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 13
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

In a Lonely Place (1950)

Beautiful but cool blonde next-door apartment neighbor Laurel Gray's (Gloria Grahame) teary words of goodbye to cynical, hard-living, self-destructive and volatile Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) as he walked away after their relationship has deteriorated by film's end: "I lived a few weeks while you loved me. Goodbye Dix..."

In Country (1989)

The achingly poignant and moving climax in which lively teenaged Kentucky girl Samantha "Sam" Hughes (Emily Lloyd), haunted Vietnam vet and Samantha's uncle Emmett Smith (Bruce Willis) and Samantha's overweight grandmother Mamaw (Peggy Rea) visited the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, DC (just built at the time of this film's release) to honor Samantha's father, who died before she was born while serving in Vietnam (Mamaw: "I think I'm gonna bawl") - and Emmett's finding of the names of his fallen comrades.

Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)

The entire doomed love affair between married world-famous concert violinist Holger Brandt (Leslie Howard) and his 6 year-old daughter Ann Marie's (Ann E. Todd) comely piano teacher Anita Hoffman (Ingrid Bergman in her first American film); the scene in which Holger begged Anita not to get on a train (she was going away to Sweden to escape their forbidden affair); the use of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring as a metaphorical idea and musical theme; and the scene at a tombstone on the French Riviera with its words: "Mon amour dure apres la mort (My love endures after death)" - and her leaving of him: "I have been an intermezzo in his life", and her tears after she had bid him good-bye (without telling him that she was leaving him) -- followed by her Dear John letter: ("...But we know in our hearts that love like ours is wrong -- that it drags itself down with remorse and fears, and the unhappiness of others..."); and the startling, heart-breaking scene in which Holger's daughter was struck by a car when rushing to greet her father, and Holger's line to his bitter son Eric (Douglas Scott): "You see, Eric, even if you don't need me anymore, now it's I who need you"; and the last shot in which wife Margit (Edna Best) forgave Holger for his mid-life crisis/affair: ("Holger ...welcome home ...Holger, welcome home!") [Note: Bergman reprised her star-making role from the original Intermezzo (1936, Swe.), with co-star Gösta Ekman and directed by Gustaf Molander.]

The Iron Giant (1999)
#37

The scene in which a deer was shot by hunters in front of young Hogarth Hughes (voice of Eli Marienthal) and his 50-foot robot friend The Iron Giant (voice of Vin Diesel); and the climactic sacrifice by the Iron Giant to save the small Maine town of Rockwell from a nuclear missile -- just before the explosion in outer space, the Giant realized his heroism: "I'm Superman!" to a swelling score.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
#5
#4

The sorrowful scene in which George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), while dealing with a "Pottersville" alternate reality in which he wished he had never been born, found his former wife Mary (Donna Reed) - a sorrowful spinster librarian who didn't recognize him, and screamed to get away from him on the street; and the triumphant scene in which a joyful George Bailey was released from the hellish "Pottersville" reality: ("Ha, ha, ha, ha! My mouth's bleeding, Bert! My mouth's bleeding! Zuzu's petals... Zuzu... Merry Christmas!"), and George ran through the town of Bedford Falls, welcoming back his favorite places; and the miraculous heartwarming finale in which George ("the richest man in town") was surrounded by all of his friends and associates in his home next to the Christmas tree to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Auld Lang Syne - all his friends have paid his rent, and he is toasted by his war-hero brother Harry (Todd Karns): "A toast...to my big brother, George. The richest man in town", as he and Mary looked at the handwritten inscription by angel Clarence in the front of the book Tom Sawyer ("Dear George: - Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love Clarence") and Zuzu noted how an ornamental bell was ringing on the Christmas tree: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings" (signifying Clarence's promotion to an angel with wings.)

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

The drug-induced hallucinatory scene in which divorced Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), after a horrific experience in which he was told by an Evil Doctor (Davidson Thomson) that he was dead, was visited by his ex-wife Sarah (Patricia Kalember) while in the hospital - accompanied by their two sons, who told him: "Oh, Jacob. I still love you, for what it's worth" - and the dashing of their reconciliation when a sardonic disembodied voice taunted: "Dream on" - causing Jacob to break down in tears and realize that the scene was the wish-fulfilling fantasy of a dying man; and the ongoing trial of Jacob being reconciled with the death of his young 6 year-old son Gabriel (uncredited Macauley Culkin) while he was still in Vietnam, when he remembered /imagined Gabe's death by an automobile when he was picking up baseball cards he had dropped in the middle of the street while hauling along his bicycle; also the scenes of Jacob being thwarted by demons into seeing his son again - until the next-to-final scene (in his old apartment bathed in golden light) in which he finally accepted his own death; in the tearjerking climax, Jacob found his dead son Gabe, who was playing with a music box (playing "Sonny Boy") on the stairs - he looked up and greeted him with: "Hi Dad!" - followed by their ascension up the staircase into the golden light - and the revelation of Jacob's death.

