The American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the 100 greatest love stories of all time during AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions, a three-hour special television event. Of all the films, CASABLANCA walked in the joint at number one. The 1942 classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman was followed by GONE WITH THE WIND (#2), WEST SIDE STORY (#3), ROMAN HOLIDAY (#4), AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (#5), THE WAY WE WERE (#6), DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (#7), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (#8), LOVE STORY (#9) and CITY LIGHTS (#10).
"Last year, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills counted down America’s most heart-pounding films and focused on how those films viscerally effect an audience," stated AFI Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg. "This year, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions celebrates matters of the heart in a whole different way—more heartbreaks, heartaches and hearts bursting with love, rather than heart attacks and hearts in the throat. It’s a wonderful and broad list of films and I hope this fifth installment of AFI’s centennial celebration of cinema will prompt people to watch these classics, either for the first time or the fortieth."
The 100 most passionate films of all time were selected by a blue-ribbon panel of leaders from the film community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers, etc.), critics, historians and film executives.
And the winners are…