All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

14 February 2014

A Kiss is STILL a Kiss!


"You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” Rhett Butler

"I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth" Chico Marx

 

Lady and The Tramp, 1955

  “I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
Bull Durham,1988


Have you noticed kisses don't mean as much anymore.  When you watch a film these days how often is THE KISS just expected, ho-hum, gratuitous, superfluous and simply  an "is  what it is " non-event.  I think it is sad that romance has disappeared---we know what's going to happen and  it is rarely worth the ticket price when it does. Maybe we have become jaded by too many kisses, too many scenes that are throw-aways, kisses that are just filling space.   Where's the spark, where's the heat, where's the  witty dialogue, where's the soaring music, the anticipation, the drama, the MOMENT.  I want THE MOMENT!  SO this Valentine's Day I am celebrating with some of my favorite on-screen smooches and some of the best kissy quotes --interesting that films made in much less socially open periods are the ones we remember--iconic kisses that are unforgettable and keep us watching again and again.  So Hollywood listen up--this Valentine's Day--take a lesson from classic films and don't just toss those kisses in wherever and whenever...save them, make them special... and give us back THE MOMENT!  Happy Valentine's Day!

The Thin Man, 1934


It Happened One Night, 1934 


Snow White, 1937


Gone with the Wind, 1939


Ball of Fire, 1941
 "I'm gonna show you what yum-yum is. 
Here's yum...And here's the other yum...And here's yum-yum."


Casablanca, 1942
"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time."


From Here to Eternity, 1953
"I never knew it could be like this. Nobody ever kissed me the way you do."


Roman Holiday, 1953

Sabrina. 1954
"Here's a kiss from David," he told her - "It's all in the family"

Summertime, 1955


To Catch a Thief, 1955
 "I've been waiting all day for you to mention that kiss I gave you last night... Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by the efficiency behind it." 
She replied: "Well, I'm a great believer of getting down to essentials."

An Affair to Remember, 1957
North by Northwest, 1959

How to Steal a Million, 1966
 
Thomas Crown Affair , 1968

The Way We Were, 1973

Moonstruck, 1987


Princess Bride, 1987
 “Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”