Romantic Classics | The Best Black and White Romance Movies
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The Best Black and White Romance Movies including Romantic Film Noirs, Romantic Comedies, Romantic Dramas, and Romantic Suspense.
This post is all about the Best Black and White Romance Movies
No need to wait for valentine’s day to binge on romantic movies.
A good love story is always in season, making these black and white films good for any time of the year.
Modern audiences might find these classics too slow, or too much dialoge, but if you love classic films, that’s what you’re here for. (and maybe for the killer fashion as well)
What kind of black and white romance movie are you looking for?
Do you prefer romantic comedies?
Jump to the black and white Romantic Comedies section.
Do you love great film noir, but love it when they also have a good romance? (My personal favorite)
Jump to our Black and white Romantic film noirs.
We also created categories for romantic dramas, and romantic suspense, so there should be something for everyone.
All categories:
Black and white Romantic Comedies
Black and white Romantic Film Noirs
Best Black and White Romantic Film noirs
Laura (1944)
Directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb
This classic film noir features a high society girl who is thought dead, and the detective that falls in love with her while solving her murder case.
Laura features great chemistry between Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, witty dialogue from Clifton Webb’s character and of course, stunning 1940s fashion worn by Gene Tierney.
Laura was nominated for 5 Academy awards:
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Won the academy award for best cinematography for Joseph LaShelle.
For more on Gene Tierney’s fashion in Laura:
Dark passage (1947)
Directed by Delmer Daves, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Bruce Bennett
A woman helps an escaped convict she believes innocent.
Great chemistry between the two leads (can’t beat Bogie and Bacall together) combined with a good suspense story.
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Walter Brennan
A war flick where a man helps the french resistance while falling in love with a singer.
Another Bogie and Bacall romance, the movie that started it all!
Out of the Past (1947)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas
A man tries to escape his past, but his secret catches up to him.
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Directed by Orson Welles and starring Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth and Everett Sloane
A man falls for a married femme fatale (making an awkward love triangle) and joins a yachting cruise, not realizing he is the fall guy for a murder.
Fun facts:
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Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth were married for a short time.
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Woody Allen re-created the famous mirror scene in his movie Manhattan Murder Mystery.
The Big Sleep (1946)
Directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and John Ridgely
A Philip Marlowe detective story. Marlowe is hired for a job by a wealthy family. Both daughters have their eyes on him as a complex case unfolds.
Good luck keeping up with the plot on this one!
Gilda (1946)
Directed by Charles Vidor and starring Glen Ford and Rita Hayworth
A man hired to run a casino discovers that his boss’s new wife is his ex-girlfriend, and sparks begin to fly.
Snappy dialogue, sexy 1940s fashion, and chemistry between the two leads make this one a classic romantic film noir.
For more film noir movies:
Best Black and White Romantic comedies
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Charles Ruggles
A geeky paleontologist tries to secure money for his museum while getting involved with an heiress and her pet jaguar.
Watch it for the late 30s fashion, screwball comedy, lots of laughs and romance.
If you’re a fan of Cary Grant movies, you might also like:
Some Like it Hot (1959)
Directed by Billy Wilder, Starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis
On the run after witnessing a murder, two musicians dress as females to join an all-girl band as their cover.
This hilarious film was nominated for 6 academy awards
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Won an academy award for Orry-Kelly for best costume design
It Happened One Night (1934)
Directed by Frank Capra, starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert and Walter Connolly
An heiress and a reporter get stranded from a their bus.
1930s fashion, witty dialogue and great chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.
It Happened One Night won a whopping 5 Academy Awards:
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Best picture 1935
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Best actor for Clark Gable
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Best actress for Claudette Colbert
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Best director to Frank Capra
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Best writing to Robert Riskin
The Lady Eve (1941)
Directed by Preston Sturges and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, and Charles Coburn
A classy con artist falls in love with her mark, a shy heir.
Barbara Stanwyck plays her usual role of a tough chic, playing well off of Henry Fonda’s shy character.
Stunning fashion designed by Edith Head.
Ball of Fire (1941)
Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka
A nightclub singer on the run takes refuge with a group of professors working on a new encyclopedia.
Nominated for 4 oscars including best actress for Barbara Stanwyck
For more Barbara Stanwyck movie recommendations:
Adams Rib (1949)
Directed by George Cukor, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
A husband and wife end up as opposing lawyers on the opposite sides of a violent case.
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Directed by Preston Sturges, starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, and Mary Astor
A woman tries to divorce her husband and heads to palm beach with another man, but the husband has other ideas and follows her down, creating a love triangle.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart
A romantic comedy about a wealthy woman’s ex-husband and a reporter who show up before her marriage, and the drama begins.
