Movies for Valentines Day: My Favorite Classic Love Stories

With Valentines Day quickly approaching I've been thinking about my favorite romantic movies. There are so many of them but the ones that fill my heart and sometimes my eyes with tears are the five classic oldies but always goodies, I am going to share with you in this review about love stories that never die..

One...A True Classic
Casablanca

If ever a love story was about self sacrifice and bravery than this is the one...This classic movie stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, a man who has seen the worst in men during wartime and suffered a broken heart when his love, Ilsa, (Ingrid Bergman), left him in Paris during the height of war...the movie takes place years later when Rick, now the owner of nightclub in Casablanca, a free zone during the Nazi occupation in Europe. Many refugees show up there hoping for a way out...When Ilsa, is one of them, and shows up in his club with her new husband, Victor Laszlo, (Paul Henreid), a will known resistance fighter who is wanted by the Nazi's, and asks for Rick's help to get Victor out of Europe, the story evolves into a tale of mixed emotions for Rick and the eventual sacrifice one man will make for his true love...The last scene is one I have seen many times and it moves me like no other..."we will always have Paris"...how many times have you heard that famous sentence and visualized that scene in the airport as the last plane takes off...but with who aboard?

Little factoid: Boogy never really says, Play it again Sam...he just says, "Play it, If you can play it for her, you can play it for me"..

Two: This one brings tears to my eyes each time I see it
Love Is a Many Splendid thing

The minute I hear the theme song I can see the beautiful hillside in China where Jennifer Jones, (Han Surin), an Eurasian Doctor, and William Holdin, (Mark Elliot) an American war correspondent, spend some of their short time together...he is in China during one of Chinas unsettled times and when they meet, they both know this is something special...she is a widow and afraid of getting hurt again..he is married but wants a divorce but his wife refuses to give him one...They do fall in love and even though her family disapproves of this relationship with a Caucasian, she decides to go against their wishes...This is truly lovely and heart warming love story, the location in china is both romantic and hectic, lending a feel to the movie that was quite unusual for its time...when Holden has to go off to report about the war going on in one of the provences..Later as she stands on that hillside, remembering their time together...the music swells, the movie ends, you just can't resist a tear...

Three:Romance and Science Fiction
Somewhere In Time

Not only is this a story about love but it also tells the tale about obsession and blind trust in the unknown. It all begins when Richard Collier, (Christopher Reeve), is approached by an older woman at the end of the premiere performance of the play he has just written...this women hands him a watch and says something to him that hints about their past...What could she possibly mean? He investigates a bit and finds himself at the Grand Hotel, a hotel of distinction and history... he spots a picture on the wall of a famous actress taken in the early 1900's...this picture of the actress, Elisse McKenna, (Jane Seymore), holds him spellbound...he becomes obsessed with finding out more about her and, when he does, he realizes he is in love with a women in the past. The story takes a turn when he decides he was going to find her, even if it meant he would have to travel back in time by self-hypnosis, a technique used by a friend of his who was successful in his attempt to time travel....after much experimenting he does finally succeed...when they finally do meet in the past, love triumphs!...But, not every movie has a happy ending and the twists and turns of this romance certainly has its own. This story of romantic obsession is truly unique and guaranteed to move you...also, to see Christopher Reeves so young and vital is a true treat..

Four: Another tear jerker
A Farewell To Arms

This famous Hemingway novel is another one of Hemingway's stories that was sad but oh, what a touching movie it was, a complex story of love and sorrow. Jennifer Jones and Rock Hudson star in film adapted from the book and are another couple where a happy ending doesn't seem to be on the agenda... Hudson is an American who, for some reason, is in the Italian army during WWI. When he meets Jennifer Jones, a nurse in the Red Cross, cupids arrows fly....they have a passionate affair which results in her getting pregnant. But duty calls and he has to go off to war... Thinking he is long gone she leaves for Switzerland to have her baby....when he finds out, he deserts the army to find her. Their love is rekindled and they are happily together....though it isn't too long before the baby is ready to makes its appearance. But untold sorrow prevails in the worst way imaginable...can he go on with his life? And how?...another tearjerker, you can be sure..

I've decided to end this little list of my favorite romantic movies with one a bit more recent film and with a happier ending then the previous four.

Five:Ahh, you gotta love Paris
Something's Gotta Give

This is my newest favorite love story, a romantic comedy with a heart and a message; you are never too old for love... Harry Sanborn,( Jack Nicholson) meets Erica Barry, (Diane Keaton), while on a love tryst with his newest young girl friend...who, it turns out, is Erica's daughter and Erica's house ...Unexpectedly Harry has a small heart attack. Not too serious, he is told by his doctor, (Keanu Reeves), but he must rest and convalesce and is not allowed to travel, so there is no choice and has to stay in Erica's house for a while. Thus begins a love story that is not really planned or desired...Erica and Harry are both getting up in years, are living alone and seem to like it that way.... they are not looking for romance.. But, try to tell that to Cupid once again....So the unexpected happens and a relationship is formed...it was nice for a while but too much history in Harry's past make it seem impossible...Time passes and Harry, who was a notorious womanizer, finally sees the error of his ways... The movie ends on a happy note when he flies to Paris to find Erica only to find she has another man in her life but, well, I won't give away the ending only to say this movie has the perfect ending in the most perfect setting, the beauty of Paris, another star of this film ...This delightful romantic comedy has a message that is all important about life and the passage of time. And, you are never too old to find love.

Happy Valentines Day To One And All....