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'City Lights' (1931) -

In 'City Lights,' Charlie Chaplin's Tramp becomes romantically involved with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherril) and love blossoms in this masterpiece of silent cinema.

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'A Farewell to Arms' (1932) -

Adapted from Ernest Hemingway's novel of the same name, 'A Farewell to Arms' follows the romantic but ultimately tragic love affair between an American ambulance driver (Gary Cooper) and an English nurse (Helen Hayes) in Italy during the First World War.

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'It Happened One Night' (1934) -

Director Frank Capra's 'It Happened One Night' is considered one of the best romantic comedies ever made. Spoiled heiress Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert) falls for a roguish newspaper reporter played by Clark Cable. And the good news? The pair end up as newlyweds.

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'Top Hat' (1935) -

'Top Hat' stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the most successful movie of their long and fruitful dancing partnership. It's a romantic musical comedy that leaves audiences tapping their toes.

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'A Tale of Two Cities' (1935) -

Based on Charles Dickens' 1859 historical novel of the same name, 'A Tale of Two Cities' is set in the turmoil of 18th-century revolutionary Europe. A French aristocrat (Donald Wood) and an English advocate (Ronald Coleman) both fall in love with the same woman (Elizabeth Allan), all of whom get caught up in the Reign of Terror.

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'Jezebel' (1938) -

Set in the Southern United States in the mid-19th century, 'Jezebel' stars Bette Davis as a headstrong belle who loses her fiancé (Henry Fonda) due to her stubborn vanity and misplaced pride. She vows to win him back.

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'Ninotchka' (1939) -

'Ninotchka' is Greta Garbo's first stab at romantic comedy, and her penultimate film. After 'Two-Faced Woman' (1941), she retired from the screen, at the age of 35, after acting in 28 films. In 'Ninotchka,' she plays a Russian special envoy sent to Paris where she finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to despise.

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'Wuthering Heights' (1939) -

Emily Brontë's sad, haunting 1847 tale of Heathcliff, his love for Catherine, and his inability to find true happiness, is brought to life on the big screen by Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon.

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'Gone with the Wind' (1939) -

One of the most celebrated films in cinema history, the epic historical drama that is 'Gone with the Wind' revolves around the story of manipulative Scarlett O'Hara (portrayed by Vivien Leigh) and her turbulent romance with the charming but cynical Rhett Butler (Clarke Gable). It all plays out against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era.

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'The Shop Around the Corner' (1940) -

'The Shop Around the Corner' is about two pen-pals who are falling in love as anonymous correspondents through their letters but who turn out to be work rivals. James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are the smitten wordsmiths. If the plot sounds familiar, read up on 'You've Got Mail' (1988) starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

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'Waterloo Bridge' (1940) -

'Waterloo Bridge,' in flashback narration, recalls the story of a dancer (Vivien Leigh) and an army captain (Robert Taylor) who meet by chance on Waterloo Bridge. A bittersweet romance ensues, but the relationship is doomed to end in tears.

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'His Girl Friday' (1940) -

Cary Grant is a newspaper editor, and Rosalind Russell is the no-nonsense do-what-it-takes reporter who just happens to be his ex-wife... and about to remarry. He's shocked and hurt, and in an effort to stall the wedding entices her to cover one last story—a tale that involves murder, a wrongful conviction, and a date with the electric chair.

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'The Philadelphia Story' (1940) -

Again starring Cary Grant, with Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart, 'The Philadelphia Story' centers on a conflicting love triangle and remains a fine example of the so-called comedy of remarriage genre of films in which a couple divorce, flirt with outsiders, and then remarry.

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'The Lady Eve' (1941) -

A rom-com set at sea, 'The Lady Eve' stars Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda as a mismatched couple who meet on board an ocean liner. She's in fact a con artist after his money. Instead of fleecing him, however, she falls in love with him.

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'Casablanca' (1942) -

Consistently ranked near the top of lists of the greatest films in history, 'Casablanca' also remains one of Humphrey Bogart's finest films. Solid support from Ingrid Bergman makes this romantic drama worth playing over and over again.

