AFI Top 100 Passions

 

 

The thing I had to remember when looking at the movies on this list is that "passion" is not the same as "love".  I'd dispute calling some of these films love stories, but I suppose they're passionate, so here they are. 

 

I haven't yet seen Morocco (#83) or Porgy and Bess (#92).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_H3atqLp2Q 

 



The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Passions (#87)

Unbearable.  I couldn't finish it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tynDYRtRrag

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Passions (#49)

Gorgeous Lana Turner is married to an old codger, so she and (the apparently good-looking but really not all that) John Garfield decide to do away with her husband so they can live happily ever after.

The whole postman thing isn't explained until the very end.  It means that if they don't kill you the first time, they'll try again and get you on the second try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDlEbwxMVWY

Out of Africa

Score (#15); Passions (#13)

Well, let's see...the scenery was beautiful, and Robert Redford was Robert Redford, so those are good things.  The score was ok, but not fabulously memorable.  I didn't care for Meryl Streep's character, so that tainted the whole thing for me.  I also didn't like how - and I know this is historically accurate - the Europeans belittled the native Africans.

Basically, it was Dr. Zhivago or The English Patient or any other such movie, set in Africa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk

Jezebel

Stars - Bette Davis (#2), Henry Fonda (#6); Passions (#79)

It is said that this movie was Bette Davis' response to not being cast as Scarlett O'Hara.  However, Jezebel is no Gone With the Wind.  Sure, she's a spoiled Southern girl pining over a man she can't have, making a spectacle of herself in the process.  But it doesn't have the depth or complexity that GWTW has.  It's simple and lackluster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhNPS4nbmQ

City Lights

Top 100 (#76/11); Laughs (#38); Stars - Charlie Chaplin (#10); Cheers (#31); Heroes - The Tramp (#38); Passions (#10); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#1)

Good, sweet, but maybe a bit overhyped - then again, I'm watching it 80 years later.  The Tramp falls in love with a blind girl and tries to come up with the money she needs to save the home where she lives with her grandmother. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rkNBH5fbMk

Marty

Stars - Ernest Borgnine (Current); Passions (#64)

I wasn't expecting to like this movie, but I loved it!  This little gem is a romantic drama from the guy's point of view.  Marty is in his mid 30s and single.  Everyone jokes, "So, Marty, when are ya going to get married?"  Marty laughs it off, but secretly he's alone and hurting, thinking no girl will ever find him attractive. 

If you haven't seen it, see it.  It'll be worth your while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_1M-4lIfnA

What's Up, Doc?

Laughs (#61); Passions (#68)

This is an homage to the classic slapstick comedies of the early days of film.  I think they use every gag except for slipping on a banana peel.  I thought the plot was thin, and so was the romance.  I'm not really sure why it got a spot on the Passions list, other than the fact that AFI loves Barbra Streisand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWRZut6klgE

Moonstruck

Laughs (#41); Stars - Cher (Current); Quotes - "Snap out of it!" (#96); Passions (#17); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#8)

A young widow is engaged to a man, but ends up falling for his estranged brother.  Meanwhile, her parents are experiencing romantic problems of their own.

I liked that it included the parents' story.  I liked some of the romantic things Nicolas Cage said.  But overall, it was about passion, not love, so I didn't think it was that great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaANjmlxUzs

Woman of the Year

Laughs (#90); Stars - Katharine Hepburn (#1), Spencer Tracy (#9); Passions (#74)

A sports writer falls for a political journalist.  He soon finds their romance takes a back seat to her career.

Probably ahead of its time, I thought it was alright.  I didn't really like Hepburn's character, though. 

I wanted the clip where Tracy introduces Hepburn to baseball, but I couldn't find it.  Sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snSK5RfD33Q

Wuthering Heights

Top 100 (#73); Stars - Laurence Olivier (#14); Passions (#15)

What a bunch of spiteful, miserable people. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBwqhLA43yE

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Passions (#98)

Not having read the book, I can't tell you how much this differs.  But I still think it's an odd choice for a Disney movie.

Nevertheless, this version was good.  Charles Laughton, whom I don't usually like, did an especially good job.  Sir Cedric Hardwicke also was notable as Frollo.  He reminded me of Alan Rickman, and I kept thinking how wonderful Rickman would be in that role.  Maybe they should remake it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEEpavnk7Uw

Body Heat

Thrills (#92); Passions (#94)

Erotic thrillers were big in the '80s (think Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, etc).  This is one from that genre. 

As far as a mystery goes, it's pretty good.  As for the rest, yeah, I skipped a whole bunch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARUM0-jtjIg

Two for the Road

Stars - Audrey Hepburn (#3); Passions (#57)

While recounting past vacations and road trips, a couple tells the story of their tumultous marriage. 

Their relationship isn't as volatile as the one in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but I still don't understand why a movie about a couple who does nothing but bicker is considered romantic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMR5JVo21wQ

Coming Home

Passions (#78)

It should come as no surprise that a movie about Viet Nam vets starring Jane Fonda isn't exactly honoring to those who served.  What a waste of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIUw4ZS1J_A

Pillow Talk

Passions (#99)

Sweet and sexy, and pushing the proprietary limits, this is a great romantic comedy.  Rock Hudson and Doris Day are wonderful together.  This should have been ranked higher on the list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTXVXcquINw

Swing Time

Top 100 (#90 Revised); Stars - Fred Astaire (#5), Ginger Rogers (#14); Songs - The Way You Look Tonight (#43); Passions (#30)

I have to give people like Lerner & Loewe and Rogers & Hammerstein credit, because before they came along, plots of movie musicals were rather thing. 

However, these movies weren't so much about the plot as they were about song and dance, and that's where we get wonderful songs like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs2nH9gSXOE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaVLbk_3UeU

Random Harvest

Passions (#36)

An amnesiac war veteran falls in love with a dance hall girl and they get married.  Some time later, he remembers who he was, but forgets his wife.  She desperately tries to get him to remember her.

Sappy, but it fits in with the romantic dime store novel movies of the day, like Now, Voyager and Dark Victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWbjqpmYKrw 

Splendor in the Grass

Passions (#47)

To every rule there is an exception.  The Rule of 38 has exceptions who are older (like Sean Connery) and exceptions who are younger (if Zac Efron is not one of these, make sure you pay attention in 2025).  Warren Beatty is a younger exception.  Because if You're So Vain had been written in 1961, it would be no wonder that he'd think that song was about him.

The movie itself, about a teenage couple that has everything stacked against them, is okay.  But Beatty is definitely worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWDkdsZQq_c&feature=related

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Top 100 (#67 - Revised); Stars - Elizabeth Taylor (#7); Passions (#89)

I don't get the appeal of this movie.  Two hours of people yelling at each other.  Seriously, that's all it is.  Well acted?  I suppose.  And some argue that the beauty of this story is that Taylor's and Burton's characters love each other and stick together despite the volatility of their relationship.  I don't call that love.  I call that co-dependence.

Truth is, I found the movie grating and annoying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDucj50eQYs