Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

First "Soft" Kiss

Director Nicholas Ray's affecting drama of alienated teenagers told about various misunderstood students in a Los Angeles suburb, including the two main characters who both had self-absorbed, hypocritical, indifferent or unloving parents, but found true love with each other:

• nubile teen Judy (Natalie Wood, in her first adult screen role)
• Jim Stark (James Dean)

Under a moonlit sky, Jim found Judy sitting next to his driveway when he drove up, wrapped tightly in a pink coat to keep warm. She greeted him with an affectionate name: "Hello, Jamie," and he was surprised. She warned: "They'll be looking for you...It doesn't matter to them," referring to the earlier, deadly chicken-run car race. She admitted: "I'm just numb." He leaned forward and confided in her:

"You know something? I woke up this morning, you know? And the sun was shining and it was nice and all that type of stuff. And the first thing - I saw you. And, uh, I said, 'Boy, this is gonna be one terrific day, so you better live it up, because tomorrow you'll be nothin'.' See? And I almost was."

She apologized to him for her earlier behavior that morning and the way she bowed to peer pressure: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I treated you mean today. You shouldn't believe what I say when I'm with the rest of the kids. Nobody, nobody acts sincere."

He kissed her for the first time, sweetly on the right side of her forehead. She asked: "Why did you do that?" He responded: "I felt like it," and she said lovingly: "Your lips are soft." (see further below)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Kiss To Seal Love

Later, after getting to know each other better, Jim (James Dean) and Judy (Natalie Wood) sealed their love with a passionate kiss while spending the night together in the old deserted Los Angeles mansion near the planetarium.

Settling down, Judy opened her heart to Jim in a very intimate sequence, as she laid next to him and confessed why she was falling in love with him. She asked: "Is this what it's like to love somebody?...What kind of a person do you think a girl wants?" She agreed that she wanted "a man" - "but a man who can be gentle and sweet - like you are." To her, Jim was a man who was very different from her irresponsible and unloving father. She added: "Someone who doesn't run away when you want them. Like being Plato's friend when nobody else liked him. That's being strong."

She transferred her love for her father to a new heroic man and ideal partner - Jim. He had the traits of a man who was brave and strong (and wouldn't run away or abandon her), caring, responsible, gentle and sweet with peaceful instincts.

Jim: (responding favorably): "Oh, wow...We're not gonna be lonely anymore. Ever, ever. Not you or me."
Judy: (confiding, as she nuzzled closer) "I love somebody. All the time I've been, I've been looking for someone to love me. And now I love somebody. And it's so easy. Why is it easy now?"
Jim: "I don't know. It is for me, too."
Judy: (confessing her love) "I love you, Jim. I really mean it."
Jim: "Well, I'm glad." (He turned toward her and their lips found each other.)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Awkward Falling to the Floor Kiss

Screenwriter George Axelrod wrote the script, based upon his successful 1952 Broadway play, for this comedy about a middle-aged man who became enamoured of his upstairs neighbor during his hot summer as a city bachelor.

When a sexy, light-headed blonde Girl (Marilyn Monroe) requested, over drinks of champagne, that her NY publisher-neighbor Richard Sherman (co-star Tom Ewell) play some music on the piano, she was startled that he banged out the tune Chopsticks. She exclaimed: "Chopsticks! I can play that too. Shove over."

She joined him on the piano bench, and they sang ("Bum bum bum bum bum bum...") and played together. When they finished, she giggled and gushed: "I don't know about Rachmaninoff, whether it shakes you and quakes you and stuff, but this really gets me...and how!" After another hearty round of the song, she admitted: "I can feel the goose-pimples." She began again, but he stopped. When she asked why, he approached his musical partner with a romantically-snooty Charles Boyer-like accent:

"You know why...Because, because now I'm going to take you in my arms and kiss you, very quickly and very hard."

She jerked backwards, and his lips never quite reached hers as expected. They fell backwards off the piano bench as she blurted out: "Hey! Wait a minute." They were left sprawled on the floor together:

"What happened? I kinda lost track."

Summertime (1955, UK/US) (aka Summer Madness)

Kissing on a Balcony During Fireworks, and Other Romantic Kisses in Venice

In this romantic melodrama by director David Lean, single, repressed, middle-aged Ohio secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) went on a long-awaited 3-week tour of Venice, Italy (shot on location).