This classic film was remade into High Society with Grace Kelly playing the part of Tracy Lord
Costumes for Katharine Hepburn were designed by Adrian, a legendary costume designer in Old Hollywood.
The Philadelphia story was nominated for 6 oscars:
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Won best actor for James Stewart
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Won the 1941 best writing award for Donald Ogden Steward
His Girl Friday (1940)
Directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy
A hilarious story about a newspaper reporter who is delayed from getting remarried by her newspaper editor boss (who happens to be her ex-husband) Watch it for snappy dialogue between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
Midnight (1939)
Directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, and John Barrymore
An underrated witty classic with the hilarious Don Ameche.
If you love classic comedies, you might also like:
27 Best Comedy Movies 1940s – Find Your New Favorite Classic!
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer (1947)
Directed by Irving Reis and starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple
A high school girl and her older sister who is a judge, fall for the same man in this screwball comedy.
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer won the oscar in 1948 for best writing for Sidney Sheldon
For more Myrna Loy movies you might like:
I Love You Again (1940)
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Frank McHugh
A screwball comedy about a boring businessman who wakes up from amnesia to discover he’s a con artist. His wife who is about to divorce him decides he might not be so boring after all.
A great comedic role by William Powell.
William Powell and Myrna Loy were often teamed up together in old movies, and starred in the popular Thin Man Movies together.
Best Black and White Romantic dramas
Sabrina (1954)
Directed by Billy Wilder, Starring Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn
A brother trying to break up his playboy brother’s romance with the daughter of the family chauffeur, ends up falling in love with her himself.
Stunning 1950s fashion designed by Edith head and Givenchy.
Audrey Hepburn’s wardrobe was classic and chic and put her in the spotlight as a fashion icon.
This classic love story was later remade with Harrison Ford.
Sabrina was nominated for 6 academy awards:
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Edith Head won the oscar for best costume design for this movie in 1955, but there is some debate over whether she or Givenchy designed the costumes
Love Audrey Hepburn films?
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Margarat Sullavan, James Stewart, and Frank Morgan
Two anonymous pen pals fall in love with each other, not realizing they can’t stand each other in real life.
This was remade into You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Casablanca (1942)
Directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid
An American cafe owner in Casablanca is surprised by his old flame Ilsa and her husband. He has to decide whether to help her husband fight the Nazis or if he would rather have his old flame back.
Casablanca was nominated for 8 oscars, and won 3:
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Best picture 1944
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Best director for Michael Curtiz
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Best screenplay for Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Roman Holiday (1953)
Directed by William Wyler and starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn and Eddie Albert
A Princess escapes from her life and explores life as a normal person with an American reporter in Rome.
Nominated for 10 oscars, won 3:
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Best actress for Audrey Hepburn
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Best writing for Dalton Trumbo
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Best Costume design, again for Edith Head
Camille (1936)
Directed by George Cukor, starring Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionell Barrymore
A woman must choose between a wealthy baron and a young man who loves her.
The movie Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman is supposedly inspired by this story.
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone
A young spanish aristocrat masquerades as bandit by night in order to help overthrow a corrupt ruler.
The Mark of Zorro won an academy award for best music for Alfred Newman.
This film was later remade into the Mask of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Best Black and White Romantic Suspense
Notorious (1946)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains
A romantic thriller about a woman who is recruited to become an American spy, falls in love with another agent, but then marries a Nazi in order to gain intelligence.
For more Cary Grant Hitchcock movies, you might like:
Rebecca (1940)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and George Sanders
A shy young woman marries a wealthy man but is haunted by his first wife’s presence in the house and the circumstances around her mysterious death.
Rebeccas was recently remade into the netflix movie, if you’d like to some stunning fashions in color.
Rebecca won 2 Academy Awards:
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Best picture in 1941
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Best cinematography, black-and-white 1941 for George Barnes
Suspicion (1941)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine
A shy heiress goes through emotional turmoil when she suspects the man she married of trying to murder her.
Joan Fontaine wone the Academy Award for best actress for her role in Suspicion.
Spellbound (1945)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck and Michael Chekhov
A psychiatrist falls in love with an amnesia patient who is accused of murder.
Spellbound won the oscar in 1946 for best music for Miklos Rozsa
For more on Ingrid Bergman’s fashion in Spellbound:
Spellbound Ingrid Bergman (1945) – Her Beautiful 1940s Fashion
This post was all about the best black and white romance movies
What are your favorite black and white romance movies?
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15 Greatest Rita Hayworth Movies & Films, Ranked
