Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: AFI Series :: 100 Passions


(text-only version)

1.  Casablanca (1942)

Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

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2.  Gone with the Wind (1939)

American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

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3.  West Side Story (1961)

Musical about two youngsters from rival NYC gangs who fall in love.

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4.  Roman Holiday (1953)

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

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5.  An Affair to Remember (1957)

A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?

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6.  The Way We Were (1973)

Two desperate people have a wonderful romance, but their political views and convictions drive them apart.

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7.  Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution.

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8.  It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would had been like if he never existed.

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9.  Love Story (1970)

Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore...

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10.  City Lights (1931)

The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

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11.  Annie Hall (1977)

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

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12.  My Fair Lady (1964)

A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

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13.  Out of Africa (1985)

In 20th century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate but ultimately doomed love affair with a free-sprited big-game hunter.

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14.  The African Queen (1951)

In Africa during WW1, a gin-swilling riverboat owner/captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship.

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15.Wuthering Heights (1939)
16.  Singin' in the Rain (1952)

A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

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17.  Moonstruck (1987)

A widowed Brooklyn book-keeper is torn between her fiancé and his brother.

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18.  Vertigo (1958)

A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

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19.  Ghost (1990)

After being killed during a botched mugging, a man's love for his partner enables him to remain on earth as a ghost.

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20.  From Here to Eternity (1953)

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

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21.  Pretty Woman (1990)

A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

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22.  On Golden Pond (1981)

The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage...

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23.  Now, Voyager (1942)

Boston spinster blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance.

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24.  King Kong (1933)

A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star.

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25.  When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

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26.  The Lady Eve (1941)

Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship...

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27.  The Sound of Music (1965)

A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to a Naval officer widower.

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28.  The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realizing that they're falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

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29.  An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

A young man must complete his work at a Navy Flight school to become an aviator, with the help of a tough gunnery sergeant and his new girlfriend.

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30.  Swing Time (1936)

A performer and gambler travels to New York City to raise the $25,000 he needs to marry his fiancée, only to become entangled with a beautiful aspiring dancer.

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31.  The King and I (1956)

Musical about a widow who accepts a job as a live-in governess of the King of Siam's children.

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32.  Dark Victory (1939)

A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, and must decide whether she'll meet her final days with dignity.

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33.  Camille (1936)

A Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the callous baron who wants her, even as her own health begins to fail.

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34.  Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Belle, whose father Maurice is imprisoned by the Beast (really an enchanted Prince), offers herself instead and finds the prince inside the Beast.

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35.  Gigi (1958)

Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship, but it may not stay platonic for long.

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36.  Random Harvest (1942)

An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-War life.

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37.  Titanic (1997)

Fictional romantic tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship.

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38.  It Happened One Night (1934)

A spoiled heiress, running away from her family, is helped by a man who's actually a reporter looking for a story. But then he falls for her...

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39.  An American in Paris (1951)

Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is ''discovered'' by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry's art...

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40.  Ninotchka (1939)

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

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41.  Funny Girl (1968)

The life of comedienne Fannie Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side...

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42.  Anna Karenina (1935)

The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.

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43.  A Star is Born (1954)

A movie star helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

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44.  The Philadelphia Story (1940)

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

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45.  Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

A recently-widowed man's son calls a radio talk show in an attempt to find his father a partner.

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46.  To Catch a Thief (1955)

When a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence.

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47.  Splendor in the Grass (1961)

A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.

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48.  Last Tango in Paris (1972)

A young Parisian woman begins a sordid affair with a middled-aged American businessman whom lays out ground rules that their clandestine relationship will be based only on sex.

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49.  The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband... but even once the deed is done, they must live with the consequences of their actions.

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50.  Shakespeare in Love (1998)

A young Shakespeare, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.

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51.  Bringing Up Baby (1938)

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances...

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52.  The Graduate (1967)

Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner and then finds himself falling in love with her teenage daughter, Elaine.

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53.  A Place in the Sun (1951)

Young up-and-comer George Eastman is thrust into the blue collar life of a rich uncle's family business...

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54.  Sabrina (1954)

A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur. But it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.

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55.  Reds (1981)

A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.

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56.  The English Patient (1996)

At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.

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57.  Two for the Road (1967)

A couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage.

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58.  Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Matt and Christina Drayton are a couple whose attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.

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59.  Picnic (1955)

Emotions are ignited amongst the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labour Day picnic.

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60.  To Have and Have Not (1944)

Harry Morgan and his alcoholic sidekick, Eddie, are based on the island of Martinique and crew a boat available for hire...

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61.  Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building.

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62.  The Apartment (1960)

A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

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63.  Sunrise (1927)

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

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64.  Marty (1955)

A touching story about two lonely people who have almost resigned themselves to never being truly loved.

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65.  Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

A somewhat romantized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.

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66.  Manhattan (1979)

A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead.

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67.  A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

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68.  What's up Doc? (1972)

Two researchers have come to San Francisco to compete for a research grant in Music. One seems a bit distracted...

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69.  Harold and Maude (1971)

Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

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70.  Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. Two daughters are the titular opposites.

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71.  Way Down East (1920)

A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.

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72.  Roxanne (1987)

Based on the play ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', large nosed C.D. Bales falls for the beautiful Roxanne while she falls for his personality but another man's looks.

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73.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

In 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted...and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.

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74.  Woman of the Year (1942)

Rival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.

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75.  The American President (1995)

Comedy-drama about a widowed US president and a lobbyist who fall in love. It's all aboveboard, but ''politics is perception'' and sparks fly anyway.

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76.  The Quiet Man (1952)

A disgraced American boxer retires to Ireland, where he finds love.

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77.  The Awful Truth (1937)

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.

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78.  Coming Home (1978)

A woman whose husband is fighting in Vietnam falls in love with another man who suffered a paralyzing combat injury there.

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79.  Jezebel (1938)

A haughty headstrong Southern Belle in Antebellum Louisiana loses her fiance due to her stubborn vanity and pride and vows to get him back.

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80.The Sheik (1921)
81.  The Goodbye Girl (1977)

After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.

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82.  Witness (1985)

A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial.

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83.Morocco (1930)
84.  Double Indemnity (1944)

An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.

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85.  Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American correspondent in Hong Kong during China's Communist revolution.

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86.  Notorious (1946)

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

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87.  Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

In 1968, a Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.

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88.  The Princess Bride (1987)

A classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing (as read by a kindly grandfather).

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89.  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

A bitter aging couple with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.

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90.  The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson, for four days in the 1960s.

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91.  Working Girl (1988)

When a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss, she seizes an opportunity to steal it back by pretending she has her boss's job.

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92.Porgy and Bess (1959)
93.  Dirty Dancing (1987)

Spending the summer in a holiday camp with her family, Frances ('Baby') falls in love with the camp's dancing teacher.

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94.  Body Heat (1981)

In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

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95.  Lady and the Tramp (1955)

The romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker Spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown Mutt.

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96.  Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Paul Bratter, a conservative young lawyer, marries a vivacious young woman, Corrie. Their highly passionate...

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97.  Grease (1978)

Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

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98.The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
99.  Pillow Talk (1959)

A man and woman share a telephone line and despise each other, but then he has fun by romancing her with his voice disguised.

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100.  Jerry Maguire (1996)

When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent with the only athlete who stays with him.

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Count: 95 / 100