So the next time you need to unwind, put on your pearls, gather the girls and have an "old Hollywood girls night" with my classic movie musts. It's a chance to go back in time and experience these films as a doll from another decade. I guarantee you'll be passing the tissues between you as you laugh and cry your way through some of the greatest love stories to ever hit the silver screen.
For the Cinderella-syndrome sufferers
Image: Arwin Productions/Universal International Pictures (UI)
Get up close and personal with Doris Day and Rock Hudson in the original and incomparable romance comedy from 1959, Pillow Talk. Day plays interior decorator Jane Morrow (with a fabulous wardrobe, I might add), who shares a party line with playboy composer Brad Allen. With a clever script, hilarious supporting cast and the wholesome charm of two leading legends, Pillow Talk is a light film full of love and laughter. You'll be bopping along to the catchy tunes from day, believing there must be a pillow talkin' boy for you too.
More recommendations:
Image: Paramount Pictures
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard
Image: 20th Century Fox Studios
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell
For the romance realists
Image: Columbia Pictures Corporation/Rastar Productions
You've most likely heard references to this 1973 favorite, but do you know about Hubbell's lovely girl? Have the tissues handy for my all-time favorite classic, a love story in a league of its own, The Way We Were. Streisand and Redford absolutely shine together. They bring to life the tumultuous, passionate romance of two opposites with a captivating chemistry that will leave you breathless. Set against a political backdrop from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s, it will leave you wanting 10 more decades of Streisand and Redford together.
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Images: Warner Bros.
Casablanca (1942) Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
Image: Paramount Pictures
Love Story (1970) Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw
For the dramatic devotees
Image: Pakula-Mulligan/Boardwalk Productions/Rona
Discover a love story anchored in reality with 1963's Love with the Proper Stranger starring Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen. After a one-night stand with carefree musician Rocky leaves young shop girl Angie pregnant, the pair finds the light together in a difficult situation. A story for the hopeless romantic, this film will find a special place in your heart, giving you hope that there's a proper stranger out there for you too.
More recommendations:
Images: Warner Bros.
The Big Sleep (1946) Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Image: 20th Century Fox Studios
An Affair to Remember (1957) Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
For all the single ladies
Image: 20th Century Fox Studios
Before Girls and Sex and the City, there were three other dames living in NYC looking for love, and something else. Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe star as three models of modest means in 1953's How to Marry a Millionaire. In the film, the trio rent out an expensive penthouse as part of a scatterbrained scheme to land men with millions. Full of lighthearted humor and physical comedy, these ladies will have you choking on your cocktails as they discover the meaning of true love.
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Image: Ashton Productions/The Mirisch Corporation
Some Like it Hot (1959) Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis
Image: Columbia Pictures Corporation/Rastar Productions
Funny Girl (1968) Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif
