This article was originally written for the TCM Summer Romance programming in the TCM Now Playing newsletter in June 2025.
Fall head over heels with summer romance movies, as TCM host Alicia Malone curates some of the best screen romances that will get you swooning every Sunday at noon in June.
“It's true we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman.” — Gilda in Design for Living
Take Nöel Coward’s risqué story of a ménage à trois and add the “Lubitsch Touch” and you get Design for Living (1933). This unconventional story stars Fredric March and Gary Cooper as Tom and George, a playwright and artist, respectively, who test their friendship when they both enter a romantic relationship with commercial artist Gilda, played by Miriam Hopkins. Gilda can’t decide between the two men, so the three enter a gentleman’s agreement that they will live as a threesome but sex is out of the question. Edward Everett Horton adds some humor as Gilda’s tiresome boss who spouts morality and pursues Gilda for himself. The backdrop of Paris sets the stage for the contrasting lifestyles of cash-strapped bohemians and well-to-do socialites.
Once the rights were secured at Paramount, director Ernst Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht completely transformed Nöel Coward’s play, leaving all but one line of the original: "For the good of our immortal souls!” Lubitsch knew the dialogue-driven play would need to be reformatted for the screen. Keeping the wit and banter, Lubitsch added visual cues and props to convey ideas that could be shown rather than explained. Lubitsch’s one and only pick for his leading lady was Miriam Hopkins, who is magnificent playing an independent woman who not only guides the unconventional relationship but also becomes the steward of the men’s artistic careers.
It was a small miracle the film was ever made considering its taboo subject matter. Censor Joseph Breen declared it “a story of gross sexual irregularity.” Timing was on the production’s side as it was made before the enforcement of the Hays Code. Despite not performing well at the box office, Design for Living has aged well and has become a popular film among modern pre-Code enthusiasts.
“From the moment you looked at me, I had an idea you had an idea.” — Eve in Midnight
Paramount returned to “Gay Paree” in 1939 with the frothy romantic comedy Midnight. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film stars Claudette Colbert as Eve Peabody, a down-on-her-luck showgirl who finds herself penniless in Paris. Donning an elegant-looking silver dress, she manages to infiltrate a high society party and poses as Hungarian royalty. Eve has just escaped the attention of dashing taxi driver Tibor (Don Ameche), who promises her romance but no money. The cheeky Georges Flammarion (John Barrymore) makes a beau geste when he catches on to Eve’s real identity and decides to be her fairy godfather, providing her with the backstory and funds to continue her ruse. The title Midnight is a nod to the film’s Cinderella theme.
Midnight is an elegant romantic comedy made all the more enjoyable with a playful script by writing duo Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. When Paramount tasked Leisen with the project, he made changes to the script that upset Wilder to the point that he decided moving forward he was going to direct his own scripts. Wilder clashed with Leisen but ultimately felt that the movie was faithful to his vision. The impish Colbert is charming in this picture. She often shined in comedies in which she reacts to chaos rather than being the instigator. Colbert balances well along co-star Mary Astor, who plays an icy socialite.
“Psychologically, I'm very confused... But personally, I don't feel bad at all.” — Klara in The Shop Around the Corner
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) is a cherished holiday classic, and it has become an important film in the genre of romantic comedies. Directed by Lubitsch, the film stars Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart as Klara and Alfred. He is a shop clerk at a small leather goods store. Looking to connect with someone on a deeper level, he answers an ad in the newspaper: “modern girl wishes to correspond on cultural subjects anonymously with intelligent, sympathetic, young man.” He falls for his new pen pal without ever meeting her. Little does he know, Klara, the annoying new shop clerk and his competition for his boss Hugo Matuschek’s (Frank Morgan) approval, is actually his beloved.
Based on the play “Parfumerie” by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, The Shop Around the Corner takes a whimsical approach to the enemies-to-lovers trope. It offers a romanticized look at shop life and has the same feel good sensibility as another James Stewart film, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Sullavan and Stewart play their relationship off of each other beautifully while subtly conveying the story’s main conflict of perception versus reality.
