Romance
"Alice's Festival Of Romance"
Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight, young (and older) love, unrequited love, obsessive love, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, and tragic love. Romantic films serve as great escapes and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two people finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience life "happily ever after" - implied by a reunion and final kiss.
Here "Alice's Festival of Romance" has been assembled below as an aphabetical list. Should more precise scrolling be required, one should go to the specific genre, ie "Classic Romance", "Comedy Romance" , "Drama Romance" or even "Queer Cinema"
Right: Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid star in Todd Haynes'
"Far From Heaven"
Hangman's Knot (1952)
6.8/10
Director: Roy Huggins
Starring: Claude Jarman Jr, Donna Reed, Glenn Langan, Jeanette Nolan, Lee Marvin, Randolph...
Major Matt Stewart (Randolph Scott) leads a troop of Confederate soldiers on a raid, targeting a wagon that is transporting Union gold. All of the Uni... Read more
Moulin Rouge (1952)
7.2/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon
A rich, colourful film based on the life of Toulouse Lautrec, the 19th century Parisian artist whose growth was stunted by a childhood accident. An ex... Read more
Mr Imperium (1951)
5/10
Director: Don Hartman
Starring: Debbie Reynolds, Lana Turner, Barry Sullivan, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main
Lush romantic tale starring Ezio Pinza as a charismatic prince who falls for aspiring nightclub singer Lana Turner. When Pinza becomes king of his cou... Read more
The River (1951)
7.6/10
Director: Jean Renoir
Starring: Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight
In 1949 and 1950, Renoir travelled to Bengal for his first colour film - the story of a large British family living on the banks of the Ganges. Winnin... Read more
The African Queen (1951)
7.9/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Peter Bull, Robert Morley, Theodore Bikel
One of the all-time greats, "The African Queen" stars Humphrey Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Katharine Hepburn as unlikely lovebirds who enco... Read more
Story of a Love Affair (1950)
7.1/10
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: Gino Cervi, Massimo Girotti, Lucia Bose
An early masterpiece from then documentary-maker director Michelangelo Antonioni, said to be one of Martin Scorsese's favourite films. Setting the to... Read more
Gone to Earth (1950)
7.2/10
Director: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Starring: Jennifer Jones, David Farrar, Cyril Cusack
A.k.a. 'The Wild Heart.' Jennifer Jones plays a beautiful young English Gypsy girl who loves animals and in particular her pet fox. She is hotly desir... Read more
Lust For Gold (1949)
6.8/10
Director: S Sylvan Simon
Starring: Glenn Ford, Ida Lupino, Gig Young, William Prince, Edgar Buchanan, Will Geer, Pa...
Fortune seeker Barry Storm stumbles onto some clues that may lead him to the fabulous Lost Dutchman Mine, but others have tried and been murdered. Read more
Madame Bovary (1949)
7.1/10
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin, Gene Lockha...
Based on the French literary classic, this drama presents author Gustave Flaubert (James Mason) narrating his tale of infidelity and narcissism. After... Read more
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
7.6/10
Director: Henry Koster
Starring: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven
A delightful comedy starring Cary Grant as a suave angel who comes to Earth to help distraught young bishop David Niven, raise money for a new cathedr... Read more