The most romantic gestures in rom-com history

From Say Anything's boombox to Notting Hill's "I'm just a girl...," these are cinema's grandest declarations of love

By Mary Kate Carr, Gabrielle Sanchez, Saloni Gajjar  |  February 9, 2023 | 1:00pm
Film Features Heath Ledger
The most romantic gestures in rom-com history
Clockwise from top left: Notting Hill (Universal Pictures), Love & Basketball (New Line Cinema), Amelie (20th Century Fox), Say Anything (UGC-Fox Distribution) Graphic: The A.V. Club

Running through the airport to stop a lover’s flight. Making a big speech in front of a crowd of strangers. Picking the perfect song for a serenade. These are the kind of classic Grand Gestures that have been perfected throughout the history of the romantic comedy. Not every great rom-com has one, but the ones that do tend to make a lasting impact. Sometimes it’s big—like meeting a stranger at the top of the Empire State Building. Sometimes it’s small—like handing someone a deck of cards. But with the right actors and the right context, a good romantic gesture can elevate a solid rom-com into a true classic. Read on for The A.V. Club’s picks for the best romantic gestures in romantic comedy history.

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It Happened One Night (3/8) Movie CLIP - The Walls of Jericho (1934) HD

Released just months before the widespread enforcement of the notorious Hays Code, Frank Capra’s simmers with innuendo. Claudette Colbert’s Ellie Andrews , Clark Gable narrates a strip tease for the unwed Ellie, and when it comes to room and board, the two strangers share a space intended for husband and wife just hours after meeting one another. In order to counteract the salaciousness of the sleeping arrangement, Gable’s Peter Warne hangs up “the wall of Jericho” for privacy—meant to block wandering eyes and squash any ideas of canoodling. This later leads up to the last scene, in which the giddy lovers hang up the walls of Jericho once more, only to tear it down in the insinuating final shot. [Gabrielle Sanchez]

 
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