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."
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14:52 [music]