No love story is perfect, especially those of Old Hollywood stars, but the romantic roles they portray on the silver screen show the different ways love can take shape. From passionate affairs to slow-burning relationships, classic cinema is full of inspiration. Click through the gallery to see the most memorable on-screen embraces from the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S
In the climactic scene of the movie, Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard’s characters share a deep kiss in the pouring rain.
CAMELOT
Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero bring to life the passionate affair between Guinevere and Sir Lancelot in the 1967 telling of Camelot.
CLEOPATRA
In Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton play historic characters that enter into a romantic relationship, which happened to fuel their off-screen affection, too.
CONTEMPT
Jack Palance and Brigitte Bardot embrace in the 1963 film in which their characters have a romantic affair.
COVER GIRL
Rita Hayworth’s character must choose between success and romance in the 1944 musical movie, with Gene Kelly starring as her supportive boyfriend.
GONE WITH THE WIND
The epic love story told in Gone With the Wind is brought to life by Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, proving that the one you love might be right in front of you all along.
HUSTLE
The crime flick stars Burt Reynolds, who plays a cop, and Catherine Deneuve, a prostitute, who share many passionate kisses throughout the movie.
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IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
The classic movie stars Gable as a reporter in need of a story who finds himself in the company of a runaway socialite played by Claudette Colbert.
IT STARTED WITH A KISS
Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds star as a married couple with their fair share of problems, but still share tender moments like this one.
NOTORIOUS
The Alfred Hitchcock flick stars Ingrid Bergman and Grant as government agents who fall in love, but are soon challenged as Bergman’s character goes undercover and becomes involved with another man to gain intel.
REAR WINDOW
In this Hitchcock thriller, James Stewart plays an injured photographer confined to a wheelchair who suspects that a murder occurred in a neighboring apartment. His girlfriend in the movie, played by Grace Kelly, helps him solve the case.
SOME LIKE IT HOT
Marilyn Monroe’s character teacher Tony Curtis’ how to kiss in the comedy Some Like it Hot, where Curtis plays a musician attempting to woo Monroe while also posing as a member of an all-girl band.
THE BRIBE
In this wartime drama, Robert Taylor plays a US federal agent who has an affair with the wife of a veteran who he is investigating, played by Ava Gardner.
THE LONG, HOT SUMMER
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward share several on-screen embraces in this 1958 drama.
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THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
Katharine Hepburn’s character in The Philadelphia Story finds herself choosing between three men, one of which is her ex-husband, pictured here, played by Cary Grant.
THE SIGN OF VENUS
In the Italian romantic comedy, Sophia Loren plays a woman who catches the eye of all of the men in her town as her cousin struggles to find one to look her way.
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star opposite each other as love interests in this World War II era film. The pair would marry the following year after the films release, in 1945.
TOM, DICK AND HARRY
Ginger Rogers plays a telephone operator with three love interests, including George Murphy’s character, pictured here.
VIVA LAS VEGAS
In the musical flick full of adventure, Elvis Presley’s character courts a woman named Rusty, played by Ann-Margret.
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
Agent 007 is known for his penchant for pretty girls, and in You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery’s James Bond pretends to be married to Mie Hama’s character Kissy Suzuki.
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
The cat-and-mouse game that Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway’s characters are caught in create irresistible romantic tension in the 1968 original version of the The Thomas Crown Affair.
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