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With all of the talent in our Film Studies Program we couldn’t just have one list. Now, it’s John’s turn!  John Bruns, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Film Studies Program, shares his list of must-see romantic movies!

It Happened One Night (dir. Frank Capra, 1934)

I teach this film almost every year, and never does it fail to please my students. After more than 80 years, not only does it still get all its laughs, it’s still a very satisfying romance. Robert Riskin’s smart screenplay is about a spoiled little rich girl, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who marries against her father’s wishes a wealthy ninny named King Wes220px-Gable_ithapponepm_postertley. She runs away from her father and hops on a bus bound for New York that will reunite her with her newlywed husband. But along the way she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable), a down-on-his-luck journalist who is starving for a big story–literally (it’s the Great Depression, you see). Well, the big story lands on Peter’s lap–literally. You’ll have the biggest grin on your face as you watch Peter and Ellie stubbornly fight the obvious: that they are in love. The first film ever to sweep the Oscars’ top five categories–Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress–this cross-class romance is the ideal Valentine’s Day sweet.

Before Sunrise (dir. Richard Linklater, 1995)

Before Sunrise is the first of three installments of Jesse and Celine’s love story. Few films portray falling in love as honestly (and as patiently!) as this film. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train traveling through Europe and strike up a conversation. In a life-changing flash–as Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013) will show–Jesse asks Celine to get off the train with him in Vienna, his final stop. She agrees, and the two wander through the city together, all the while knowing that Jesse’s flight back to America is at sunrise. Vienna is the perfect backdrop for this dalliance of beautiful young minds.

Beautiful Thing (dir. Hettie MacDonald, 1996)

Hettie MacDonald was, and still is, an award-winning director of British television. Her debut, Beautiful Thing, was made for Channel 4 Films, the ground-breaking production company that provided Brits with intelligent and artistic television–a welcome alternative to what the BBC was offering. The film tells the story of two young men, Jamie and Ste, who live next door to one another in a working class area of South East London. Jamie, struggling with his homosexuality, finds himself attracted to Ste, who initially rejects Jamie’s affections. But a strong bond develops between the two as they both deal with a host of family problems. Channel Four liked what they saw so much that they decided to give Beautiful Thing a theatrical release. The soundtrack is by the Mamas and the Papas, and a solo Cass Elliot, who approvingly serenade this illicit romance. Funny and moving, this film is indeed a beautiful thing.

Read John's list of top five scary movies.

Beauty and the Beast (dir. Jean Cocteau, 1946)

Speaking of beautiful things, no film is more hauntingly beautiful than Jean Cocteau’s adaptation of this beloved French fairy tale. La belle et la bête stars Jean Marais (as the Beast) and Josette Day (as the Beauty). Cocteau was a well-known poet and surrealist-turned filmmaker (see his stunning and odd 1930 film, Blood of the Poet). So it should come as no surprise that this visually expressive film is a far cry from the 1991 Disney animated feature. And all the better. You’ll marvel as you watch Beauty’s tears turn to real diamonds, and disembodied arms hoist ornate candelabras in the Beast’s elaborate, dreamlike castle. You’ll be spellbound by this classic love story.

Love at Twenty (1962)

You love-starved cinephiles will want to track down this obscure anthology film. It’s comprised of shorts by five filmmakers: François Truffaut, Marcel Ophüls, Shintarô Ishihara, Renzo Rossellini, and Andrzej Wajda. My personal favorite is Truffaut’s “Antoine et Colette,” which is the second of five films that Truffaut made about his fictional alter-ego, Antoine Doinel (who is played by Jean-Pierre Leaud). In “Antoine et Colette,” Antoine meets the girl of his dreams at a music recital and decides to move into a flat across the street so he can be close to her and her loving, caring family. Fans of The 400 Blows (1959) will know that Antoine has run away from a home that was anything but loving and caring. Is he in love with Colette or with her family? Watch Love at Twenty and find out which is your favorite, because each short film in this anthology is a delicious slice of life. At turns funny, sad, real, fantastic, pleasant, painful, these films show from all angles what love is like when you’re 20.

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So, what do you think? What’s your favorite romantic movie? How does it stack up to Colleen’s list?