Comingsoon.net has fallen in love with how funny these rom-coms are. Check them out in the gallery below!
It’s hard to believe, but Comingsoon.net has never even attempted to list the best romantic comedies before today. If you think it seems easy enough, you’d be wrong. These romantic comedies go far beyond the “chick flick” label—calling any movie within the genre a “chick flick” makes you look foolish enough as it is, but putting that label on these romantic comedies would be especially ill-advised. They go beyond their genre, proving to be truly great movies in their own rights.
Nora Ephron. Frank Capra. Charlie Chaplin. Billy Wilder. George Cukor. These are the names that revolutionized the romantic comedy and showed just how much potential the genre harbors. Funny and sweet, romantic and heartfelt, these are the best romantic comedies ever made—everything else is just an attempt to imitate.
rom coms
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City Lights (1931)
One of the last great silent films, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights deserves every bit of praise it has received in its nearly 90 years. Chaplin will always be considered one of the very best silent stars, but this film cements his much-deserved status as a romantic lead, as well.
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It Happened One Night (1934)
Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable’s pairing in It Happened One Night paved the way for future romantic comedies about two people at odds with one another who can’t help but fall in love. It’s still funny, even after all these years, and the romance is still just as impactful.
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The Apartment (1960)
A hugely influential film from the back half of the 20th century, Billy Wilder’s The Apartment stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in what many consider to be one of the greatest comedies (and certainly one of the greatest romantic comedies, at that). The two have an undeniable energy that latches onto the viewer and never lets go.
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The Philadelphia Story (1940)
It’s fun to imagine what it must have been like to see The Philadelphia Story for the first time back in the 40s. Hollywood superstars Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant all star as the film’s three leads, making for one stacked romantic comedy that proves hard to beat still to this day.
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When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner’s seminal late-80s classic has yet to be topped. Every aspect of the film is romantic comedy perfection, nailing both aspects of the genre without ever letting neither romance nor comedy take precedent over the other.
