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 7
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

The Deer Hunter (1978)
#26

The final poignant and emotional scene at the breakfast wake in Welsh's Bar, of mourners following Nick's (Christopher Walken) death (while playing Russian Roulette in a Saigon back alley) after his body was brought home for the funeral - everyone was awkwardly silent, disillusioned, moody and overtaken by grief; as they prepared breakfast, the community of hardened survivors amidst the disfiguring tragedy of the failed war picked up the impromptu hummed tune of God Bless America and thereby comforted each other and healed each other's wounds by singing the words to the familiar and naively patriotic anthem - everyone joined in; at first, they were embarrassed, but then uplifted and renewed by the singing of the ritualistic song - they reverentially raised their beer mugs to Nick, as best friend Michael (Robert De Niro) toasted: "Here's to Nick," quietly understanding that he paid the ultimate price for his patriotism - their ordeal was over. The film ended and freeze-framed with their mugs in mid-air.

Defending Your Life (1991)

The scene in which yuppie Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks), in the temporary 'afterlife' of Judgment City following a fatal traffic accident, learned that he was returning to Earth to be reincarnated, knowing that his angelic newfound lover Julia (Meryl Streep) would "move on" to the next higher plane of existence without him.

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

The story of the Frank family hiding out in Nazi-occupied Holland, including young idealistic and innocent 13 year old Anne (Millie Perkins) - in the opening scene, Anne's father Otto (Joseph Schildkraut), the only survivor, returns to the attic to retrieve Anne's diary, which provides the main body of the film through flashbacks and voice-over narration, with Anne's famous line of dialogue: "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart"; and the tragic ending in which they rejoiced that the war was almost over and then were found by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps.

Doctor Zhivago (1965)
#43

Two scenes: (1) surgeon Dr. Yuri Zhivago's (Omar Sharif) final farewell to lover Lara Antipova (Julie Christie) to allow her to escape execution, with his memorable last gaze at her from a second story window, and (2) the moving death of the aging surgeon when he sighted his old flame Lara walking down a crowded Russian street, and he chased after her - suffering a heart attack from the stress and effort as he fruitlessly tried to call out to her while waving, and a crowd surrounded his lifeless body in a long overhead shot.

Dodsworth (1936)

The scene in which retired US auto industrialist husband Sam Dodsworth (Oscar-nominated Walter Huston) departed on a train from his youth-obsessed and self-centered wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) after she had told him she was demanding a divorce in order to get married to someone else - and his touching goodbye when he tells her: "May I remember to tell you today that I adore you?"; and the confrontational scene on the cruise liner when Sam finally decided to leave his wife for good: ("I'm going back to doing things...Love has got to stop some place short of suicide"), to return waving in the final scene to better-matched divorcee Edith Cortwright (Mary Astor) in Naples, Italy.

Don't Look Now (1973)

The early scene of the heart-breaking drowning death of John Baxter's (Donald Sutherland) daughter Christine (Sharon Williams) - wearing a telltale red raincoat - in a muddy fishpond in England.

Dreamgirls (2006)

Pregnant, spurned singer Effie White's (Jennifer Hudson) show-stopping, powerful song "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)" - first to her former group The Dreams, then to the unmoved, unknowing father of her unborn child Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) as she kissed and embraced him, and then her sung declaration to the world on an empty stage.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

The death of black maid Idella (Esther Rolle) watching The Edge of Night on TV; and the scene in which Jewish ex-schoolteacher Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy), after having a mental dislocation, told her dedicated black ex-chauffeur Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman): "Hoke...you're my best friend...no, really, you are", and took his hand in hers; and the final Thanksgiving scene in a nursing home in which an enfeebled 93 year-old Daisy was spoon-fed her Thanksgiving pie by Hoke.

Dumbo (1941)

The touching scene in which a lonely Dumbo visited his caged and shackled mother Mrs. Jumbo after she had attacked a bratty boy who was tormenting him because of his big ears -- and her comforting of the distressed young elephant by stroking him with her trunk extended from her large cage (and swinging him back and forth) during the song "Baby Mine" - accompanied by the many images of baby animals (monkeys, hyenas, hippos, ostriches, kangaroos, etc.) peacefully sleeping with their mothers.

Dying Young (1991)

The overwrought, tearjerking romance between dying, wealthy leukemia patient Victor Geddes (Campbell Scott) and his loving companion nurse Hilary O'Neil (Julia Roberts).

