Top 10 Movie Couples Who Defined Cinema
These are the couples who defined cinema. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most iconic couples throughout all of cinema history.
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00:00 "I love you."
00:01 "How do you expect me to respond to this?"
00:04 "How about you love me too?"
00:06 Welcome to Ms Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most iconic couples
00:13 throughout all of cinema history. Look out for some romantic spoilers ahead.
00:19 "Next time you drop in, bring your folks."
00:21 Number 10 - Wesley and Buttercup - The Princess Bride
00:27 Since 1987 onward, one phrase has defined the art of romance.
00:33 "As you wish."
00:34 The Princess Bride manages the difficult trick of poking fun at the swashbuckling genre,
00:43 while still delivering one of the great on-screen romances.
00:47 From the moment you first see them together, Wesley and Buttercup have some of the greatest
00:52 chemistry in cinematic history.
00:55 "I will never doubt again."
00:57 "There will never be a need."
01:00 The tension between them is almost tangible, or the yearning and desire completely unspoken,
01:07 yet utterly clear. When they share one of the three most pure kisses of all time at the end,
01:15 you believe in their love completely.
01:18 "If you want, I can fly."
01:20 "I told you I would always come for you."
01:27 Number 9 - Frances "Baby" Hausman and Johnny Castle - Dirty Dancing
01:32 "Nobody puts baby in a corner."
01:34 When it comes to dancing movies, Dirty Dancing is one of the most iconic.
01:42 The tales about the off-screen feud between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey
01:47 are about as storied as the romance itself.
01:51 But that tension on set led to a palpable tension on screen, filled with passion and fervor.
01:58 "Most of all, I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life
02:03 the way I feel when I'm with you."
02:05 Despite the film's fairy tale feel, the relationship between Baby and Johnny
02:11 develops quite realistically. Their chemistry moves from adversarial to romantic
02:17 in a believable way. By the time the fantastic final dance at the end gives you that almost
02:23 out-of-body feeling, you're completely swept up in the magic of it all.
02:29 "It's a dream, it's a dream, it's a dream, yeah, story of love."
02:36 Number 8 - Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar - Brokeback Mountain
02:41 "This is a one-shot thing we got going on here."
02:44 "It's nobody's business but ours."
02:51 Queer cinema has been developing and changing for decades, though often out of the
02:57 mainstream film world. But in 2005, Brokeback Mountain served as a sort of turning point.
03:05 A lot of that has to do with the stellar performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger
03:10 as Jack and Ennis.
03:12 "I wish I knew how to quit you.
03:14 Why don't you?"
03:18 The specificity in the characters and the relationship helps elevate the couple
03:23 beyond a regular romance. That specificity, instead of making it harder to understand
03:29 the love between them, makes the feelings all that more potent. The universality of
03:36 the feelings between these two men is perfectly rendered.
03:40 "Brokeback, that is good, don't you think?
03:43 What are we gonna do now?"
03:50 Number 7 - Princess Leia and Han Solo - Star Wars Original Trilogy
03:57 "I love you."
03:59 "I know."
04:00 The Star Wars movies make up what is perhaps the best-known fantasy movie series in the world.
04:07 So almost by default, Han Solo and Princess Leia are one of the most famous cinematic
04:14 couples in history. But the chemistry between actors Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher
04:19 elevates the relationship beyond what is present in the script.
04:23 "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
04:28 "I happen to like nice men."
04:30 "Nice men?"
04:32 "Very nice."
04:34 Both performers bring a feistiness to their characters that creates the perfect mix of
04:40 antagonism and sparks flying. That chemistry even helps us forgive Han for saying "I know"
04:47 the first time Leia told him she loved him. At least he says it for real in Return of the Jedi.
04:54 "I love you."
04:56 "I know."
04:57 Number 6 - Jack Dawson and Rose Jewett Buketa - Titanic
05:03 We'll never let go of this cinematic couple. 1997 was a great year for cinema.
05:10 Not the least because Titanic became a sensation, along with its central couple, Jack and Rose.
05:17 "Where to, miss?"
05:20 "To the stars."
05:22 Leomania was the name of the game that winter. And there's a reason. But focusing just on
05:28 DiCaprio ignores how key Kate Winslet is to the film's success.
05:33 "You think you're big, tough men?"
05:35 "Let's see you do this."
05:40 Titanic is a true romantic epic, and both actors play up the passion with the exaggerated
05:46 nature necessary for that genre perfectly. Their chemistry is matchless, and Jack and
05:53 Rose will always constitute one of the essential romances of cinema history.
05:59 "This is crazy."
06:00 "I know. It doesn't make any sense. That's why I trust it."
06:06 Number 5 - Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow - Bonnie and Clyde
06:11 "You've heard the story of Jesse James, of how he lived and died. If you're still in need
06:17 of something to read, here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde."
06:21 Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker have been capturing the hearts and minds of Americans since the
06:27 early 1930s. Something about a couple of bank-robbing bandits in love was irresistible then, and
06:34 still was in the 1960s. Bonnie and Clyde solidified the couple's place in the American lexicon
06:41 and made them a part of cinema history as well.
06:45 "You and me traveling together, we could cut a path clean across this state. And Kansas,
06:48 and Missouri, and Oklahoma, and everybody'd know about it."
06:52 As the titular duo, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty are almost unbelievably gorgeous, lending
07:01 a sort of glamorization to the pair's spree that turned off some critics at the time.
07:07 But however you feel about Bonnie and Clyde, you can't ignore its importance in the history
07:14 of film.
07:15 "You ain't gonna have a minute's peace."
07:17 "You promise?"
07:19 "I do."
07:22 4. Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler - Gone With the Wind
07:25 "You should be kissed an often, and by someone who knows how."
07:28 "Well, I suppose you think you are the proper person."
07:31 "I might be, if the right moment ever came."
07:34 One of the first couples you think of when you think of movie romances is Scarlett O'Hara
07:39 and Rhett Butler. Funnily enough, this romance is one that doesn't end up so well. Maybe
07:45 that says something about our taste for romance lost.
07:49 "Where shall I go? What shall I do?"
07:51 "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
07:54 At the time of its release, Gone With the Wind was the highest-grossing film of all
07:59 time. Audiences flocked to see the ultimately doomed relationship between Scarlett and Rhett,
08:05 and more specifically, the performances of Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. Due to their
08:10 chemistry in the film, Gable and Leigh are now cemented in film history as one of the
08:17 most memorable couples to hit the screen.
08:20 "In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you."
08:24 "Because we're alike. Bad lots, both of us. Selfish and shrewd, but able to look things
08:30 in the eyes and call them by their right name."
08:32 3. Harry Burns and Sally Albright - When Harry Met Sally
08:38 The romantic comedy genre has evolved over the course of the last several decades, but
08:44 there's one thing we can all pretty much agree on. The blueprint for the modern rom-com
08:50 started in 1989 with When Harry Met Sally.
08:55 "Oh, oh, oh God. Oh."
09:01 "I'll have what she's having."
09:11 The movie centres around the question of whether men and women can really just be friends.
09:16 While that might sound like an outdated premise, there's something effortlessly modern about
09:22 the film.
09:23 "I'm difficult."
09:24 "You're challenging."
09:25 "I'm too structured, I'm completely closed off."
09:28 "But in a good way."
09:29 That's Harry Burns and Sally Albright. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan have a neurotic, daffy
09:35 sort of chemistry, lightning in a bottle that can't be replicated. Harry and Sally are the
09:41 duo that every romantic comedy has been chasing since.
09:46 "I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with
09:50 somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
09:53 Number 2 - Tony and Maria, West Side Story
09:58 "Tonight, tonight, there's only you tonight. What you are, what you do, what you say."
10:09 Yes, yes, we know. But while West Side Story might be based on Romeo and Juliet, those
10:16 star-crossed lovers are more of a literary couple than a cinematic one.
10:21 In 1961, however, West Side Story moved from stage to screen and in the process became
10:29 one of the best movie musicals of all time.
10:33 "And what was just a world is a star tonight."
10:43 As a result, Tony and Maria are the movie musical couple of the century.
10:49 The way Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins captured the naive, wide-eyed energy between Natalie
10:55 Wood and Richard Boehmer, with dance and song, is something beautiful to behold.
11:00 "So much to believe. You're not making a joke."
11:08 "I have not yet learned how to joke that way. I think now I never will."
11:14 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
11:19 Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen.
11:22 Ghost. Who knew pottery could be this cinematic?
11:26 "Only riverside, wait for me, wait for me. I'll be coming home, wait for me."
11:39 Maria and Captain Von Trapp. The Sound of Music. They must have done something good.
11:45 "Your face is all red, is it? I don't suppose I'm used to dancing."
11:52 Peter Warne and Ellie Andrews. It happened one night. One of the original romantic comedy couples.
12:00 "I'll stop a car and I won't use my thumb."
12:03 "What are you going to do?"
12:05 "It's a system on my own."
12:13 Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Spider-Man. The upside-down kiss was era-defining.
12:31 Carmen Jones and Joe. Carmen Jones. Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge's chemistry leaps off the screen.
12:41 "Don't you trust yourself?"
12:45 [Music]
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13:13 Number 1. Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund. Casablanca.
13:18 When you think of romance in the movies, there's definitely one line that comes to mind.
13:24 "I know. He's looking at you, kid."
13:29 Casablanca is a war movie with plenty of scheming and intrigue.
13:35 But more than anything else, it's about the lost romance between Rick and Ilsa.
13:40 "If you knew what I went through, if you knew how much I loved you, how much I still love you."
13:49 From the moment we see Ingrid Bergman on screen, along with Humphrey Bogart's reaction to her,
13:55 we know we're in for something special.
13:58 The yearning and magnetism between these two has defined romance on screen for more than 50 years.
14:06 The movie's ending is iconic, offering up the perfect mixture of longing, sadness and hope.
14:14 "If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it.
14:17 Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
14:21 "But what about us?"
14:23 "We'll always have Paris."
14:25 If we missed any of your favourite cinematic pairings, let us know in the comments below.
14:32 "You can't just buy me a guitar every time you screw up, you know."
14:36 "Yeah, I know. But then you know there's always drums and bass and maybe even one day a tambourine."
14:42 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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14:52 [music]