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THE TOP 5 CINEMATIC COUPLES:
view full results see how points are awarded
| Rank |
Film |
Points |
L |
#1 |
| #1 |
Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not |
13 |
5 |
- |
| #2 |
Woody Allen & Diane Keaton in Annie Hall |
9 |
2 |
1 |
| #3 |
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy in 106 total films together |
6 |
2 |
1 |
| #4 |
William Powell & Myrna Loy in The Thin Man Series
Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby
Paul Newman & Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Elizabeth taylor & Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Jack Nicholson & Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment
James Spader & Susan Sarandon in White Palace
Elijah Wood & Sean astin in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Greta Garbo & John Gilbert in Queen Christina
May Irwin & John C. Rice in The Kiss
|
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
|
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
|
-
-
-
1
1
1
1
1
1
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L=How many lists each film appears on
#1=How many number one votes each film recieves
Nearly 110 years ago, it all began with a kiss. A single kiss. A kiss that shocked audiences with its interminable fire. May Irwin, a vaudeville star of the nineteenth century, was hired by the Edison Company to act out a kiss from The Widow Jones, a successful Broadway play of the time. Her partner was actor John C. Rice, and although the kiss only lasted a mere fifteen seconds, and would produce nothing more than a titter these days, in 1896 was hailed as both a breakout moment against Victorian society and the beginnings of humanity's slide into the fires of Hell. It was this kiss that began our love affair with romance upon the screen - and in fact one panelist even named this moment as the best cinematic coupling.
Jumping ahead to 2005, our panel this week voted for an array of different couples - some set in just one film, others spread out across a series of movies. In fact, the voting was so spread out that we ended up having a nine-way tie for fourth place, for only three couples/films were able to garner enough votes to spread their respective wings atop this week's pilings.
As for the actual winners, this week the trophy goes to Bogie & Bacall. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (in her film debut at nineteen) took home the most points this week for their roles in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not. They were followed by Annie Hall's Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, while Laurel & Hardy finished in third place for their multitude of films.
ed. note: when a panelist voted for a couple in several different films, we went with the predominant vote-getting film for the final results. If that was not possible, we awarded the victors to that particular couples entire array of films. Complete listings of all films that garnered votes can be found in the full results section.
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Individual lists:
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Albert H. Muth
Auteurophile
ed. note - yes this is a top six list
1. George and Martha -- best performance by a couple in any film ever!
2. Butch and Sundance -- and you thought 'hole in the wall' was a geologic formation
3. Nick and Nora Charles -- pure wit and style
4. Batman and Robin -- hot times inside the bat cave
5. Ratso and Joe Buck -- '...going where the weather suits my clothes'
6. Scarlet and Rhett -- they really did give a damn
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Sherry Messimer
Europhile & Cinephile
Greta Garbo & John Gilbert -- Sensuality was palpable when watching these real-life lovers play against one another on screen: "Flesh and the Devil", "Queen Christina", "Woman of Affairs"
Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall -- Bogie's weathered face, and Bacall's smoky voice... both masked a real, human tenderness and vulnerability: "The Big Sleep", "To Have and Have Not", "Key Largo"
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) & The Alien -- I don't think I need to explain that one... the Alien embodied many things in Ripley's many struggles against it: Technology, Corporate Corruption, Social Freedom, Ethics of Genetic Determinism.... through it all we were led to consider the darkest aspects of human nature.
Cary Grant & Katharine Hepburn -- I much prefer this pairing to the typical "Tracy/Hepburn". They were sharp, elegant, witty, and carefree together. Like watching two Thoroughbreds on screen... matching each other stride for stride: "The Philadelphia Story", "Bringing Up Baby", "Holiday"
William Powell & Myrna Loy -- They portrayed a sexy, stylish marriage of equals: "The Thin Man" (entire series)
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Matthew McCue
Writer & Cinephile
The question that plagues me is whether one should pick couples who have reteamed or just plain good couples who've only been on screen together once... I suppose the former should be considered on-screen duos (in the MTV era) so I'll go with couples... So I'll do four "romances" and one platonic...
Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment -- There are people who absolutely hate this movie. Well, too bad for them, I love it -- have since '83 and will 'til my dying day. Nicholson telling Shirley that they're going to have the kill the bug up her ass, driving with his feet, pretending to be asleep while she relates her conquest to her daughter -- that's all gold (Oscar Gold, in fact.) But the moment that just plain does it for me is when this seemingly self-involved schmuck from next door shows up at her hotel, suglasses on, suitcase in hand and all he has to say is "Aurora" and it's pretty damn rough -- not as rough as Winger's kids crying in her hospital room (that's torture)... but rough nontheless.
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, Annie Hall -- The basis of almost every romantic comedy since. They're couple-hood on stage fueled nearly all their reteamings thereafter -- particularly Manhattan Murder Mystery. There are so few real romantic moments between them, but they're such a team, such a couple and so undeniably in love. Annie and Alvie, I salute you.
Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, Midnight Cowboy -- Innocent love in a complex, horrible environment. Small gestures, grand gestures, and most of all, teamwork. You think of the two of them walking down the street together and it's hard not to run to the DVD player.
Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, Reds -- Of course I'm putting this in. I love these two -- of course the Sondheim music helps. Their hugs, their grins, and the amount of times they stop arguing just to grin at each other -- fantastic.
Robert Redford and Paul Newman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -- Both of these mega-stars grow up to be completely active in social causes and the arts... one names his efforts "Sundance" the other "Hole in the Wall" -- Butch's gang -- if they can't shake the film, how the hell are we supposed to? It's a great fugitive lover story, only here the love's platonic.
Sorry Rhett and Scarlet, I just never got what the hell was going on between you two, despite my love of Gone with the Wind.
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Alan Hochberg
Scientist and Cinephile
Susan Sarandon and James Spader in "White Palace" (1990) -- In this great film about crossing class boundaries, these two have the very definition of the word "chemistry". A friend of mine had this movie on a Top 10 list of his own, namely, "Movies To Guarantee That You'll
Get...", er, well, let's just say that you'll have a good time on a date.
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" (1944) -- Howard Hawks' bet that he could make a great film out of Hemmingway's worst novel paid off big-time.
Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets" (1997) -- Sometimes, the worst matches make the best matches, if you know what I mean.
Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in "The Wedding Singer" -- Go ahead, flame me.
Craig Russell and Hollis McLaren in "Outrageous!" (1977) -- Going WAY non-traditional here for #5, but the love between a female impersonator and a pregnant schizophrenic has stayed with me ever since I saw this film in Boston when it first came out.
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Bill Keisling
Author & Investigative Journalist
1. Stan and Ollie
2. Kate and Spencer
3. Bob and Bing
4. Giulietta Masina and Anthony Quinn in La Strada
5. Humphrey and Lauren (Just whistle!)
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Jason Liller
Cinephile
May Irwin and John Rice, THE JOHN RICE-MAY IRWIN KISS (William Heise, 1896) -- The very first screen couple and the one that scandalized New York with their prolonged display of cinematographic osculation. Shocking!
Lillian Gish and Robert Harron, TRUE HEART SUSIE (D.W. Griffith, 1919) -- Ms. Gish's selfless devotion may be a bit hard for today's audiences to accept, but a shift of temporal gears turns this into one of the screen's most charming romances. One of Griffith's "pastorals" (with A ROMANCE OF HAPPY VALLEY (1919) and WAY DOWN EAST (1920)), this is one of the pioneering director's finest, and most rarely screened, films.
Clara Bow and Antonio Moreno, "IT" (Clarence Badger, 1927)-- One of the silent era's best remembered pictures. Clara Bow's virtuous flapper loosens up stuffy Antonio Moreno and, 75 years later, they keep the Twenties roaring.
Mary Pickford and Charles "Buddy" Rogers, MY BEST GIRL (Sam Taylor, 1927) -- One of our best known actresses and, by today's audiences, one of the least seen, Mary Pickford's star power is on full display as she teams with up-and-coming Buddy Rogers in a Jazz Age romantic comedy that hasn't lost an ounce of its charm and appeal. The fact that the stars later married in real life adds a poignant touch that no screenwriter could manufacture.
Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson, THE WIND (Victor Sjöström, 1928) -- A marriage of necessity is sorely tested in an otherworldly western frontier fraught with doom and foreboding. The unceasing wind slowly drives the heroine mad. Might it have symbolic value?? One of the last great silent classics.
Current box office trends indicate that this talkie fad is finally dying out.
Until then, here's a NEWFANGLED HONORABLE MENTION:
Donna Reed and James Stewart, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra, 1946) -- Those who confuse eroticism with an anatomy lesson need to watch these two on the telephone. "The chance of a lifetime" indeed!
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Susan Norris
Cinephile
1. Frodo and Sam ("He's not going anywhere without me!")
2. Wallace and Gromit ("Crackin' toast, Gromit!")
3. Fred and Ginger ("I won't dance, don't ask me.")
4. Bogie and Bacall ("It's even better when you help.")
5. Laurel and Hardy ("That's another fine mess....")
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Kevyn Knox
Film Critic & Historian
The iconography of the movie star couple (real life and/or onscreen - although many times there is a very blurred line between the two) goes back to the silent days of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (actually before then, but here is where it all started full force tabloid-selling mass-market mania like). Ever since those days, we have been starstruck by the sights of Gilbert & Garbo, Bogie & Bacall, Tracy & Hepburn, Olivier & Leigh, Gable & Lombard, Keaton & Allen, Turner & Hooch...uh...
Like I was saying, we have always had a fascination with cinematic couples, be they real or imaginary, and in compiling my list, I have sometimes crossed over into the realm of "reality", in naming some real life couples, but only in the context of their on-screen romances. Overall, it was the characters that came to mind, and even moreso, the way these characters co-inhabitated their respective films. More-than-not, I have noticed, I chose couples who bickered, fought (but lovingly), may not have ended up together at all, tried to murder one another (or tried to murder everyone) and even one couple that may not have been anything more than a dream. Whatever you make of my chioces, here they are, in all their pretentiously-written glory.
Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) & Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) in Annie Hall (1977) -- Although Keaton and Allen starred in six films together (seven, if you count Ms. Keaton's cameo in Radio Days), it was in Annie Hall that these two inseparable separatists cemented a foreverness to their on/off screen romance. Two great characters built on two great personalities. So based in factuals, that Diane Keaton's real name is actually Diane "Annie" Hall.
The Man (George O'Brien) & The Wife (Janet Gaynor) in Sunrise (1927) -- Even though the man tries to murder his wife - through the wicked treacherous siren songs of "the woman from the city" (ominous music ensues) - it is the wife's complete unconditional devotion and the husband's eventual near-tragic epiphany that create such a strong, ever-lasting (at least in cinematic terms) bond between this couple. All that and the brilliant direction of the first poet of the cinema, F.W. Murnau.
Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) & Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn) in Bringing up Baby (1938) -- Everyone always speaks of Tracy/Hepburn, but I have never been able to stomach much more than a few minutes of Spencer "how the hell did I get a job in Hollywood" Tracy, so it is with Cary Grant that I place Ms. Hepburn. Grant was possibly the only actor even close to capable enough of keeping up with the quick-witted, sharp-tongued, wryly sexy Katherine the Great. Although they did three films together, and are great in all of them, it is Howard Hawks' Screwball Comedy Bringing up Baby, that makes me laugh out loud more often than almost any other movie.
Harry 'Steve' Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) & Marie 'Slim' Browning (Lauren Bacall) in To Have and Have Not (1944) -- Quick-witted, young and brash, Lauren Bacall, just nineteen, in her film debut has no problem whatsoever playing opposite Bogart - nor would she have any problem landing the guy either. Oh, would I ever love to have her teach me to whistle.
Nick & Nora Charles (William Powell & Myrna Loy) in The Thin Man (entire series 1934-47) -- Smooth, sauve, dapper and debonair. Powell and Loy played off each other with a bickersome romanticism.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD (THE ANTI-COUPLE):
♦ George (Richard Burton) & Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD (ALTERNATIVE COUPLING):
♦ Alma (Bibi Andersson) & Elisabeth (Liv Ullmann) in Persona (1966)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD (VERY ALTERNATIVE COUPLING):
♦ Ann Darrow (Faye Wray) & King Kong (as himself) in King Kong (1933)
SPECIAL JACK/JANET/CHRISSY AWARD FOR BLATANT SEXUAL INUENDO:
♦ Catherine (Jeanne Moreau), Jules (Oscar Werner) et Jim (Henri Serre) in Jules et Jim (1962)
SPECIAL NOUVELLE VAGUE / EVERYTHING FRENCH IS COOL AWARD:
♦ Michael (Jean-Paul Belmondo) & Patricia (Jean Seberg) in Ā bout de souffle (1960)
BEST HUMAN/EQUINE COUPLE (PLATONIC):
♦ Marie (Anne Wiazemsky) & Balthazar the Donkey (as himself) in Au hasard Balthazar (1966)
BEST HUMAN/EQUINE COUPLE (NON-PLATONIC):
♦ Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) & his steed in Caligula (1979)
BEST HUMAN/EQUINE COUPLE (ALLEGED NON-PLATONIC):
♦ Catherine the Great (Marlene Dietrich) & her stallion in The Scarlet Empress (1934)
SPECIAL AWARD FOR WORST CINEMATIC COUPLE (but in a good way):
♦ Mickey & Mallory Knox (no relation) in Natural Born Killers (1994)
AND NO DISCUSSION OF CINEMATIC COUPLES COULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT:
- Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) & Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) in Bonnie & Clyde
- Marianne (Liv Ullmann) & Johan (Erland Josephson) in Scenes from a Marriage & Saraband
- Paul (Marlon Brando) & Jeanne (Maria Schneider) in Last Tango in Paris
- Betty/Diane (Naomi Watts) & Rita/Camilla (Laura Elena Harring) in Mulholland Drive
- Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) & Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) in In the Mood for Love
- Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) & Joe Buck (Jon Voight) in Midnight Cowboy
- Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) & Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) in The Graduate
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*points are given as follows: for numbered lists, first place recieves 5 points, second place recieves 4, third place 3, fourth place 2 and fifth place gets 1 point; for unumbered lists, each film will recieve 3 points; total points are then tallied up and a comprehensive Top 5 list is created
The Next Topic is:
Name The Top 5 WORST FILMS
(aka THE BOTTOM 5)
e-mail me at
kevynknox@thecinematheque.com
with your picks for week #11,
no later than 6pm on Sunday, September 4, 2005.
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