Movie Kisses

The very first movie kiss was made by Thomas Edison in 1986 in a film called, unsurprisingly, The Kiss. Other early movie kisses included The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899) and very risque for its time The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903).

Since then, movie kisses have been many and varied. There are very few movies made today that don't involve a kiss of some kind.

A recent list has suggested one of the greatest movie kisses of all time was between Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh in Gone With The Wind. Interestingly, Gable had bad breath at the time and it took considerable acting skills by Leigh to make it look good.

The list, by chocolate maker Hershey, had the kiss between Omar Sharif and Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago second, followed by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.

Lists of good movie kisses can vary according to who you ask. Everyone has their own favourite screen kiss. A poll of 4000 film fans by video giant Blockbuster saw the kiss between Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's come in first.

I'm going to make my own list of great movie kisses, and why I think they deserve kudos. I'm not going to include a lot of older films in this list, because... well, it's been done before (see above).

Ghost - The moment when Demi Moore kisses Patrick Swaze through medium Whoopi Goldberg is both startling and starkly emotional. This is essentially a lesbian kiss, but the filmmakers manage to avoid that issue altogether and turn it into a beautiful, heartfelt reunion between the lovers, reaching across death for one last kiss.

Pretty Woman - The fact that Julia Robert's character doesn't normally kiss because it's "too personal" makes the kiss all the more poignant and meaningful. They may have been having sex prior to this, but that kiss is the most intimate part of the movie.

From Here to Eternity - This kiss on the beach, amid sand and waves, has been much parodied, but it's still a great representation of wild passion. I also like the Flying High version of it.

Titanic - Yes, I had to include it. Leonardo and Kate's kiss at the very prow of the doomed ship is sweepingly romantic... and I love that blue dress she wears.

The Wedding Singer - Drew Barrimore demonstrates "church tongue" on Adam Sandler (a kiss with tongues appropriate for a wedding, as opposed to "porno tongue"). Naturally he's smitten, and it's a great way to sneak in an innocent kiss.

Bridget Jones' Diary - The final scene sees the scrumtious Colin Firth wrapping Renee Zellweger in his coat and kissing her as the snow falls around them. She's just finished running around in her undies like a madwoman, but he loves her just the way she is.

The Empire Strikes Back - The first kiss between Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is playful and yet earnest. Leia protests that she doesn't like scoundrels, but she gives way before Han's animal magnetism.

Castaway - After Tom Hanks has returned from the island, and discovered that Helen Hunt has moved on, there is one brief moment in the rain when they kiss. It's full of longing, and lost opportunity.

MTV Awards Best Kiss
Each year the MTV awards honour what they consider to be the best screen kiss for that year. Recent winners have included:
* Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man (2003)
* Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott in American Pie 2 (2002)
* Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas in Save the Last Dance (2001)
* Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions (2000(
You can find a good list of the MTV awards, winners and nominations at the IMDB. I'm not linking to the MTV site because in their effort to make the site look snazzy they forgot to include any decent information on the topic.

Other Interesting Movie Kisses
* The world record for the longest kiss on screen was the film You're In the Army Now. The kiss lasted 185 seconds and was between Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman (who was Ronald Reagan's first wife).

* Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney hold the record for the most screen kisses ever filmed.