Comfort Cinema – Romance Edition

In these days of social-distancing, even the chastest caress sends a chill down our spines. If you can’t touch your date or even talk face to face, you can still get your thrills vicariously. Nothing like some old-fashioned romance to get our minds off grim reality. Today’s Comfort Cinema recommendations are all about love.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Family/Fantasy, 1947) – Dir. Joe Mankiewicz. Gene Tierney plays a widow who decides to move to a seaside house with her little girl (8 year-old Natalie Wood). The only problem is that the house is haunted by the ghost of a cranky sea salt (Rex Harrison) and he doesn’t want roommates. YouTube.

The Shop Around the Corner (Comedy, 1940) – dir. Ernst Lubitsch. Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart play bookshop clerks who can’t stand one another. They’re also pen pals falling madly in love without knowing it. If the plot sounds familiar that’s because it was remade in 1998 with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as You’ve Got Mail, yet another excellent example of comfort cinema. YouTube.

Ninotchka (Romantic Comedy, 1939) – dir. Ernst Lubitsch. Greta Garbo is a die-hard party leader whose communist ideals crumble when she encounters cosmopolitan Melvyn Douglas while on a state mission to Paris. Amazon Prime.

Now, Voyager (Drama, Romance, 1942) – Charlotte (Bette Davies) is a homely heiress who frees herself from her domineering mother thanks to therapist Claude Rains. While on a world cruise, she meets unhappily married Paul Henreid. But don’t be fooled by the plot description. This unconventional romance is really about what it takes to become your true self. Amazon Prime.

Before Sunrise (Romance, 1995) – dir. Richard Linklater. On his last day in Europe, American student Ethan Hawke meets Parisian Julie Delpy on a train and they have a 24-hour romance in Vienna. This movie perfectly captures the excitement and innocence of finding a kindred soul before the Digital Age ruined it all. YouTube.

An American in Paris (Musical, 1951) – dir. Vincente Minelli. Aspiring American painter Gene Kelly meets and falls for Leslie Caron. Glorious Technicolor, elaborate fantasy dance sequences, post-war Paris — escapist cinema doesn’t get any better than this. Amazon Prime.

A Matter of Life and Death (Fantasy, 1946) – dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. This beautiful and lush fantasy starts out with a grim punch: When his plane is hit during a sortie, a WWII fighter pilot (David Niven) contacts mission control, where a young American WAC (Kim Hunter) tries to guide him as he prepares to jump out with a faulty parachute. Due to a celestial clerical mistake, he miraculously survives and encounters her on a beach. Their romance is threatened when an angel arrives to take him to heaven.

The More the Merrier (Romantic Comedy, 1943) – Charles Coburn charms highly efficient secretary Jean Arthur into taking him on as a her roommate during the WWII housing shortage in Washington DC. Intent on playing Cupid, Coburn then sublets half his room to dashing Joel McCrea behind Arthur’s back. The dynamics between the three make for hilarious moments, and McCrea and Arthur still sizzle onscreen. You should be able to find this one free.

Definitely, Maybe (Romantic Comedy, 2008) – An 8 year-old (Abigail Breslin) asks her father (Ryan Reynolds) to tell her how he met her mother, prompting a look back at his youth and his 3 greatest loves (Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz and Elizabeth Banks). This underrated movie is nuanced and complex, particularly in its rounded portrayal of Reynolds’ old flames.

If you watch any of these, let me know your thoughts in the comments!