Perfect Pairs
by firevvalker | created - 08 Nov 2014 | updated - 08 Nov 2014 | PublicA list of 53 classic movies featured in the photo-book "Perfect Pairs: a photographic celebration" by David Baird (2002)
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1. The Other Love (1947)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
Karen Duncan, a seriously ill concert pianist, enters a Swiss sanatorium where she's attracted to Dr. Tony Stanton. Ignoring his warnings about resting, she leaves for Monte Carlo with Paul Clermont despite possibly fatal consequences.
Director: André De Toth | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, David Niven, Richard Conte, Gilbert Roland
Votes: 920
2. The Delightful Rogue (1929)
Passed | 64 min | Adventure, Romance
Lastro (Rod La Rocque), a rogue pirate sails to Tapit where he encounters Nydra (Rita La Roy), an Americana singer in a waterfront dive, who is the object of of the jealous affections on ... See full summary »
Directors: Lynn Shores, Leslie Pearce | Stars: Rod La Rocque, Rita La Roy, Charles Byer, Ed Brady
Votes: 66
3. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,817
4. Cover Girl (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
Rusty Parker wins a contest and becomes a celebrated cover girl; this endangers her romance with dancing mentor Danny.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers
Votes: 5,941
5. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 521,799 | Gross: $36.76M
6. Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Passed | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A trader and his daughter set off in search of the fabled graveyard of the elephants in deepest Africa, only to encounter a wild man raised by apes.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith, Maureen O'Sullivan
Votes: 8,213
7. Notorious (1946)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
The daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern
Votes: 107,218 | Gross: $10.46M
8. The Wild One (1953)
Approved | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Two rival motorcycle gangs terrorize a small town after one of their leaders is thrown in jail.
Director: Laslo Benedek | Stars: Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Lee Marvin
Votes: 17,567
9. Angel and the Badman (1947)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Quirt Evans, an all round bad guy, is nursed back to health and sought after by Penelope Worth, a Quaker girl. He eventually finds himself having to choose between his world and the world Penelope lives in.
Director: James Edward Grant | Stars: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 6,666
10. Camille (1936)
Passed | 109 min | Drama, Romance
A Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the callous baron who wants her, even as her own health begins to fail.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan
Votes: 8,745 | Gross: $1.15M
11. Beau Ideal (1931)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Romance, War
An American joins the French Foreign Legion in order to rescue a boyhood friend.
Director: Herbert Brenon | Stars: Frank McCormick, Ralph Forbes, Lester Vail, Otto Matieson
Votes: 247
12. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Passed | 170 min | Adventure, Drama, History
During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Arturo de Córdova
Votes: 10,222 | Gross: $17.80M
13. Madame Bovary (1949)
Passed | 114 min | Drama, Romance
A provincial doctor's wife's romantic illusions about life and social status lead her to betray her naive husband, take on lovers, and run up ruinous debts.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan
Votes: 2,897
14. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,138 | Gross: $43.66M
15. Dark Victory (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and must decide whether or not she'll meet her final days with dignity.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 12,395
16. Secrets (1933)
Passed | 90 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A New England society girl braves the West to help her husband build his fortune.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, C. Aubrey Smith, Blanche Friderici
Votes: 702 | Gross: $0.70M
17. The Son of the Sheik (1926)
Passed | 68 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
The son of the sheik and a dancing girl fall in love, but when he is made to believe she has betrayed him he seeks revenge.
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, George Fawcett, Montagu Love
Votes: 2,128 | Gross: $1.56M
18. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,705 | Gross: $1.02M
19. Giant (1956)
G | 201 min | Drama, Western
Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Votes: 42,224
20. My Little Chickadee (1940)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Western
After a scandal runs a gold-digger out of town, she meets a con artist and becomes embroiled in a string of petty deceits.
Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: Mae West, W.C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran
Votes: 3,058
21. High Noon (1952)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 110,121 | Gross: $9.45M
22. Dead Reckoning (1946)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A soldier runs away rather than receive the Medal of Honor, so his buddy gets permission to investigate, and love and death soon follow.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Cane
Votes: 8,712
23. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,539 | Gross: $0.35M
24. Female on the Beach (1955)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Moving into a beach house involves Lynn Markham in mystery, danger, and romance with a beach boy of dubious motives.
Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler, Jan Sterling, Cecil Kellaway
Votes: 1,416
25. Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Passed | 112 min | Drama
Childhood friends are torn apart when one of them marries the woman the other fiercely loves.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Barbara Kent
Votes: 4,631 | Gross: $1.61M
26. The Lady Eve (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 23,369
27. Suspicion (1941)
Approved | 99 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 42,395 | Gross: $4.50M
28. Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Romance
Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Conway Tearle
Votes: 2,226
29. Pillow Talk (1959)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
An interior decorator and a playboy songwriter share a telephone party line and size each other up.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 19,161 | Gross: $18.75M
30. The Quiet Man (1952)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead whose brother is contemptuous of their union.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
Votes: 42,378 | Gross: $10.55M
31. Red Dust (1932)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The owner of a rubber plantation becomes involved with the new wife of one of his employees.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gene Raymond, Mary Astor
Votes: 4,929 | Gross: $1.70M
32. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 164,786 | Gross: $9.60M
33. Beverly of Graustark (1926)
TV-PG | 70 min | Comedy, Romance
Beverly Calhoun of New Jersey accompanies her cousin Oscar to claim the throne of the tiny kingdom of Graustark. When Oscar has a skiing accident, Beverly takes his place as Prince Oscar.
Director: Sidney Franklin | Stars: Marion Davies, Antonio Moreno, Creighton Hale, Roy D'Arcy
Votes: 633 | Gross: $0.32M
34. Red River (1948)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson | Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
Votes: 34,354
35. The African Queen (1951)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull
Votes: 84,280 | Gross: $0.54M
36. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,244
37. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,116 | Gross: $198.68M
38. Ivanhoe (1952)
Approved | 106 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Votes: 10,219
39. Jimmy the Gent (1934)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Allen Jenkins, Alan Dinehart
Votes: 2,033
40. Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance
A rich playboy whose recklessness inadvertently causes the death of a prominent doctor tries to make amends to his widow, and falls for her in the process.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Kruger
Votes: 7,617
41. Sidewalks of New York (1931)
Passed | 74 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A dim-witted slumlord tries to reform a gang of urban boys (and impress an attractive young woman) by transforming their rough neighborhood into a more decent place.
Directors: Zion Myers, Jules White | Stars: Buster Keaton, Anita Page, Cliff Edwards, Frank Rowan
Votes: 558
42. The Lady Without Camelias (1953)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama
A new starlet is discovered and has ups and downs in Italian films.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Lucia Bosè, Gino Cervi, Andrea Checchi, Ivan Desny
Votes: 2,257
43. The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Passed | 96 min | Drama, Romance
An attractive Russian spy seduces an Austrian officer in order to get some important plans, but when she actually falls in love with him, both of them are placed in a dangerous situation.
Director: Fred Niblo | Stars: Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Albert Pollet
Votes: 1,460 | Gross: $0.54M
44. You Only Live Twice (1967)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 117,494 | Gross: $43.08M
45. Madame Butterfly (1932)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Romance
Lieutenant Pinkerton marries geisha-in-training but soon after abandons her and goes back to the US.
Director: Marion Gering | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Irving Pichel
Votes: 446
46. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 70,301
47. Suzy (1936)
Passed | 93 min | Drama, Romance, War
Believing that a German spy has killed her new husband (Franchot Tone), a struggling chorus girl (Jean Harlow) flees to Paris where she meets and marries a World War I pilot (Cary Grant), whose carefree ways bring unexpected results.
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, Cary Grant, Lewis Stone
Votes: 1,721
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