Lubitsch was concerned that a story about the working class would be a difficult sell. He decided that having a well-known actress like Sullavan would help carry the picture. Samson Raphaelson’s script maintains the play’s pre-WWII Budapest setting and gives the story less sophistication and more delicacy and nuance. The Shop Around the Corner was remade as the MGM musical In the Good Old Summertime (1949) starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. Perhaps its most famous influence was on the Nora Ephron remake You’ve Got Mail (1998) with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, which brings the story to the nascent digital age.
“I don't want to be worshipped. I want to be loved.” — Tracy in The Philadelphia Story
It’s the movie that made Hollywood fall back in love with Katharine Hepburn. The fast-talking screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940) was the perfect comeback vehicle for Hepburn. Philip Barry wrote his play with Hepburn in mind and cast her in the Broadway production. Howard Hughes bought the play’s film rights so Hepburn could in turn sell it to her home studio MGM. Louis B. Mayer bought the rights agreeing to the stipulation that Hepburn would star in the production. And Hepburn was flanked by two of the best leading men in the business: Cary Grant and James Stewart.
Set in Philadelphia in the summertime, the film follows Tracy Lord (Hepburn) as she prepares for her wedding to George (John Howard), a fuddy-duddy who adores Tracy but is no competition for the two other men in her life. Grant plays C.K. Dexter Haven, Tracy’s ex-husband who comes to visit and cause a bit of chaos. Stewart plays Mike Connor, the intrepid journalist covering this high society wedding with his girl Friday, Elizabeth (Ruth Hussey). The clash of big personalities, the romantic foils, Virginia Weidler’s interludes and Hepburn’s hijinks with Grant and Stewart add to the film’s screwball fun.
Hepburn personally selected George Cukor to direct The Philadelphia Story. Cukor had directed Hepburn in another screwball classic, Holiday (1938), and the two would ultimately collaborate on eight films together. MGM returned to the story years later with a lavish VistaVision and Technicolor musical High Society (1956) starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and set in glamorous Newport, Rhode Island.
"If you can paint, I can walk. Anything can happen, right?” — Terry in An Affair to Remember
When a shipboard flirtation turns into a deep emotional connection, singer Terry (Deborah Kerr) and artist Nickie (Cary Grant) decide to put their current relationships behind them to embrace a new future for themselves. However, a terrible accident and misunderstanding ultimately drive them apart, and the audience is soon caught up in a tidal wave of emotions.
Kerr and Grant star in the unforgettable romance that blends light screwball comedy with sweeping melodrama. It raises the stakes by creating incredible odds for the couple. The film’s romanticism is further heightened by various elements, including an elegant summer cruise, a quiet escape to the South of France and a promise to meet at the Empire State Building, which Terry refers to as “the nearest thing to heaven we have in New York.”
The story was inspired by director Leo McCarey’s ocean voyage from Europe to the U.S. Seeing the Statue of Liberty, McCarey said to his wife, "Suppose you and I were talking to each other when the boat sailed from England, and we got to know each other on the trip. We felt ourselves inseparable. By the time the trip was over, we were madly in love with each other, but by the time the boat docked, we have found out that each is obligated to somebody else." McCarey turned this into Love Affair (1939) starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Years later while at Twentieth Century-Fox, McCarey returned to the story but had to change the title to An Affair to Remember as RKO still held the rights to the original title. The new title became the name of the film’s theme song with lyrics written by McCarey and Harold Adamson, music by Harry Warren and performed by Vic Damone.
An Affair to Remember has gone on to enjoy a legacy as one of the most beloved romantic movies. It was majorly influential to Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and was remade the following year as Love Affair (1994). Deborah Kerr was often approached by fans of the film much to her delight. The film’s legacy followed Cary Grant to the end of his screen acting career with his swan song Walk, Don’t Run (1966), in which he pays tribute to the film by singing the memorable theme song.
