AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions

AFI 100 Years... series
1998100 Movies
1999100 Stars
2000100 Laughs
2001100 Thrills
2002100 Passions
2003100 Heroes & Villains
2004100 Songs
2005100 Movie Quotes
200525 Scores
2006100 Cheers
200625 Musicals
2007100 Movies (Updated)
2008AFI's 10 Top 10

Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Passions is a list of the top 100 greatest love stories in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 11, 2002, in a CBS television special hosted by Candice Bergen.

Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are tied for the most films in the list, with six each. They co-starred in two of them – Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. Audrey Hepburn has five movies on the list putting her in second place.

The list

# Film Director Year Actress Actor
1 Casablanca Michael Curtiz 1942 Ingrid Bergman Humphrey Bogart
2 Gone with the Wind Victor Fleming 1939 Vivien Leigh Clark Gable
3 West Side Story Robert Wise
Jerome Robbins
1961 Natalie Wood Richard Beymer
4 Roman Holiday William Wyler 1953 Audrey Hepburn Gregory Peck
5 An Affair to Remember Leo McCarey 1957 Deborah Kerr Cary Grant
6 The Way We Were Sydney Pollack 1973 Barbra Streisand Robert Redford
7 Doctor Zhivago David Lean 1965 Julie Christie
Geraldine Chaplin
Omar Sharif
8 It's a Wonderful Life Frank Capra 1946 Donna Reed James Stewart
9 Love Story Arthur Hiller 1970 Ali MacGraw Ryan O'Neal
10 City Lights Charlie Chaplin 1931 Virginia Cherrill Charlie Chaplin
11 Annie Hall Woody Allen 1977 Diane Keaton Woody Allen
12 My Fair Lady George Cukor 1964 Audrey Hepburn Rex Harrison
Jeremy Brett
13 Out of Africa Sydney Pollack 1985 Meryl Streep Robert Redford
14 The African Queen John Huston 1951 Katharine Hepburn Humphrey Bogart
15 Wuthering Heights William Wyler 1939 Merle Oberon Laurence Olivier
16 Singin' in the Rain Gene Kelly
Stanley Donen
1952 Debbie Reynolds Gene Kelly
17 Moonstruck Norman Jewison 1987 Cher Nicolas Cage
18 Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock 1958 Kim Novak James Stewart
19 Ghost Jerry Zucker 1990 Demi Moore Patrick Swayze
20 From Here to Eternity Fred Zinnemann 1953 Deborah Kerr
Donna Reed
Burt Lancaster
Montgomery Clift
21 Pretty Woman Garry Marshall 1990 Julia Roberts Richard Gere
22 On Golden Pond Mark Rydell 1981 Katharine Hepburn Henry Fonda
23 Now, Voyager Irving Rapper 1942 Bette Davis Paul Henreid
24 King Kong Merian C. Cooper
Ernest B. Schoedsack
1933 Fay Wray Kong
Bruce Cabot
25 When Harry Met Sally... Rob Reiner 1989 Meg Ryan Billy Crystal
26 The Lady Eve Preston Sturges 1941 Barbara Stanwyck Henry Fonda
27 The Sound of Music Robert Wise 1965 Julie Andrews Christopher Plummer
28 The Shop Around the Corner Ernst Lubitsch 1940 Margaret Sullavan James Stewart
29 An Officer and a Gentleman Taylor Hackford 1982 Debra Winger Richard Gere
30 Swing Time George Stevens 1936 Ginger Rogers Fred Astaire
31 The King and I Walter Lang 1956 Deborah Kerr Yul Brynner
32 Dark Victory Edmund Goulding 1939 Bette Davis George Brent
33 Camille George Cukor 1936 Greta Garbo Robert Taylor
34 Beauty and the Beast Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise
1991 Paige O'Hara Robby Benson
35 Gigi Vincente Minnelli 1958 Leslie Caron Louis Jourdan
36 Random Harvest Mervyn LeRoy 1942 Greer Garson Ronald Colman
37 Titanic James Cameron 1997 Kate Winslet Leonardo DiCaprio
38 It Happened One Night Frank Capra 1934 Claudette Colbert Clark Gable
39 An American in Paris Vincente Minnelli 1951 Leslie Caron Gene Kelly
40 Ninotchka Ernst Lubitsch 1939 Greta Garbo Melvyn Douglas
41 Funny Girl William Wyler 1968 Barbra Streisand Omar Sharif
42 Anna Karenina Clarence Brown 1935 Greta Garbo Fredric March
43 A Star Is Born George Cukor 1954 Judy Garland James Mason
44 The Philadelphia Story George Cukor 1940 Katharine Hepburn Cary Grant
James Stewart
45 Sleepless in Seattle Nora Ephron 1993 Meg Ryan Tom Hanks
46 To Catch a Thief Alfred Hitchcock 1955 Grace Kelly Cary Grant
47 Splendor in the Grass Elia Kazan 1961 Natalie Wood Warren Beatty
48 Last Tango in Paris Bernardo Bertolucci 1973 Maria Schneider Marlon Brando
49 The Postman Always Rings Twice Tay Garnett 1946 Lana Turner John Garfield
50 Shakespeare in Love John Madden 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow Joseph Fiennes
