The Sheila Variations

15 best movie kisses

Lots of photos. Tough choices. Below the fold.

Empire Strikes Back - asteroid belt. That's all I really need to say. One of my favorite movie kisses EVER.

Witness - they meet in the field. He is leaving the next day. They claw at one another, and yet - during one split second - they kind of pull back - and start laughing - their foreheads pressed together. It's one of the best movie kisses I can think of. This is the best I could do - in terms of tracking down an image:

Notorious - at the time this was the longest movie kiss in cinematic history. They had to keep breaking the kiss up to get around the censors. The censorship committee decreed that no screen kiss could last longer than 3 seconds. But Hitchcock made sure that their lips never touched for longer than 3 seconds - so if you put a stopwatch to it (and the censorship committee did) you would find that they were never over the time limit. But then they would pull back, nuzzle, speak against each other's mouths, kiss again for 3 seconds ... and repeat the whole thing. It's amazing - very very sexy. It's also REALLY neurotic. You can just tell that despite their desire for one another they are SO not trusting of each other. It's fascinating.

The Year of Living Dangerously - Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver in Indonesia. This was when Mel Gibson was still hot and not an evangelical bearded weirdo. Couldn't find a picture of the kiss I'm thinking of - it's their first kiss - in the rain. The chemistry between them is electric.

It's a Wonderful Life - the phone scene. I ACHE for them to kiss every time I watch that scene. It is absolutely electric.

Gone with the wind - Rhett sweeping her up the stairs in his arms. It's violent, it's shocking, and it is EXACTLY what she wants and needs.

8 Mile - Eminem and Brittany Murphy in the factory. It seems to go on forever. I read one review that called it "gratuitous". WHAT?? I couldn't disagree with that more strongly.

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, camping out together - going to attack the bridge at first light - so there's a sense that this night will be all they will have. Lots of kisses throughout the night, lots of conversation - I just love the whole scene.

Groundhog Day - the first time they kiss - after the snowball fight. Of course he keeps trying to recreate the magic of the moment, thereby ruining it - but I love that first kiss.

Running on Empty - River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton kissing in the woods at night. He confesses to her his secret about his family. He tells her what his life is. She is SO upset. Major kiss afterwards. It truly means something - unlike so many movie kisses.

Only Angels Have Wings - Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. Maybe it's not the most FAMOUS movie kiss - but it is one of my favorites. Mainly because his character is so curmudgeonly, so cranky - that it is literally breathtaking to watch him succumb to something like that. I LOVE the relationship created between those two characters.

Casablanca - It just has to be there.

To Have and Have Not - when she sits down on his lap and kisses him. He looks up at her. "What'd you do that for?" She replies, "To see if I like it." He says, "What's the verdict?" She says, "I haven't made up my mind yet" and leans in to kiss him again. This time it gets steamier - his hand reaches up to touch her face. She pulls back, smiles down at him, says, "It's even better when you help." Right after this comes the famous "you know how to whistle, don't you" line.

The Sure Thing - well, they don't actually kiss until the very last moment of the film when they're on the roof, surrounded by stars. And it's a sweet little innocent kiss - it's not Body Heat or anything - but it's SO effective because you realize how much it means to both of the characters. I love that moment. This is NOT a picture of the last moment - I failed in my quest to find that image. But this is another sweet moment, definitely leading up to that first kiss - when they are forced to sleep in the same bed, and wake up like this:

Streetcar Named Desire - the kiss between Stanley and Stella after the "STELLLLLAAAAAAAA" moment. It's scarily desperate. It really is. Great moment.

The Big Easy - Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin - in bed - she's all uptight, she starts crying, he's gentle - it's an astounding scene. You rarely see intimate scenes that are so HUMAN.

I think that's 15. And I know I've probably missed some of your favorites - I am sure I missed some of my favorites as well! I wrote this up in like 10 minutes.

I am now thinking of some others that should be on here. Blade Runner. Rocky. Dogfight - so sweet!!! Lady and the Tramp. Tom Selleck and Kevin Kline in In & Out.

Argh - two more:

From Here to Eternity - thanks, Lisa!

Rocky - thanks, Bets!!

I think I need to do top TWENTY kisses.

Posted by sheila