love for Carrie (Andie MacDowell) in the rain (Carrie: "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed") and awkwardly asking for her hand in marriage - with Carrie's response: "I do", accompanied by a kiss and a lightning bolt in the sky.
Frankenstein (1931)	The heart-breaking, initially-censored scene in which the Monster (Boris Karloff) played with a little girl named Maria (Marilyn Harris) at lakeside - she was not repelled by his hideous appearance or fearful of him and invited him to play and be her friend. They joined in a game of flinging flower-petals into the lake, one-by-one, to watch them float. When the Monster's few flower blossoms were gone, he puzzled for a moment at his empty hands, and then innocently and ignorantly picked up Maria and tossed her into the water - where she quickly sank and drowned. He staggered away from the lake - expressing some confusion, despair and remorse - shaking and wringing his hands and possibly perceiving the horrible thing he had just done.
Fright Night (1985)	The drawn-out, excruciating yet poignant death of freshly-sired teenaged vampire "Evil" Ed Thompson (Stephen Geoffreys) after being stabbed with a wooden stake while in wolf-form by washed-up B-movie horror/vampire actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall).
The Front (1976)	The mentally-deteriorating, despairing and troubled character of TV comedy actor and Grand Central host Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel) - including the scene in which he was fired for being a suspected Communist and then committed suicide in his hotel room by jumping from the window; and the bittersweet finale after cashier/bookie and 'front'-man Howard Price (Woody Allen) testified before the HUAC and told the committee to "go f---k themselves" - when he boarded a train bound for federal prison as he kissed girlfriend Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci) and crowds waved placards of support - Frank Sinatra's rendition of Young at Heart played on the soundtrack as the real-life dates of blacklisting were posted after the cast and crew's names.
Gallipoli (1981, Aus.) #21 #45	The senseless, suicidal bayonet charge scene of young Australian soldiers against impenetrable Turkish trenches in 1915, and the famous death moment of Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) - captured in freeze-frame - to Tomaso Albinoni's mournful Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ - before charging the guns, Archy chanted the mantra that his track coach and uncle Jack (Bill Kerr) used while training him: ("What are your legs? Springs, steel springs. What are they gonna do? Hurl me down the track. How fast can you run? As fast as a leopard. How fast are you gonna run? As fast as a leopard. Then let's see you do it...")
Ghost (1990) #9 #5	The scene of Sam Wheat's (Patrick Swayze) death while grieving Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) cradled him in her arms, also the seriously passionate pottery wheel scene - to the tune of the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody - in which spirit-ghost/lover Sam revealed himself to Molly at her pottery wheel; and the scene in which spiritualist medium Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) convinced the bereaved Molly that Sam was trying to contact her by using Sam's favorite expression: "Ditto"; and the finale in which Sam bid Molly goodbye before he passed on into The Light.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)	The scene in which ghostly sea captain and lover Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), Gull Cottage's former owner who had been haunting her bedroom and thoughts in his non-flesh-and-blood form, bid good-bye to Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) while she slept, telling her that she must find her own way in life - and that she was only dreaming of a sea-captain haunting the house: ("You've made your choice, the only choice you could make. You've chosen life and that's as it should be. And that's why I'm going away, my dear. I can't help you now...You must make your own life amongst the living, and whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbor in the end...It's been a dream, Lucia"); and the transcendent ending in which white-haired, elderly widow Lucy dies in her British seaside cottage's chair when captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), greets her with outstretched hands: "And now, you'll never be tired again, come Lucia, come my dear" - and - rejuvenated and young again, she walks off, hand-in-hand with him downstairs and through the front door into the afterlife with him.
Gladiator (2000) #98	The scene of the moving last moments of condemned, enslaved and vengeful Colosseum gladiator "The Spaniard" (Russell Crowe) or Maximus - as he experienced visions of his murdered family - now in the afterlife - after being mortally wounded in the arena, and Lucilla's (Connie Nielsen) urging by his side: "Go to them" and being assured that he had greeted them: "You're home."
Glory (1989) #16	James Horner's moving score accompanied by the Boys Choir of Harlem; the bull-whipping scene in which rebellious runaway soldier Trip (Denzel Washington) was punished - his back scarred from repeated lashings after being tied to a cart wheel - on false charges of desertion (he was looking for his shoes) with his steely eyes locked on white regiment leader Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) as a single tear flowed down his cheek; and the unit's pre-battle campfire spiritual scene in which ex-gravedigger Sgt. Major Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) led the soldiers in prayer and singing - including Trip's confession: ("Y'all's the only-est family I got. I love the 54th"), followed by the stirring battle-cry "Give 'em Hell, 54" shouted by Union soldiers (led by screenwriter Kevin Jarre) as the Massachusetts 54th Regiment marched to launch a doomed suicidal assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina; and Shaw's self-reflective moment as he looked out over the sea one last time and freed his horse; the scene of the frenzied assault on Fort Wagner after the men had been stirred by the death of Shaw, making it as far as the inner sanctum, but ultimately destroyed by the interior cannons; also the final shot of Shaw's burial in a mass grave with his soldiers (including Trip) - and the end credits shot of "The Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial" relief sculpture by August Saint-Gaudens in Boston Common.