There, the spinster met suave Italian antiques-shop owner Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi) at an outdoor cafe and was quickly charmed, although she soon was disillusioned when she suspected that he was producing fake red glass goblets and lying about them. However, she couldn't resist his romantic attentions, succumbed and agreed to have dinner with him on a formal date.

Jane joined Renato to attend a moonlit orchestral concert (playing Rossini's Overture to "The Thieving Magpie") in the Piazza San Marco; during the concert, Jane selected a gardenia as her favorite flower (instead of a rose or carnation) from a flower vendor. Later as they strolled along the canals, Jane accidentally dropped her gardenia into the water (and Renato was unable to reach out and retrieve it for her - a foreshadowing of the film's final scene). After being escorted back to her pensione, Renato kissed Jane - and she was shocked: "Why did you do that?...I don't think I want to see you again," but then accepted more kisses after hurriedly responding: "Oh, but --- I love you" before running off and adding "Tomorrow."

Jane and Renato's First Dinner Date
Dinner and Concert-Going Under a Full Moon in the Piazza	Jane Selecting a White Gardenia From a Flower Vendor
Renato Unable to Retrieve Jane's Dropped Gardenia in Canal	Two Goodnight Kisses Before Parting

The next day in the piazza after a hair salon treatment and clothes shopping (purchasing red shoes and a black evening dress), Jane awaited Renato's arrival for another date at 8 pm at the cafe. She spoke with Renato's "nephew" Vito (Jeremy Spenser) who relayed a message that Renato would be late; during their conversation, she realized that Renato had lied to her earlier, and that Vito was actually his eldest son - it was a stunning revelation to Jane - Renato was a married man! (although separated, and in a loveless marriage).

Soon after, Renato arrived at the pensione and admitted that he was separated from his wife, and that Jane's expectations were all wrong: "You're like a hungry child who was given ravioli to eat. No, you say, I want beefsteak. Young girl, you are hungry. Eat that ravioli" - she responded that she wasn't desperate: " I'm not that hungry"; Jane specified that her trip hadn't turned out the way she thought it would be: ("I come from such a different world and I'm not going to be here long"), but then kissed him.

She refused his invitation for food and drink, and wished to be alone, but then joined Renato for dinner and a night of dancing in various clubs - it was a classic sequence of seduction; he sang "Summertime In Venice" in Italian to her as they danced; afterwards, she was led back to his Venice canal home where from his balcony as they kissed, they watched a brilliant fireworks display (metaphoric for sexual passion - as in Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955)) she dropped one of her new red shoes (a passionate color, and a symbolic transformation of the red goblets!) while following him into the apartment's bedroom for a mid-1950s romantic consummation (off-screen).

At dawn, they walked hand-in-hand together through the empty piazza square; she hailed a gondola, and they waved goodbye to each other as she returned to her pensione; afterwards for a few days, they traveled by speed-boat to the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon ("the island where the rainbow fell"); at sunset they reclined on a meadow by the water and kissed during further romance.

Last Day in Cafe

"I'm leaving today"

Waving Goodbye From a Gondola to Renato

Shortly later back in Venice at a cafe, Jane confessed: "I don't want to forget any of it"; and then next to a Venetian canal, Jane abruptly announced to him that she had decided to return home early and end their affair; she was packed and leaving in just a few hours; she admitted that she was very happy: ("It's the happiest time I've had in my whole life"), but she feared that their relationship would end unhappily if she overstayed her visit: ("Because we have to. Because it's wrong, and because you and l would only end in nothing"); she expressed how she didn't want him to see her off at the train station for her departure: ("Let me go by myself"), but secretly hoped that he would be there; she kissed him and raced off, and then waved to him from her departing gondola.

At the Venice train station's platform as she was about to leave, Renato ran alongside but was unable to reach her with another parting gift (a box holding another white gardenia) and she called out: "Renato!" in the film's ambiguous conclusion.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Unexpected Hotel Room Door Kiss

Director Alfred Hitchcock's mystery romance was set on the Riviera's lush Cote d'Azur - a light-hearted story about a copy-cat cat-burglar and an amorous affair between:

• suspected (yet retired) jewelry thief John "The Cat" Robie/Mr. Conrad Burns (Cary Grant)
• beautiful, quiet and lanky socialite Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly)

Early on in the film, Robie first encountered the pampered, husband-hunting blonde Frances at an opulent Beach Club in Cannes. He saw her a second time over drinks at the Carlton Hotel, when she was wearing a virginal and icy blue gown.