51 Bringing Up Baby Howard Hawks 1938 Katharine Hepburn Cary Grant
52 The Graduate Mike Nichols 1967 Katharine Ross Dustin Hoffman
53 A Place in the Sun George Stevens 1951 Elizabeth Taylor Montgomery Clift
54 Sabrina Billy Wilder 1954 Audrey Hepburn Humphrey Bogart
55 Reds Warren Beatty 1981 Diane Keaton Warren Beatty
56 The English Patient Anthony Minghella 1996 Juliette Binoche
Kristin Scott Thomas
Naveen Andrews
Ralph Fiennes
57 Two for the Road Stanley Donen 1967 Audrey Hepburn Albert Finney
58 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Stanley Kramer 1967 Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton
Spencer Tracy
Sidney Poitier
59 Picnic Joshua Logan 1955 Kim Novak William Holden
60 To Have and Have Not Howard Hawks 1944 Lauren Bacall Humphrey Bogart
61 Breakfast at Tiffany's Blake Edwards 1961 Audrey Hepburn George Peppard
62 The Apartment Billy Wilder 1960 Shirley MacLaine Jack Lemmon
63 Sunrise F. W. Murnau 1927 Janet Gaynor
Margaret Livingston
George O'Brien
64 Marty Delbert Mann 1955 Betsy Blair Ernest Borgnine
65 Bonnie and Clyde Arthur Penn 1967 Faye Dunaway Warren Beatty
66 Manhattan Woody Allen 1979 Diane Keaton Woody Allen
67 A Streetcar Named Desire Elia Kazan 1951 Vivien Leigh Marlon Brando
68 What's Up, Doc? Peter Bogdanovich 1972 Barbra Streisand Ryan O'Neal
69 Harold and Maude Hal Ashby 1971 Ruth Gordon Bud Cort
70 Sense and Sensibility Ang Lee 1995 Emma Thompson
Kate Winslet
Hugh Grant
Alan Rickman
71 Way Down East D. W. Griffith 1920 Lillian Gish Richard Barthelmess
72 Roxanne Fred Schepisi 1987 Daryl Hannah Steve Martin
73 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1947 Gene Tierney Rex Harrison
74 Woman of the Year George Stevens 1942 Katharine Hepburn Spencer Tracy
75 The American President Rob Reiner 1995 Annette Bening Michael Douglas
76 The Quiet Man John Ford 1952 Maureen O'Hara John Wayne
77 The Awful Truth Leo McCarey 1937 Irene Dunne Cary Grant
78 Coming Home Hal Ashby 1978 Jane Fonda Jon Voight
79 Jezebel William Wyler 1938 Bette Davis Henry Fonda
80 The Sheik George Melford 1921 Agnes Ayres Rudolph Valentino
81 The Goodbye Girl Herbert Ross 1977 Marsha Mason Richard Dreyfuss
82 Witness Peter Weir 1985 Kelly McGillis Harrison Ford
83 Morocco Josef von Sternberg 1930 Marlene Dietrich Gary Cooper
84 Double Indemnity Billy Wilder 1944 Barbara Stanwyck Fred MacMurray
85 Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing Henry King 1955 Jennifer Jones William Holden
86 Notorious Alfred Hitchcock 1946 Ingrid Bergman Cary Grant
87 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Philip Kaufman 1988 Juliette Binoche Daniel Day-Lewis
88 The Princess Bride Rob Reiner 1987 Robin Wright Cary Elwes
89 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Mike Nichols 1966 Elizabeth Taylor
Sandy Dennis
Richard Burton
George Segal
90 The Bridges of Madison County Clint Eastwood 1995 Meryl Streep Clint Eastwood
91 Working Girl Mike Nichols 1988 Melanie Griffith Harrison Ford
92 Porgy and Bess Otto Preminger 1959 Dorothy Dandridge Sidney Poitier
93 Dirty Dancing Emile Ardolino 1987 Jennifer Grey Patrick Swayze
94 Body Heat Lawrence Kasdan 1981 Kathleen Turner William Hurt
95 Lady and the Tramp Wilfred Jackson
Hamilton Luske
Clyde Geronimi
1955 Barbara Luddy Larry Roberts
96 Barefoot in the Park Gene Saks 1967 Jane Fonda Robert Redford
97 Grease Randal Kleiser 1978 Olivia Newton-John John Travolta
98 The Hunchback of Notre Dame William Dieterle 1939 Maureen O'Hara Charles Laughton
99 Pillow Talk Michael Gordon 1959 Doris Day Rock Hudson
100 Jerry Maguire Cameron Crowe 1996 Renée Zellweger Tom Cruise

Criteria

The list uses the following criteria:[1]

  • Feature-length fiction film: The film must be in narrative format, typically more than 60 minutes long.
  • American film: The film must be in the English language with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States.
  • Love story: Regardless of genre, a romantic bond between two or more characters, whose actions and/or intentions provide the heart of the film’s narrative.
  • Legacy: Films whose "passion" have enriched America’s film and cultural heritage while continuing to inspire contemporary artists and audiences.

References

  1. ^ "AFI's 100 Years…100 Passions". American Film Institute. Retrieved February 5, 2024.