Top 10 Couples in Old Hollywood Movies Who Definitely Broke Up
#10: Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins
“My Fair Lady” (1964)
Henry Higgins may have grown accustomed to Eliza Doolittle’s face. But we can’t imagine that sense of comfort is going to last too long for either of them. The romance between Eliza and Professor Higgins in “My Fair Lady” is slight, to say the least. Higgins essentially spends the whole time complaining about how uncouth Eliza is, and she takes it until she just can’t anymore. And yet, despite everything, Eliza comes back to Higgins at the end. You can argue about whether or not she comes back for romance. But even if it’s just friendship she’s after, we’re willing to bet she’ll tire of Higgins’ attitude in the end.
#9: Jean Harrington & Charles Pike
“The Lady Eve” (1941)
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What do you get when you add a con artist with a snake expert? A match made in heaven! Or maybe not. “The Lady Eve” is one of the greatest screwball comedies of the 1940s, but in the real world, a relationship built on this much trickery would never last. The con artist Jean Harrington meets the rich Charles Pike and falls in love with him for real. Convinced she’s only after the money, Charles scorns her. So Jean pretends to be the very wealthy Lady Eve as a way to get Charles back. Obviously the two end up in love, but with all this lying going around, we’re not sure how long this one will last.
#8: Nina Yakushova & Leon d'Algout
“Ninotchka” (1939)
We understand why Hollywood might want to make an opposites attract style romantic comedy about Soviets in 1939. But in reality, we doubt Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas’s characters would have spared a glance at each other. “Ninotchka” tells the story of the flirty and charming Count Léon d’Algout and the stern Nina Yakushova, better known as “Ninotchka.” The two don’t agree on anything and have completely different values from one another. Yet somehow, they end up together at the end. Apparently, someone being able to make you laugh can change your whole outlook on life.
#7: Steve Sherman & Samantha Blake
“A New Kind of Love” (1963)
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At the beginning of Melville Shavelson’s “A New Kind of Love,” Steve Sherman mistakes Samantha Blake for a man. This, apparently, is a harbinger of love to come. After this initial meeting, the two dislike each other pretty intensely. Then, all of a sudden, Sam decides she wants to completely change her look and try to attract a man. After a makeover, she runs into the womanizing Steve again. This time, he mistakes her for a sex worker! Ah, the wonders of love! Somehow Sam and Steve end up together. But we’re sure their apparent distaste for literally everything about each other will come between them at some point.
#6: Bob Weston & Helen Brown
“Sex and the Single Girl” (1964)
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When it comes to 1960s sex comedies, it doesn’t get much funnier than “Sex and the Single Girl.” But the outlandish romance between Bob Weston and Helen Brown would look much different in real life, no matter how much chemistry Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis have. When Bob’s magazine publishes an article about sex therapist Helen, discrediting her as a virgin, she starts to lose business. Bob decides to get to the bottom of Helen’s sex life by impersonating his best friend with marriage problems and going to her for an appointment. A comedy of errors ensues, and it’s quite a fun one. But in real life, Helen would be out of there in a heartbeat once she found out the truth.
#5: Brad Allen & Jan Morrow
“Pillow Talk” (1959)
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Listen, we’re all a sucker for Rock Hudson’s good looks. But in “Pillow Talk,” even those can’t really save his character. In the film, Hudson and Doris Day play Brad and Jan, two neighbors who share a telephone line. Brad’s constant schmoozing on the phone with different women causes Jan to file a complaint about him. To get back at Jan, Brad masquerades as a Texas rancher and tries to get her to fall in love with him. The only problem? He starts to fall in love with her too. The lies in this one are just a little too obvious to be cute. Even at the end when they get married, they don’t really seem to like each other all that much.
#4: Mr. & Mrs. de Winter
“Rebecca” (1940)
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So you just found out that your new husband might have murdered his first wife. What’s a gal to do? This is exactly the predicament for new Mrs. de Winter finds herself in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca.” When Mrs. de Winter moves in with her new husband, plenty of strange things begin to happen, all centering around Mr. de Winter’s first wife, the now dead Rebecca. When Rebecca’s body is suddenly discovered, Mr. de Winter confesses that Rebecca died during a lovers’ quarrel when she fell and hit her head. But we’re not really left with any satisfying answer as to if that’s true. Whether Mr. de Winter is lying or not, we think possible murder is sure to put this couple on the rocks.
#3: Beauregard Decker & Chérie
“Bus Stop” (1956)
In 1956, a movie like “Bus Stop” could be billed as a romantic comedy and nobody would bat an eye. But looking back at the love story in question today, we think this movie would work better as a horror film. The film follows an annoying cowboy named Beauregard Decker who falls in love with a woman named Chérie that he meets at a nightclub. For the rest of the film, Beauregard makes attempts to force Chérie to marry him, including essentially kidnapping her to take her back to Montana. Finally, Beauregard ends up agreeing to let Chérie go. Somehow, this bare minimum act of decency convinces her to stay. We’re willing to bet Beauregard hasn’t really changed.
#2: T.R. Devlin & Alicia Huberman
“Notorious” (1946)
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Picture this. Your father is a Nazi war criminal. You fall in love with an American agent who you think sees the good in you, despite your reputation as a bit of an, ahem, loose woman. Then, said American agent recruits you to seduce another Nazi, putting you in danger and hating you for it all at the same time. This is what happens between Alicia Huberman and T.R. Devlin in “Notorious.” Now, by the end of the film, Devlin has come to Alicia’s rescue as she’s slowly poisoned to death by said Nazi. He might get her out, and he might profess his love. But we would just LOVE to see the conversation between them after Alicia finally comes to her senses.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Walter Burns & Hildy Johnson, “His Girl Friday” (1940)
They Got Divorced Once, & We Bet They’ll Do It Again
Brick & Maggie Pollitt, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958)
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Peter Warne & Ellie Andrews, “It Happened One Night” (1934)
Lovers on the Run Generally Don’t Stay Together
Klara Novak & Alfred Kralik, “The Shop Around the Corner” (1940)
They Hated Each Other For So Long; Will Their Letter Writing Change That?
Sugar Kane & Joe, “Some Like It Hot” (1959)
Lying About One’s Identity Does Tend to Pose Some Issues
#1: Holly Golightly & Paul Varjak
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961)
A runaway schemer and a writer with a little side hustle. What could go wrong? Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak spend the majority of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” either flirting with or pining after other people and/or lying about who they are to each other. For the majority of the film, Paul has feelings for Holly, but she is all the time scheming about trying to marry someone else. There’s not a lot of tension here. When Paul finally confesses to her at the end of the movie, she even hesitates before running after him. The film is iconic for a lot of reasons, but the further we get away from it, the relationship between Holly and Paul certainly isn’t one of them.
If we missed any of your favorite couples not long for this world, let us know in the comments below.