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 7 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
The Deer Hunter (1978) #26	The final poignant and emotional scene at the breakfast wake in Welsh's Bar, of mourners following Nick's (Christopher Walken) death (while playing Russian Roulette in a Saigon back alley) after his body was brought home for the funeral - everyone was awkwardly silent, disillusioned, moody and overtaken by grief; as they prepared breakfast, the community of hardened survivors amidst the disfiguring tragedy of the failed war picked up the impromptu hummed tune of God Bless America and thereby comforted each other and healed each other's wounds by singing the words to the familiar and naively patriotic anthem - everyone joined in; at first, they were embarrassed, but then uplifted and renewed by the singing of the ritualistic song - they reverentially raised their beer mugs to Nick, as best friend Michael (Robert De Niro) toasted: "Here's to Nick," quietly understanding that he paid the ultimate price for his patriotism - their ordeal was over. The film ended and freeze-framed with their mugs in mid-air.
Defending Your Life (1991)	The scene in which yuppie Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks), in the temporary 'afterlife' of Judgment City following a fatal traffic accident, learned that he was returning to Earth to be reincarnated, knowing that his angelic newfound lover Julia (Meryl Streep) would "move on" to the next higher plane of existence without him.
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)	The story of the Frank family hiding out in Nazi-occupied Holland, including young idealistic and innocent 13 year old Anne (Millie Perkins) - in the opening scene, Anne's father Otto (Joseph Schildkraut), the only survivor, returns to the attic to retrieve Anne's diary, which provides the main body of the film through flashbacks and voice-over narration, with Anne's famous line of dialogue: "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart"; and the tragic ending in which they rejoiced that the war was almost over and then were found by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps.
Doctor Zhivago (1965) #43	Two scenes: (1) surgeon Dr. Yuri Zhivago's (Omar Sharif) final farewell to lover Lara Antipova (Julie Christie) to allow her to escape execution, with his memorable last gaze at her from a second story window, and (2) the moving death of the aging surgeon when he sighted his old flame Lara walking down a crowded Russian street, and he chased after her - suffering a heart attack from the stress and effort as he fruitlessly tried to call out to her while waving, and a crowd surrounded his lifeless body in a long overhead shot.
Dodsworth (1936)	The scene in which retired US auto industrialist husband Sam Dodsworth (Oscar-nominated Walter Huston) departed on a train from his youth-obsessed and self-centered wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) after she had told him she was demanding a divorce in order to get married to someone else - and his touching goodbye when he tells her: "May I remember to tell you today that I adore you?"; and the confrontational scene on the cruise liner when Sam finally decided to leave his wife for good: ("I'm going back to doing things...Love has got to stop some place short of suicide"), to return waving in the final scene to better-matched divorcee Edith Cortwright (Mary Astor) in Naples, Italy.
Don't Look Now (1973)	The early scene of the heart-breaking drowning death of John Baxter's (Donald Sutherland) daughter Christine (Sharon Williams) - wearing a telltale red raincoat - in a muddy fishpond in England.
Dreamgirls (2006)	Pregnant, spurned singer Effie White's (Jennifer Hudson) show-stopping, powerful song "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)" - first to her former group The Dreams, then to the unmoved, unknowing father of her unborn child Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) as she kissed and embraced him, and then her sung declaration to the world on an empty stage.
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)	The death of black maid Idella (Esther Rolle) watching The Edge of Night on TV; and the scene in which Jewish ex-schoolteacher Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy), after having a mental dislocation, told her dedicated black ex-chauffeur Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman): "Hoke...you're my best friend...no, really, you are", and took his hand in hers; and the final Thanksgiving scene in a nursing home in which an enfeebled 93 year-old Daisy was spoon-fed her Thanksgiving pie by Hoke.
Dumbo (1941)	The touching scene in which a lonely Dumbo visited his caged and shackled mother Mrs. Jumbo after she had attacked a bratty boy who was tormenting him because of his big ears -- and her comforting of the distressed young elephant by stroking him with her trunk extended from her large cage (and swinging him back and forth) during the song "Baby Mine" - accompanied by the many images of baby animals (monkeys, hyenas, hippos, ostriches, kangaroos, etc.) peacefully sleeping with their mothers.
Dying Young (1991)	The overwrought, tearjerking romance between dying, wealthy leukemia patient Victor Geddes (Campbell Scott) and his loving companion nurse Hilary O'Neil (Julia Roberts).