Thomas Edison helped popularize the lightbulb and the phonograph, but cinephiles can also thank him for the first on-camera kiss. The historic smooch came at the inventor’s movie studio in 1896, when stage actors May Irwin and John Rice reenacted a scene from a play for the 23-second short, “The Kiss.” Despite the scandal it generated, Edison remade it four years later with less-plump actors.
Once cinema puckered up, there was no stopping onscreen kisses. Granted, the prigs of Hollywood’s Production Code did what they could, decreeing that no movie kiss could last more than three seconds. Director Alfred Hitchcock, who specialized in testing the censors, cleverly circumvented the rule with Notorious in 1946. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman kiss on and off for roughly two-and-a-half minutes, with no individual peck exceeding three seconds and nuzzling in between. Hitchcock kept the camera close enough to almost smell what the actors had for lunch that day in the RKO studio commissary.
For the 20 most memorable kisses, I must grudgingly exclude the kiss montage that concludes Cinema Paradiso (1988). In director Giuseppe Tornatore’s wonderful comedy-drama, a movie projectionist in a small Italian village bequeaths to his protégé a reel of spliced-together footage—the decades-long culmination of onscreen intimacy that had been censored by the local priest. The scene is extraordinary, but alas, it is a montage of other films, and therefore ineligible for this most important of lists. As the Production Code knew, rules are rules.
20. “Steve” and “Slim” (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) in To Have and Have Not (1944, dir. Howard Hawks)
19. John and Frances (Cary Grant and Grace Kelly) in To Catch a Thief (1955, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
18. Tashi, Art, and Patrick (Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor) in Challengers (2024, dir. Luca Guadagnino)
17. Cry-Baby and Allison (Johnny Depp and Amy Locane) in Cry-Baby (1990, dir. John Waters)
16. Kathryn and Cecile (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair) in Cruel Intentions (1999, dir. Roger Kumble)
15. Noah and Allie (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) in The Notebook (2004, dir. Nick Cassavetes)
14. Peter Parker / Spider-Man and Mary Jane (Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst) in Spider-Man (2002, dir. Sam Raimi)
13. Joe and Princess Ann (Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn) in Roman Holiday (1953, dir. William Wyler)
12. Michael and Fredo (Al Pacino and John Cazale) in The Godfather Part II (1974, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
11. George and Mary (James Stewart and Donna Reed) in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, dir. Frank Capra)
10. Robbie and Cecilia (James McAvoy and Keira Knightley) in Atonement (2007, dir. Joe Wright)
9. Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson (Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft) in The Graduate (1967, dir. Mike Nichols)
8. Jack and Ennis (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) in Brokeback Mountain (2005, dir. Ang Lee)
7. Felicitas and Leo (Greta Garbo and John Gilbert) in Flesh and the Devil (1926, dir. Clarence Brown)
6. Chiron and Kevin (Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome) in Moonlight (2016, dir. Barry Jenkins)
5. Warden and Karen (Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr) in From Here to Eternity (1953, dir. Fred Zinnemann)
4. Harry and Sally (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) in When Harry Met Sally… (1989, dir. Rob Reiner)
3. Holly Golightly and Paul (Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard) in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, dir. Blake Edwards)
2. Scottie and Judy (James Stewart and Kim Novak) in Vertigo (1958, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
1. Devlin and Alicia (Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman) in Notorious (1946, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Honorable mention: Amélie and Nino (Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz) in Amélie (2001, dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet), Belle and The Beast (voices of Paige O’Hara and Robby Benson) in Beauty and the Beast (1991, dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise), Bridget and Mark (Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth) in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001, dir. Sharon Maguire), Baby and Johnny (Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze) in Dirty Dancing (1987, dir. Emile Ardolino), Han and Princess Leia (Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher) in The Empire Strikes Back (1980, dir. Irvin Kershner), Sam and Molly (Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore) in Ghost (1990, dir. Jerry Zucker), Rhett and Scarlett (Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh) in Gone with the Wind (1939, dir. Victor Fleming), Lady and Tramp (voiced by Barbara Luddy and Larry Roberts) in Lady and the Tramp (1955, dir. Hamilton Luske and Clyde Geronimi), Jean and Hopsie (Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda) in The Lady Eve (1941, dir. Preston Sturges), Quincy and Monica (Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan) in Love & Basketball (2000, dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood), Loretta and Ronny (Cher and Nicolas Cage) in Moonstruck (1987, dir. Norman Jewison), Zack and Paula (Richard Gere and Debra Winger) in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982, dir. Taylor Hackford), Westley and Princess Buttercup (Cary Elwes and Robin Wright) in The Princess Bride (1987, dir. Rob Reiner), Barry and Lena (Adam Sandler and Emily Watson) in Punch-Drunk Love (2002, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson), Sean and Mary Kate (John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara) in The Quiet Man (1952, dir. John Ford), Jeff and Lisa (James Stewart and Grace Kelly) in Rear Window (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock), Romeo and Juliet (Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes) in Romeo + Juliet (1996, dir. Baz Luhrmann), Samantha and Jake (Molly Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling) in Sixteen Candles (1984, dir. John Hughes), Kat and Patrick (Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger) in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999, dir. Gil Junger), Rose and Jack (Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio) in Titanic (1997, dir. James Cameron)
Cutting to the Chase with Phil Bacharach 