Whilst the subject of the Second World War does not immediately scream “Romance!”, you could do a lot worse this Valentine’s Day than picking a classic wartime flick as your date movie. However, when flirting with international conflict, one must deploy a high level of caution.
Take Casablanca (1942) for example. When the credits roll, women are left sighing at the film’s romance, whilst I have heard men respond with “What romance? There were Nazis and guns!” This is part of what is so brilliant about Casablanca. For women there’s the glamour and elegance of Ingrid Bergman and also that dilemma – Victor Laszlo or Humphrey Bogart? It is a topic ripe for debate, so much so that it is repeatedly discussed in When Harry Met Sally (1989). For men there’s Bogart at his cynical and embittered best, with memorable quips aplenty, oscillating between “I stick my neck out for nobody” and “Here’s looking at you, kid!” Not only does this wartime classic boast crackling dialogue, stellar leads and an exotic locale, a healthy dose of Paris is thrown in for good measure. This glorious tale of love and war culminates in Bogart’s excellent speech on the runway tarmac at the film’s conclusion, a speech so well-crafted and iconically cool that its inspirational power forms the premise of Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam (1972). Finally, men who well-up slightly during the emotional La Marseillaise bar scene will appear that perfect combination of strong and sensitive, as if they themselves would definitely almost probably have formed a bastion of the resistance had they been alive in 1942.
To show how the combination of love stories and Nazi occupations could instead go completely wrong for you this Valentine’s, let’s consider The Sound of Music (1965). This is a great film but it’s all just a bit too wholesome for a date movie. Not only are there songs, but there are also children and – worst of all – nuns. Compared with Bergman’s Laszlo-Bogart dilemma, the choice between life in a nunnery and becoming the step-mother to seven children is far from thrilling, and let’s not even begin to contrast the stylish Casablanca wardrobe with those habits and the clothes made from curtains. Whilst Christopher Plummer’s character makes his own stand against the occupying force, it is done with far less cool, and men who get a bit emotional during the Edelweiss concert scene will simply seem a bit pathetic.
During the Second World War itself, the most successful film by far was Gone With The Wind (1939). Whilst the United States themselves hadn’t yet joined the war when the film was made, it was so popular when it opened in the Blitz-bombarded London of 1940 that it ran for four years. Ambitious, dramatic and epic, it provided a completely absorbing form of escapism. Set eighty years earlier in America’s South, the main theme, however, is still love in wartime, as Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable’s Rhett Butler battle each other against the backdrop of the Civil War. Most quoted for the immortal line “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”, this happens to be another movie in which making a dress out of curtains forms a plot point. However, with so many dramatic ups and downs, and clocking in at an exhausting 3 hours and 44 minutes long, I wouldn’t make any other plans for the evening.
There is of course a huge pool of Second World War films to choose from, should you decide this year to celebrate V-day by giving a nod to VE day. Choose just as carefully if selecting from more recent offerings. The harrowing opening of Saving Private Ryan (1998) is more gut-wrenching than heart-throbbing, whilst the awful Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001) may actually work in favour for males of tepid character – compared to Nicolas Cage they’ll appear positively charismatic. And please do take heed of the lesson learned by Jerry in an episode of Seinfeld – a heavy make-out session during a showing of Schindler’s List (1993) would be seen by most as morally reprehensible.