He escorted her back to her hotel suite - and to his complete surprise, she unlocked her door, turned - and then after a warm glance into his eyes, she placed her arm around his shoulder and passionately kissed him. Without a word, she then backed away, and shut her door.

He slowly turned toward the camera with a satisfied smile on his lip-stick stained lips. (see further below)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Picnic Basket Kiss

After becoming acquainted the night before, Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) again ran into Robie (Cary Grant) in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. She quipped: "Should I ask the social director to introduce us?"

Later, she forwardly and assertively asked Robie (Cary Grant): "Do you have time for me now?" She invited him to join her for a picnic basket lunch and a drive in her open convertible sports car ("I have my car and a basket lunch with chicken and beer"). She offered her services as a chauffeur and translator: "I'll give you a wholesale rate and no tipping." He accepted her "generous" terms ("too generous to refuse"). During the drive, she asked:

"I've been waiting all day for you to mention that kiss I gave you last night."

He told her she was a "headstrong girl" and finally admitted: "You're a singular girl...You know what you want. You go out after it, and nothing stops you from getting it...You're a jackpot of admirable character traits...Yes, I will say you do things with dispatch. No wasted preliminaries. Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by the efficiency behind it." She replied: "Well, I'm a great believer of getting down to essentials."

After a tense and swervy car ride to evade a pursuit car, she parked at a "lonely and secluded" picnic spot that she had picked out, overlooking the seaside town, where they shared the contents of her picnic basket placed on the front seat. (He sat on the floorboard with his legs out the open passenger door.) Their conversation was particularly saucy and filled with witty double entendres and sexy innuendo. When she passed him a beer, he asked: "You got an opener?"

In a famous line, Francie made an offer to Robie, referring to the fried chicken (and more) that she had brought on the picnic:

Frances: "Do you want a leg or a breast?"
Robie: You make the choice."

She was enticed by the possibility that he was a famed jewelry thief, and wanted to join him: "The Cat has a new kitten. When do we start?" When he tightly gripped her arm, she told him: "You're leaving fingerprints on my arm." He pulled her down on top of the picnic basket to 'steal' a kiss from her and make her part of the lunch feast. (see further below)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Orgasmic Fireworks Kissing

In the film's famous seduction scene in Frances Stevens' (Grace Kelly) hotel suite at 8pm the same evening as the picnic, she had invited suspected cat burglar John Robie (Cary Grant) to join her and watch fireworks at the casino. The real fireworks exploded through the open doors in the background (over the water in the night sky), as other 'sexual' fireworks burst within the room - she invitingly turned out the lights:

"If you really want to see the fireworks, it's better with the lights out. I have a feeling that tonight, you're going to see one of the Riviera's most fascinating sights. I was talking about the fireworks....The way you looked at my necklace, I didn't know."

The metaphoric dialogue was exceptionally laced with playful sensuality. Acting as an exploitative predator, she enticed him by displaying her white strapless gown and his main weakness - her sparkling, glistening diamond necklace as the ultimate prize (the word 'diamonds' also referred to her bare decolletage and breasts). She asked if he was staring at her valuable necklace that he was frustratingly "unable to touch." "The thrill is right there in front of you, but you can't quite get it." She enticingly stroked her necklace.

She mentioned his casing of the Sanford villa, during their country drive, guessing he was planning a future robbery - and she plotted to help him: "I'll get all the information. We'll do it together. What do you say?"

She then sat alluringly on the couch, and attempted to force Robie into admitting that he was a thief: "Give up, John. Admit who you are." She encouraged him to extol the beauty of both her diamonds -- and her breasts:

"Even in this light, I can tell where your eyes are looking. (He sat down next to her.) Look, John. Hold them. Diamonds. The only thing in the world you can't resist. Then tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. (She kissed his fingers, one by one, and then put her necklace in the palm of his hand.) Ever had a better offer in your whole life? One with everything?"

He responded: "I've never had a crazier one." She purred: "Just as long as you're satisfied." He remarked about her fake diamond necklace: "You know as well as I do. This necklace is imitation," to which she replied: "Well, I'm not." (They kissed.)

The scene climaxed with the white-hot, orgasmic peak of the colorful fireworks exhibition bursting in a vibrant closeup in the night sky, illuminating the intensity of their kiss.