MASTER LIST #9: The 101 Greatest Romantic Movies

These are the movies that highlight both the pluses and minuses of romance--amazing films, all! Thus, based on (1) lilt, (2) realism, (3) overall quality, (4) relevance to genre, and (5) influence, here are the results:

1) A Little Romance (George Roy Hill, 79)
2) Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 77)
3) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 42)
4) Sunrise, A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 27)
5) Brief Encounter (David Lean, 45)
6) Breaking the Waves (Lars Von Trier, 96)
7) L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 34)
8) The Crowd (King Vidor, 28)
9) Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming, 39)
10) Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 71)
11) The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman, 88)
12) David and Lisa (Frank Perry, 62)
13) West Side Story (Robert Wise and Joshua Logan, 61)
14) City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 31)
15) Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 87)
16) The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 41)
17) Manhattan (Woody Allen, 79)
18) All The Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
19) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 65)
20) Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 62)
21) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
22) The More The Merrier (George Stevens, 43)
23) A Star is Born (George Cukor, 54)
24) Gregory’s Girl (Bill Forsyth, 81)
25) Chilly Scenes of Winter (Joan Micklin Silver, 79)
26) The Green Ray (a.k.a. Summer) (Eric Rohmer, 86)
27) Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
28) Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
29) The Quiet Man (John Ford, 52)
30) A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressberger, 46)
31) Claire’s Knee (Eric Rohmer, 70)
32) Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 95/2004)
33) La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)
34) Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
35) The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
36) Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 90)
37) Lady and the Tramp (Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, 55)
38) Reds (Warren Beatty, 81)
39) Lianna (John Sayles, 83)
40) Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 95)
41) Marty (Delbert Mann, 55)
42) Tess (Roman Polanski, 80)
43) Nothing But a Man (Michael Rohmer, 64)
44) Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 59)
45) Breathless (Jean Luc Godard, 60)
46) The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 93)
47) Dogfight (Nancy Savoca, 91)
48) The Lovers on the Bridge (Leos Carax, 99)
49) Arthur (Steve Gordon, 81)
50) Déjà Vu (Henry Jaglom, 97)
51) Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 82)
52) The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 95)
53) Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 39)
54) Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted, 80)
55) The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 37)
56) Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 99)
57) Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
58) Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne, 45)
59) It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 34)
60) The African Queen (John Huston, 51)
61) Scenes From a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman, 75)
62) Two for the Road (Stanley Donen, 67)
63) Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 91)
64) It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 48)
65) Summertime (David Lean, 55)
66) Ryan’s Daughter (David Lean, 70)
67) Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wei, 94)
68) Intermezzo (Gregory Ratoff, 39)
69) Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 54)
70) Madchen in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, 31)
71) Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 65)
72) The Way We Were (Sydney Pollack, 74)
73) Say Anything…(Cameron Crowe, 89)
74) True Romance (Tony Scott, 93)
75) Beautiful Thing (Hettie MacDonald, 96)
76) Someone to Love (Henry Jaglom, 87) 
77) Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 86)
78) Adam's Rib (George Cukor, 49)
79) Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeaunet, 2001)
80) Splendor in the Grass (Elia Kazan, 61)
81) To Have and Have Not (John Huston, 44)
82) "I Know Where I'm Going" (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressberger, 45)
83) Once (John Carney, 2006)
84) An Affair to Remember (Leo McCarey, 57)
85) Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 93)
86) Il Postino (Michael Radford, 94)
87) That Hamilton Woman (Alexander Korda, 41)
88) Away From Her (Sarah Polley, 2006)
89) Map of the Human Heart (Vincent Ward, 93)
90) Play It Again, Sam (Herbert Ross, 71)
91) Penny Serenade (George Stevens, 41)
92) Starting Over (Alan J. Pakula, 79)
93) Truly Madly Deeply (Anthony Mingella, 90)
94) Modern Romance (Albert Brooks, 81)
95) 84 Charing Cross Road (David Hugh Jones, 87)
96) Down with Love (Peyton Reed, 2003)
97) Best Friends (Norman Jewison, 82)
98) Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 83)
99) Lucas (David Seltzer, 86)
100) Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, 2010)
101) Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2012)

BREAKDOWN BY DECADE: 

The 1920 (2):
4) Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 27)
8) The Crowd (King Vidor, 28)

The 1930s (7, 3 in 1939):
7) L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 34)
9) Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming, 39)
14) City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 31)
53) Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 39)
55) The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 37)
59) It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 34)
68) Intermezzo (Gregory Ratoff, 39)

The 1940s (10, 2 in 1941):
3) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 42)
5) Brief Encounter (David Lean, 45)
16) The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 41)
22) The More The Merrier (George Stevens, 43)
30) A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger, 46) 
64) It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 48)
78) Adam's Rib (George Cukor, 49)
81) To Have and Have Not (John Huston, 44) 87) That Hamilton Woman (Alexander Korda, 41) 82) "I Know Where I'm Going" (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger, 45)

