10 Best Romantic Comedy Movies of all times

Romantic comedies are one of the most popular genres of movies worldwide. Perhaps it has to do with the eternal hope of mankind that true love will surmount all obstacles or perhaps simply because of the dominant note of the funny and the lighthearted which is what viewers are looking forward to at the end of a tiring week. Whatever the reason, romantic comedies seem to be tailor-made for a variety of occasions from when you are out on a date or when you are stuck indoors with the sniffles and you need something to smile about. While opinions vary on what makes the best romantic comedies, here are ten that have been favorites down the ages.

1. City Lights
   
   This 1931 silent film is universally acknowledged as one of the best movies to be made by the legendary actor, director and producer, Charlie Chaplin. The plot revolves around a penniless but golden-hearted tramp and a pretty but blind flower girl. The tramp goes through a series of adventures all in an attempt to earn enough money for the girl but is eventually taken away by the police. In the end when the girl has had her sight restored, thanks to the money given by the tramp, it seems she has forgotten all about him but in the last scene true love wins and she recognizes the man who endured so much for her sake. Chaplin’s trademark slapstick underscores the comic element while the bitter-sweet plot line provides the backbone of a tender love story.
   
   
    
2. It Happened One Night
   
   One of the highest Academy Award winners to win in all the five major categories, It Happened One Night released in 1934 and starred then heartthrob Clark Gable as well as relative newcomer Claudette Colbert. This romantic comedy borrows elements from two popular plot lines – one of the girl-on-the-run-who-meets-a-guy and the second of the spoilt-girl-who-meets-her match. The movie was also a hit because of certain elements of the screwball comedy.
    
3. The Roman Holiday
   
   Yet another variation of the girl-on-the-run plot line, The Roman Holiday was different on account of the ‘poor little rich girl’ element. Here is a young princess who feels stifled by the strict formality of her royal existence and escapes in order to breathe fresh air and experience the free unfettered life. On the way of course, she falls in love. Audrey Hepburn played the role of the young and innocent princess to perfection while Gregory Peck had women fans swooning over his role of the street-smart reporter who despite his cocksure ways falls for someone who will always be beyond his league. Despite the fact that the movie did not have conventional boy-gets-girl ending, it scored because of its gentle humor and the experience of love based on gratitude and vitality rather than on consummation and happily-ever-after.
    
4. The Seven Year Itch
   
   Starring the luscious Marilyn Monroe, this film is today remembered for one of the most iconic images of the 20th century – her standing on a subway grate as her white dress is blown above her knees by a passing train. The film deals with the temptations that good husband and father played by Tom Ewell is exposed to when he packs off his family for the summer and finds himself thrown in close proximity with an attractive neighbor who is also a model. In the end though Ewell’s repeated clumsiness and essential decency win the day as he is reunited with his doting family at the close of the summer. The film derives its comic elements from the playing out Ewell’s overactive imagination and his anxieties about what would happen if his wife came to know about his attempted philanderings.
    
5. Irma la Douce
   
   This 1963 romantic comedy was actually based on a French musical of the same title. Starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley McLain, the film is about an honest police constable who falls in love with a high-spirited and well-liked prostitute. The comedy arises from Lemmon’s well-meaning but convoluted attempts in getting his girlfriend to leave her profession and settle down to a respectable married life. In the end after a lot of complications, the two get married but the movie closes with an intriguing puzzle about the identity of the Lord X.
    
6. My Fair Lady
   
   Yet another popular romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn, the film took its basic story line from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. A poor flower girl played by Hepburn is taken in by an English language master played by Rex Harrison to be taught how to sing and speak properly, based on a bet between himself and his friend. While the girl blossoms into a lady, her tutor tries his best to remain true to his bachelor life but find is impossible to remain oblivious to love. Unlike the play, the film ended with both protagonists accepting their love for each other rather than agreeing to be simply housemates.
    
7. When Harry Met Sally
   
   This 1989 brought in a lot of fresh elements into the romantic comedy genre. Stretching over several years, Harry and Sally experience their relationship change from initial dislike to friendship and finally to love. The film became famous for the fake orgasm scene where Meg Ryan imitates a woman in the throes of passion to prove a point to Billy Crystal and in the process shocks everyone else at the restaurant.
    
8. Pretty Woman
   
   Released next year in 1990, Pretty Woman became one of the highest box office grossers in the genre of romantic comedies across the world. The plot revolves around the Cinderella concept where a girl from the dumps rises to win the Prince Charming on the strength of her honest, loving and essentially pure heart.
    
9. Four Weddings and a Funeral
   
   This 1994 British film which took Hollywood and the world by storm with its wit, tender love story and an undercurrent of pathos. The film follows the personal fortunes of a group of friends as they come together for a series of social occasions including four weddings and one funeral. The chief protagonist is Charles played by Hugh Grant who keeps meeting an attractive American woman played by Andie Macdowell but is unable to express his love till it is almost too late.
    
10. My Big, Fat Greek Wedding
    
    Clash of different cultures provides the main comic impetus in this hilarious joint Canadian-American production. A woman from middle class Greek background falls in love with an upper middle class non-Greek guy. What follows is a hilarious series of events as the loving but over-enthusiastic Greek family takes it upon itself to carry forward the wedding. The film ends with an affirmation of one’s cultural past but also the freedom of following whatever one chooses in future.