The Jazz Singer (1927)

The moving reconciliation scene in which jazz singer Jack Robin (Al Jolson) met his estranged dying father Cantor Rabinowitz (Warner Oland) and later decided to sing "Kol Nidre" in his father's place in the synagogue.

Jean de Florette (1986, Fr.)

#50

The sad scenes leading up to the tragic death of hunchbacked prospective farmer Jean Cadoret (Gerard Depardieu), who planned to generate a temporary income of 2000 francs by pawning his wife Amiee's (then real-life wife Elisabeth Depardieu) heirloom emerald necklace - however, his plans were dashed when she admitted that she'd already sold her necklace for 100 francs, since it had fake emeralds, not real ones; Jean delivered a desperate prayer to God for rain -- and when it did rain in a faraway place, it caused him to scream at God in anger and anguish: "I'm a hunchback! Have you forgotten that? Do you think it's easy? Isn't there anybody up there? There's nobody up there!"; he was killed by a falling rock caused by a dynamite explosion he set off while trying to get water to feed his crops - due to the deliberate blocking of a well spring by neighbor Cesar Souberyan (Yves Montand) who desired the property for himself; Cesar's nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) expressed grief-stricken guilt over his own duplicity (he had been pretending to be Jean's friend): "It's not me that's crying. It's my eyes," and Jean's daughter Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna) was tearfully angry upon seeing the uncovered well by the greedy Cesar and Ugolin. [The film was the first half of a two film series based on Marcel Pagnol's novel L'Eau des Collines, followed by Manon des Sources (1986, Fr.).]

Jeffrey (1995)

The off-screen death of HIV-positive, dim-witted Cats chorus member Darius (Bryan Batt) from a brain hemorrhage, and his middle-aged, flamboyant, quick-witted interior decorator/lover Sterling's (Patrick Stewart) hostile, teary reaction to scared and fearfully-celibate NY actor/waiter Jeffrey's (Steven Weber) feelings of sadness in the face of impending mortality: "You know, Darius once said you were the saddest person he knew...because he was sick, he had a fatal disease, and he was a million times happier than you"; and the scene of Darius' apparition telling Jeffrey: "Hate AIDS, Jeffrey, not life...just think of AIDS like the guest that won't leave, the one we all hate, but you have to remember: Hey, it's still our party" - and the parting glance between Sterling and Darius, as Darius added: "And be nice to Sterling."

