I Choo Choo Choose you: Top 9 Valentine flicks

I've got a list obsession I need to scratch, so beside the fact valentines day is now officially over round here at the risk of losing followers, here are some Great movies for valentines day. So put the barf bag down and hear me out lol.  After some careful considerations I've decided on my 9  favourite romances, I'm partial to the classic rom-coms rather than the sob stories, that being said if a painful romance film is gone about the right way, like a good mix of tragedy and humor like City Lights or a solid beautifully told drama like Brief Encounter. Shux, I don't know, a modern movie could make it on my list next year and what an honor that would be riiight..... so lets get to it.

• Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Dir: Frank Capra

Tuba playing poet Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) much to his disillusionment comes into a large inheritance from his uncle. He moves to the city and the local sensationalized newspaper proceed to make him look like a class A nit wit. The paper's reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur) goes out on the job and falls for Deeds and his kind hearted ways. Eventually Deeds ends up being trialed for being insane when really he is just pixilated.

"The pixies had got him. As we nowadays would say, a man is "barmy." 

• His Girl Friday (1940) Dir: Howard Hawks

"Maybe it was yesterday, Hildy. Been seeing me in your dreams?"

Defiantly loved this wonderful energetic screwball romance at first sight. Newspaper publisher Walter (Cary Grant) tries his hardest to win back his star reporter, Hildy (Rosalind Russell) who happens to be his ex wife. Ben Hecht's story of The Front Page (to which this is based) had the Hildy character as a man, "Hildy" has been played by Pat O'Brian and Jack Lemmon in other productions of the story. 

• Brief Encounter (1945) Dir: David Lean

Noel Coward's intimate story of a married woman who is lead by temptation to have an affair with a man she meets at a train station. Absolute classic.  Cecila Johnson plays Laura Jesson a housewife, who journey's us through her memories of her doomed romance with Dr. Harvey played by Trevor Howard. 

• Morocco (1930) Dir: Josef Von Sternberg

Marlene Dietrich's and director Sternbergs first American produced film together. Dietrich plays Amy Jolly a club singer. Jolly becomes the centre of a love triangle when she gets together with Gary Cooper who plays a member of the french foreign Legion and Adolphe Menjou who plays an affluent playboy. Renowned for Marlene Dietrich's androgynous performance as she kisses a female in the audience. Also here in a rare Gary Cooper performance he plays a womanizer, girl in every oasis kind of fellow. I hate to say it about our Coops but this role was probably more closer to home for him. It's much more common to see him in films as an all American, simpleton, as in Mr. Deeds. Anyway the most harrowing scene is when head strong Amy runs in the sand barefooted to be with the man she loves. ahh bless. 

• City Lights (1931) Dir: Charles Chaplin

A blind flower girl mistakes The Tramp for a generous wealthy man. Chaplin's tramp falls in love with the poor girl and struggles to help her out as his unreliable drunken rich friend is his main source of income. Romance, sentimentality and great laughs with the alcoholic friend. Despite the urgency for sound pictures by the time this film was made Chaplin still went ahead with making City Lights into a pantomime picture with a few sound gag effects and soundtrack.  

• The Lady Eve (1941) Dir: Preston Sturges

Crazy yet classy movie. Barbara Stanwyck pushed the censors as Jean Harrington who falls for inexperienced snake hunter Charles Pike (Henry Fonda) on a cruise ship. The two in midst ocean become engaged. When Pike learns of Jeans true identity as a swindler he breaks it off. Jean only returns but this time to his home as Eve a Brit and makes him fall in love with her all over again. 

• The Philadelphia Story (1940) Dir: George Cukor

 The Philadelphia Story , it's an exquisite representative of the perfect classic romantic comedy, no buts. If only "rom - coms" today weren't so trashy and didn't leave you with the feeling of regret for having lost two or so hours of your life you'll never get back, along with a few brain cells.

• 1. The Apartment (1960) Dir: Billy Wilder 

C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) is a sad, lonely desk jockey, working over time (with no pay) so his superiors in the office can use his apartment in the evenings, to have their affairs in private. It's Baxter's own way of getting ahead in the rat race and an office with walls. Complication's rise when he has a hopeful romance of his own with Fran Kubelik the elevator girl. 

This is just my favourite movies. Wilder's satirical, comical script of husbands cheating and suicide just works and all the actors play their parts to perfection also. I couldn't boast more about this movie. just marvelous.

• Honorable Mention: Casablanca (1941) Dir: Michael Curtiz. It's Impossible not to include this. Although not my favourite romance film because there is just waaaay to much hype surrounding it, the first time I saw this I found myself expecting too much and being a bit disappointed, don't give me wrong I still liked it but yer no i was just a tad, mehh so what?..., But after a few repeat viewings I liked it increasingly. So the downside for the movie was the hyperbole so it gets an honorable mention. (don't frown, it may be an overblown movie thats all). Good romance, great moments. If your a late comer to viewing this film, I recommend it, its just best not to have great expectations.

The Kiss - Thomas Edison circa 1900
 "remake" or sequel to the 1896 similar short known as the May Erwin Kiss - that one caused quite the scandal, both films were made under Edison Studios. The 1900 sequel may have a better looking, younger couple on screen but the 1896 original is very much much sweeter.