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Singin' In The Rain

Everyone remembers the scene. You do, and so does everyone you know. Even if you've never seen Singin' In The Rain (and if you haven't - as soon as you finish reading this article, watch it now, seriously), you know the scene that gives the movie its title. Gene Kelly sings a song of joy and wonder, as torrential rains threaten to flood the streets of Hollywood. The images are among the most iconic Hollywood has ever offered the movie-going public. But what is so often ignored is why Kelly's character is singing in the rain. Yes, he's doing it all for the love of a charming and adorable woman who loves him as much as he loves her. While Singin' In The Rain is widely and appropriately considered the best musical ever, and is a funny, lighthearted, yet somewhat biting satire of old Hollywood, it's also extremely romantic.

The main plot revolves around Don Lockwood (Kelly), a silent-film star dealing with the transition from silent movies to making talking pictures. One night, he meets Kathy Selden (a very young Debbie Reynolds), a fan who'd like to be seen as somebody far too snooty for movies, and ends up falling in love with her, even though he's really supposed to be involved with his screechy-voiced co-star, Lina Lamont. Once the movie Don's starring in gets made into a talking picture, he and Kathy turn it into a musical, thus inspiring the title song. There's too much greatness in this movie to cover, but the music is catchy, the dances are dazzling, the humor is still funny, despite being nearly 60 years old, and the chemistry between Kelly, Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor (as Lockwood's best friend) is infectious. Romance has never been more enjoyable.

Casablanca

Again, here's a movie that you need to see if you haven't. Who hasn't seen Casablanca? Well, of course, a lot of people haven't. Still, this movie is among the most well-known, as it's become the stuff of pop culture lore. "Here's looking at you, kid." "Play it again, Sam." (A line that, weirdly enough, isn't actually spoken in the movie) "Round up the usual suspects." "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship." Potentially the greatest studio picture of all time, Casablanca is also achingly, realistically romantic. Humphrey Bogart is Rick, the owner of a swanky club in the Middle East during World War II. Ingrid Bergman is Ilsa, his ex-lover who stumbles back into his life when her husband, a freedom fighter, needs safe passage away from the Nazis. Will Rick help Ilsa out? Will their dormant romance be rekindled? Will Bogart look dashing yet rumpled throughout the movie? Is the Pope Catholic?

Casablanca presents one of the most thrillingly exciting stories, and takes place in a world that so many of us would love to have been a part of. Is the movie's world real? Well, no, but the world of film noir, the world of Hollywood movies from the 1940s and 1950s isn't real; that doesn't mean it's not enticing. Rick may be a tragic hero, and his romance with Ilsa may not play out the way we all wish it would, but it's precisely for those reasons that the movie has resonance. Would Casablanca be a classic if Rick and Ilsa get together at the end? No. We'd still remember it (the rest of the movie is just as entertaining as the finale), but it wouldn't be nearly as poignant, nearly as moving. Tragedy is often tied to romance, and in Casablanca, it must be present. This movie is so romantic precisely because it makes us sad.

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