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 13 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
In a Lonely Place (1950)	Beautiful but cool blonde next-door apartment neighbor Laurel Gray's (Gloria Grahame) teary words of goodbye to cynical, hard-living, self-destructive and volatile Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) as he walked away after their relationship has deteriorated by film's end: "I lived a few weeks while you loved me. Goodbye Dix..."
In Country (1989)	The achingly poignant and moving climax in which lively teenaged Kentucky girl Samantha "Sam" Hughes (Emily Lloyd), haunted Vietnam vet and Samantha's uncle Emmett Smith (Bruce Willis) and Samantha's overweight grandmother Mamaw (Peggy Rea) visited the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, DC (just built at the time of this film's release) to honor Samantha's father, who died before she was born while serving in Vietnam (Mamaw: "I think I'm gonna bawl") - and Emmett's finding of the names of his fallen comrades.
Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)	The entire doomed love affair between married world-famous concert violinist Holger Brandt (Leslie Howard) and his 6 year-old daughter Ann Marie's (Ann E. Todd) comely piano teacher Anita Hoffman (Ingrid Bergman in her first American film); the scene in which Holger begged Anita not to get on a train (she was going away to Sweden to escape their forbidden affair); the use of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring as a metaphorical idea and musical theme; and the scene at a tombstone on the French Riviera with its words: "Mon amour dure apres la mort (My love endures after death)" - and her leaving of him: "I have been an intermezzo in his life", and her tears after she had bid him good-bye (without telling him that she was leaving him) -- followed by her Dear John letter: ("...But we know in our hearts that love like ours is wrong -- that it drags itself down with remorse and fears, and the unhappiness of others..."); and the startling, heart-breaking scene in which Holger's daughter was struck by a car when rushing to greet her father, and Holger's line to his bitter son Eric (Douglas Scott): "You see, Eric, even if you don't need me anymore, now it's I who need you"; and the last shot in which wife Margit (Edna Best) forgave Holger for his mid-life crisis/affair: ("Holger ...welcome home ...Holger, welcome home!") [Note: Bergman reprised her star-making role from the original Intermezzo (1936, Swe.), with co-star Gösta Ekman and directed by Gustaf Molander.]
The Iron Giant (1999) #37	The scene in which a deer was shot by hunters in front of young Hogarth Hughes (voice of Eli Marienthal) and his 50-foot robot friend The Iron Giant (voice of Vin Diesel); and the climactic sacrifice by the Iron Giant to save the small Maine town of Rockwell from a nuclear missile -- just before the explosion in outer space, the Giant realized his heroism: "I'm Superman!" to a swelling score.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) #5 #4	The sorrowful scene in which George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), while dealing with a "Pottersville" alternate reality in which he wished he had never been born, found his former wife Mary (Donna Reed) - a sorrowful spinster librarian who didn't recognize him, and screamed to get away from him on the street; and the triumphant scene in which a joyful George Bailey was released from the hellish "Pottersville" reality: ("Ha, ha, ha, ha! My mouth's bleeding, Bert! My mouth's bleeding! Zuzu's petals... Zuzu... Merry Christmas!"), and George ran through the town of Bedford Falls, welcoming back his favorite places; and the miraculous heartwarming finale in which George ("the richest man in town") was surrounded by all of his friends and associates in his home next to the Christmas tree to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Auld Lang Syne - all his friends have paid his rent, and he is toasted by his war-hero brother Harry (Todd Karns): "A toast...to my big brother, George. The richest man in town", as he and Mary looked at the handwritten inscription by angel Clarence in the front of the book Tom Sawyer ("Dear George: - Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love Clarence") and Zuzu noted how an ornamental bell was ringing on the Christmas tree: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings" (signifying Clarence's promotion to an angel with wings.)
Jacob's Ladder (1990)	The drug-induced hallucinatory scene in which divorced Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), after a horrific experience in which he was told by an Evil Doctor (Davidson Thomson) that he was dead, was visited by his ex-wife Sarah (Patricia Kalember) while in the hospital - accompanied by their two sons, who told him: "Oh, Jacob. I still love you, for what it's worth" - and the dashing of their reconciliation when a sardonic disembodied voice taunted: "Dream on" - causing Jacob to break down in tears and realize that the scene was the wish-fulfilling fantasy of a dying man; and the ongoing trial of Jacob being reconciled with the death of his young 6 year-old son Gabriel (uncredited Macauley Culkin) while he was still in Vietnam, when he remembered /imagined Gabe's death by an automobile when he was picking up baseball cards he had dropped in the middle of the street while hauling along his bicycle; also the scenes of Jacob being thwarted by demons into seeing his son again - until the next-to-final scene (in his old apartment bathed in golden light) in which he finally accepted his own death; in the tearjerking climax, Jacob found his dead son Gabe, who was playing with a music box (playing "Sonny Boy") on the stairs - he looked up and greeted him with: "Hi Dad!" - followed by their ascension up the staircase into the golden light - and the revelation of Jacob's death.
The Jazz Singer (1927)	The moving reconciliation scene in which jazz singer Jack Robin (Al Jolson) met his estranged dying father Cantor Rabinowitz (Warner Oland) and later decided to sing "Kol Nidre" in his father's place in the synagogue.
Jean de Florette (1986, Fr.) #50	The sad scenes leading up to the tragic death of hunchbacked prospective farmer Jean Cadoret (Gerard Depardieu), who planned to generate a temporary income of 2000 francs by pawning his wife Amiee's (then real-life wife Elisabeth Depardieu) heirloom emerald necklace - however, his plans were dashed when she admitted that she'd already sold her necklace for 100 francs, since it had fake emeralds, not real ones; Jean delivered a desperate prayer to God for rain -- and when it did rain in a faraway place, it caused him to scream at God in anger and anguish: "I'm a hunchback! Have you forgotten that? Do you think it's easy? Isn't there anybody up there? There's nobody up there!"; he was killed by a falling rock caused by a dynamite explosion he set off while trying to get water to feed his crops - due to the deliberate blocking of a well spring by neighbor Cesar Souberyan (Yves Montand) who desired the property for himself; Cesar's nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) expressed grief-stricken guilt over his own duplicity (he had been pretending to be Jean's friend): "It's not me that's crying. It's my eyes," and Jean's daughter Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna) was tearfully angry upon seeing the uncovered well by the greedy Cesar and Ugolin. [The film was the first half of a two film series based on Marcel Pagnol's novel L'Eau des Collines, followed by Manon des Sources (1986, Fr.).]
Jeffrey (1995)	The off-screen death of HIV-positive, dim-witted Cats chorus member Darius (Bryan Batt) from a brain hemorrhage, and his middle-aged, flamboyant, quick-witted interior decorator/lover Sterling's (Patrick Stewart) hostile, teary reaction to scared and fearfully-celibate NY actor/waiter Jeffrey's (Steven Weber) feelings of sadness in the face of impending mortality: "You know, Darius once said you were the saddest person he knew...because he was sick, he had a fatal disease, and he was a million times happier than you"; and the scene of Darius' apparition telling Jeffrey: "Hate AIDS, Jeffrey, not life...just think of AIDS like the guest that won't leave, the one we all hate, but you have to remember: Hey, it's still our party" - and the parting glance between Sterling and Darius, as Darius added: "And be nice to Sterling."