The 1950s (10, 4 in 1955):
23) A Star is Born (George Cukor, 54)
29) The Quiet Man (John Ford, 52)
37) Lady and the Tramp (Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson, 55)
41) Marty (Delbert Mann, 55)
44) Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 59)
56) Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman, 55)
60) The African Queen (John Huston, 51)
65) Summertime (David Lean, 55)
69) Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 54)
84) An Affair to Remember (Leo McCarey, 57)

The 1960s (9, 2 in 1962 and in 1965):
12) David and Lisa (Frank Perry, 62)
13) West Side Story (Robert Wise and Joshua Logan, 61)
19) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 65)
20) Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 62)
43) Nothing But a Man (Michael Rohmer, 64)
45) Breathless (Jean Luc Godard, 60)
62) Two for the Road (Stanley Donen, 67)
71) Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 65)
80) Splendor in the Grass (Elia Kazan, 61)

The 1970s (10, 4 in 1979):
1) A Little Romance (George Roy Hill, 79)
2) Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 77)
10) Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 71)
17) Manhattan (Woody Allen, 79)
25) Chilly Scenes of Winter (Joan Micklin Silver, 79)
31) Claire’s Knee (Eric Rohmer, 70)
61) Scenes From a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman, 75)
66) Ryan’s Daughter (David Lean, 70)
72) The Way We Were (Sydney Pollack, 74)
90) Play It Again, Sam (Herbert Ross, 71)

The 1980s (17, 4 in 1981)
11) The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman, 88)
15) Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 87)
24) Gregory’s Girl (Bill Forsyth, 81)
26) Summer (Eric Rohmer, 86)
38) Reds (Warren Beatty, 81)
39) Lianna (John Sayles, 83) 
42) Tess (Roman Polanski, 80)
49) Arthur (Steve Gordon, 81)
51) Lonely Hearts (Paul Cox, 82)
54) Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted, 80)
73) Say Anything…(Cameron Crowe, 89)
76) Someone to Love (Henry Jaglom, 87)
77) Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 86)
94) Modern Romance (Albert Brooks, 81)
95) 84 Charing Cross Road (David Hugh Jones, 87)
97) Best Friends (Norman Jewison, 82)
98) Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 83)
99) Lucas (David Seltzer, 86)

The 1990s (17, 3 in 1995 and 1996):
6) Breaking the Waves (Lars Von Trier, 96)
32) Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 95)
36) Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 90)
40) Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 95)
47) Dogfight (Nancy Savoca, 91)
48) The Lovers on the Bridge (Leos Carax, 99)
50) Déjà Vu (Henry Jaglom, 97)
52) The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 95)
56) Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 99)
63) Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 91)
67) Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wei, 94)
74) True Romance (Tony Scott, 93)
75) Beautiful Thing (Hettie MacDonald, 96)
85) Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 93)
86) Il Postino (Michael Radford, 94)
93) Truly Madly Deeply (Anthony Mingella, 90)
96) The Whole Wide World (Dan Ireland, 96)

The 2000s (11, 3 in 2001):
18) All The Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
21) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
27) Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
28) Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
32) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
34) Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
35) The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
57) Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
79) Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeaunet, 2001)
83) Once (John Carney, 2006)
88) Away From Her (Sarah Polley, 2006)

The 2010s (3) 
33) La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)
100) Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, 2010)
101) Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2012)

BREAKDOWN BY DIRECTOR:
WITH 4 FILMS:
David Lean: Brief Encounter (5), Summertime (65), Ryan’s Daughter (66), Doctor Zhivago (71)

WITH 3 FILMS:
Woody Allen: Annie Hall (2), Manhattan (17), Hannah and Her Sisters (77)

WITH 2 FILMS:
George Stevens: The More The Merrier (22), Penny Serenade (91)
Billy Wilder: Some Like It Hot (44), Sabrina (69)
George Cukor: A Star is Born (23), Adam’s Rib (78)
Eric Rohmer: Summer (26), Claire’s Knee (31)
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger:  A Matter of Life and Death (30),
"I Know Where I'm Going" (82)
Richard Linklater: Before Sunrise (33), Before Sunset (33)
Henry Jaglom: Déjà Vu (50), Someone to Love (76)  
Leo McCarey: The Awful Truth (55), An Affair to Remember (84)
Frank Capra: It Happened One Night (59), It’s A Wonderful Life (64)
Ingmar Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night (56), Scenes From a Marriage (61)
Sarah Polley: Away From Her (88), Take This Waltz (101)

NEXT: 101 Best Mysteries/Suspence/Film Noir!