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'Woman of the Year' (1942) -

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn light up the screen in this romantic comedy-drama. Hepburn's international affairs correspondent and Tracy's sportswriter meet, marry, but clash over work commitments. 'Woman of the Year' was the first of nine films Hepburn and Tracy made together. They met for the first time on the shoot, and became romantically involved—a secret relationship that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967.

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'Meet Me in St. Louis' (1944) -

A rom-com with a Christmas theme, 'Meet Me in St. Louis' stars Judy Garland as one of four sisters preparing for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Garland debuted a number of musical standards in the film, including the now evergreen 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.'

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'To Have and Have Not' (1944) -

If the chemistry between Bogie and Bacall works well in this romance-war-adventure picture, it's because the couple began a secret off-screen relationship during production and married in 1945, after the film's release.

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'Brief Encounter' (1945) -

The scene where Celia Johnson bids a painful farewell to Trevor Howard on a railway platform in this David Lean-directed British romantic drama is quite simply heartbreaking.

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'The Clock' (1945) -

'The Clock' also features a railway station, New York's Pen. It's also Judy Garland's first dramatic role. There's no singing, but plenty of joy and angst after she bumps into a soldier (Robert Walker) at Pennsylvania Station who's on leave. They meet up again under the clock at the Astor Hotel. Soon they're in love and, after a whirlwind romance, get married. But the war in Europe is still raging and he must eventually return to his unit.

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'An American in Paris' (1951) -

This much-loved musical romantic comedy stars a dancin' and singin' Gene Kelly, whose stage is the streets of Paris. His love interest is French actress Leslie Caron, in her film debut.

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'Roman Holiday' (1953) -

A bored and sheltered princess (Audrey Hepburn) decides to take a day off and see Rome. She meets Joe (Gregory Peck), an expatriate reporter. Together they hit the town on a scooter. The "Eternal City" has never looked so romantic.

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'How to Marry a Millionaire' (1953) -

Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall each seek out a wealthier other half in this popular romantic comedy that saw three of the biggest female stars in Hollywood share the same screen.

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'Carmen Jones' (1954) -

For her role as Carmen Jones, Dorothy Dandridge became the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The movie itself, a musical romantic comedy, is set at an all-black army camp where Joe (Harry Belafonte) and Husky (Joe Adams) are all eyes right for her.

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'Sabrina' (1954) -

This cherished romantic comedy stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. It's all about a playboy who becomes infatuated with the daughter of his family's chauffer. But it's his more level-headed brother that eventually sweeps her off her feet.

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'To Catch a Thief' (1955) -

Alfred Hitchcock steered away from mystery and intrigue to direct this romantic thriller that stars Cary Grant as a retired jewel thief who's implicated in a string of burglaries on the French Riviera. While trying to save his reformed reputation, he meets the lovely Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly). But he's soon suspected of returning to his former occupation.

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'Love in the Afternoon' (1957) -

Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn star in this romantic comedy that explores the relationship between a notorious middle-aged American playboy and the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.

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'An Affair to Remember' (1957) -

Another film on this list to feature an ocean-going liner, 'An Affair to Remember' begins with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr meeting aboard the transatlantic ocean liner SS Constitution en route from Europe to New York. Each is involved with someone else, but they agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building. But disaster is set to visit the couple in New York.

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'Pillow Talk' (1959) -

The first of three romantic comedies in which Doris Day and Rock Hudson starred in, 'Pillow Talk' follows Jan Morrow (Day), an interior decorator, and Brad Allen (Hudson), a womanizing bachelor, who share a telephone party line and begin to size each other up.

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'Paris Blues' (1961) -

Released as a new decade beckoned, 'Paris Blues' is a musical romantic drama set in the French capital and stars Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier who portray two aspiring American musicians trying to make it in France. Between gigs, the two men romance two vacationing American tourists, Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward). Controversial at the time for its progressive portrayal of interracial relationships, the film also deals with American racism of the time contrasted with Paris' open acceptance of people of color. 

Sources: (Biography) (Vanity Fair)

See also: Must-watch movies for fashion lovers

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