Sunday, February 14, 2010

Fuggedabout Romeo and Juliet

Screw tragic young love; the sadder but wiser pairing for me. In honour of St. Valentines Day, I offer my top ten favorite romantic couples.

1. Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Thompson and Branagh were a gorgeous couple. Here's a fun fan vid with some clips from the film.


2. Will Shakespeare and Viola De Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love. Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow are sublime. Here's the wonderful trailer.



3. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn as divorced couple Dexter and Tracy in Philadelphia Story. Check out this lovely clip of the two of them discussing their failed marriage.


4. Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal as Judy and Howard in the madcap comedy What's Up Doc? I love this scene so much! She is incredible. So high energy and funny.



5. Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson as Sam and Lucy in Maybe Baby. In this clip, he recites Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. Don't worry; he doesn't look like that throughout the whole movie. But his voice certainly is delightful no matter what.


I think I'll wait until tomorrow to share the other five. Now some ruminations:

When I was younger, I adored many different films for their romantic couplings, usually featuring much older men with a young actress. Christopher Plummer's Captain in Sound of Music, Rex Harrison's Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Cary Grant as cat burglar John Robie in To Catch a Thief, and so forth. But as I've gotten older, it's less my ideal. Sure, I'm still nuts about 60-somethings Alan Rickman and Richard Thompson, but I think a maximum ten year difference is optimal.

What do you think? Who are your favorite film couples? More importantly, why?

5 comments:

Mrs. Chili said...

Oh, this would be a GREAT Ten Things Tuesday! I'm going to have to think about it for while, though; I want my couples to be GOOD.

Just off the top of my head, I'm awfully fond of Chris and Annie from What Dreams May Come. He goes to her hell to bring her back; it doesn't get much truer than that.

Maureen said...

Oh yes, definitely Shakespeare in Love. By one of my favorite playwrights... Tom Stoppard

Bill Lisleman said...

i enjoyed the "what's up doc" clip - I should rent the DVD.
I thought Ryan O'Neal was too over rated though. Don't you think Robert Redford was better?

shrink on the couch said...

I so agree with your Shakespeare in Love choice. As for mine, the first couple I thought of were: Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton from Out of Africa. Because she was strong and steady in the midst of being denied ownership of her true love.

The second couple that came to mind: Kate and Hubbell from The Way We Were. Again, a strong woman who didn't compromise or give up on her dreams. She let go and maintained her independence rather than lose herself or give up her passion.

Kathy Amen said...

What a great valentine's treat! And it's eerie, how many of my favorites are on your list. I was DEVASTATED when Em and Ken broke up (in real life)--what a perfect couple they were. And Philadelphia Story is one of the best. movies. ever. In every way, but especially from the romantic angle.

Thanks, and looking forward to the next 5!