It has been almost a year since I started my movie blog, Just Chick Flicks. Of all the movie genres’ why do I write about ‘just chick flicks’? I love all types of movies; science fiction, mysteries, action. I even like Kung Fu/Martial Arts movies, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers. I will watch almost anything, except horror.
When I think of chick flicks, I think not only of today’s quirky love stories and romantic comedies, but about the movies that old Hollywood moguls used to call “women’s movies“. They were talking about movies that appealed specifically to women. These movies touched my emotions, made me laugh, inspired me and sometimes, they even made me cry. They were not always love stories, but there was always a strong female lead.
Great actresses like Kathryn Hepburn, Barbara Stanwick, Bette Davis and Judy Holliday were the stars who played women who could handle their business. They wanted love, but on their own terms. These movies were made in the 1930′s, 40′s and 50′s and they are CLASSICS. Many of these movies, like Stella Dallas and The Women have even been remade to appeal to our modern tastes, but the originals are still the best. Let’s consider these your basic education in Chick Flicks 101.
Every Monday for the next few weeks I will feature my favorite Classic Chick Flicks. If you have not signed up to receive updates from Just Chick Flicks, you better do it today. You don’t want to miss anything.
This is my list of 25 Essential Classic Chick Flicks. They are not in any particular order, but if you haven’t seen all of these movie, you run out to your local video store and rent them. These are essential viewing for all Chick Flick fans.
The Essentials
1. The Philadelphia Story (1940) Starring my favorite actress, the great Kathryn Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant.
2. Sabrina (1954) Starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden.
3. All About Eve (1950) Starring Bette Davis, Eve Arden and featuring a cameo role of a young blond starlet who would later become famous as Marilyn Monroe.
4. Gone With The Wind (1939) Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel of the Civil War comes to the screen with Vivian Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havalland and Hattie McDaniel.
5. Jezebel (1938) Bette Davis and Henry Fonda star in this Civil War drama.
6. Adam’s Rib (1949) Kathryn Hepburn and Spencer Tracy are a great as a pair of married lawyers on opposite sides of the courtroom. The movie also features the wonderful Judy Holliday.
7. Woman of the Year (1942) This time Kathryn Hepburn and Spencer Tracy deal with the problems of marriage and competing careers.
8. African Queen (1951) Humphrey Bogart and Kathryn Hepburn star in this classic adventure, directed by John Huston.
9. The Women (1939) Too many actresses to name and not a male in sight.
10. Roman Holiday (1953) Audrey Hepburn is a runaway princess on the loose in Rome with Gregory Peck as her guide.
11. Dark Victory/Now Voyager (1939/1942) These two Bette Davis movies are a tie. I couldn’t decide which one to include, so I added them both to the list.
12. Stella Dallas (1937) Barbara Stanwick is wonderful in this tear-jerker about a mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice for her daughter’s happiness.
13. Mildred Pierce (1949) Joan Crawford plays the hardworking mother of the most ungrateful daughter ever.
14. The Shop Around The Corner (1940) Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan star as co-workers who a have a love hate relationship, without knowing that they are pen pals.
15. Ball of Fire (1941) A wise-cracking Barbara Stanwick causes quite a stir when she hides out from her mob boyfriend in a house full of old college professors.
16. Double Indemnity (1944) Barbara Stanwick works her feminine wiles on insurance adjuster, Fred McMurray to convince him to murder her husband for the insurance money.
17. The Rainmaker (1956) Kathryn Hepburn stars as a ‘spinster’ (I hate that word) who falls for a handsome con man, played by Burt Lancaster. It has one of my favorite movie lines: “you got to get a man the way a man gets got!”
18. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1954) Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Nuff said!
20. Wuthering Heights (1939) Based on Emily Bronte’s novel and starring Lawrence Olivier and Merle Oberon as the tragic lovers, Heathcliff and Kathy.
21. Jane Eyre (1944) Joan Fontaine and Orson Wells star in this film version of Charlotte Bronte’s novel.
22. Pride & Prejudice There have been many versions of the Jane Austin novel. If I have to pick one, the Keira Knightly version is my favorite.
23. Rebecca (1940) Daphne Du Maurier’s chick lit novel comes to life with the brooding Lawrence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
24. It Happened One Night (1934) Clark Gable at his best with Claudette Colbert this classic romantic comedy about a reporter on the trailer of a runway socialite.
25. Born Yesterday (1950 ) Broderick Crawford is a tycoon who hires William Holden to teach his ‘dumb blond’ girlfriend some class.
This is not every Classic Chick Flick. I am sure I have left some of your favorites off the list. If so, leave a comment. I would love to know what your favorite Classic Chick Flicks are.
About Just Chick Flicks
Just Chick Flicks is a site dedicated to movies for and about women. Just Chick Flicks explores, discusses and reviews the movies that women love. Everything from classic movies to new releases.
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Twitter: @clarabela
What a great article and a great list of movies! Not only does it have very interesting info, but with the short synopsis of the movies I can start checking off the ones I want to see first. I’ve always wanted to see more Classics but felt a little overwhelmed at the idea of sorting them all out. Thanks Clarabela!
“His Girl Friday” is another movie with a strong female role and probably my favorite actor of all time, Cary Grant.
“It Happened One Night” is hysterical; even my 15- and 21- year old sons love it.
“Pride and Prejudice” – the Keira Knightley version is definitely the best.
I love Bette Davis; do NOT like Katherine Hepburn. Ever.
And Audrey Hepburn. She was THE classic lady of her time. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was so sweet with fabulous music by Henry Mancini (it’s nothing like the book though). I like the version of “Sabrina” with her and Bogart so much more than the modernized version with Harrison Ford. It doesn’t even touch Bogart and Hepburn.
Those truly were the days!
One more: could be considered a chick flick by these standards, and that would be “The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer” with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t wait another minute. It is wonderful. (“You remind me of a man…” – have to see the movie to get it!)
thanks for the reminder. I’ve been meaning to watch The Shop Around The Corner. Good list!
does anyone know the name of an old movie 1939? where a young women is on her way to meet her fiance on a boat her old suitor offers to give her a ride, she misses the boat, but meets up with the fiance years later and they begin a affair that lasts for years. a real tearjerker