Top 10 Best Kisses in Movie Musicals
#10: Tracy & Link “Hairspray” (2007)
At the start of “Hairspray,” Link Larkin is the all-American teen heartthrob and Tracy Turnblad is just a girl who believes anything is possible. Their differences threaten to cut their love story short, but all is well at the end. As the entire ensemble dances and revels in a brand new day of racial integration and equality, Tracy and Link finally get their moment together in the spotlight. By this time, the couple has had its fair share of misadventures. Like the last song in a musical, a kiss is often the emotional climax of the story. When those two are combined, like they are in this lively closing number, it can be pure movie musical magic.
#9: Victoria & King “Victor/Victoria” (1982)
This lively musical finds Julie Andrews playing a woman pretending to be a man who is a drag performer. She’s caught the attention of King Marchand, a Chicago gangster who suspects her true identity. Its interesting and nuanced look at gender is nicely encapsulated in the couple’s first kiss. After narrowly avoiding a police raid on a nightclub, the two duck into an alley where King finally gives in to his passion for Victoria. He throws caution to the wind, saying he doesn’t care if she is a man before planting a kiss right on her lips. His reaction when she reveals her true identity is even more surprising.
#8: Audrey & Seymour “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986)
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By the time coworkers Seymour and Audrey admit their feelings for each other, they’ve already broken our hearts. These two people are caught in very different but very desperate circumstances. “Suddenly Seymour” is a favorite among musical lovers because it’s such an explosion of pent-up feeling. It's staged for maximum effect, too. They’re constantly coming together and then pulling apart through the number, seemingly scared to confess their love. That’s what makes their hungry kiss at the end of the song so satisfying. It almost makes you forget that the movie is about a bloodthirsty plant that sings rock n’ roll and devours people whole.
#7: Geneviève & Guy “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964)
Jacques Demy’s classic sung-through musical romance has some of the most beautiful music ever written for a movie. Guy is drafted to serve in the Algerian War, and the two young lovers are forced to say goodbye. They walk solemnly through the streets, singing their devotion. Heart-wrenching strings and stylistic flourishes place the duet out of time and space. Their kiss under a street lamp, in a striking and colorful alleyway, is punctuated by a rousing flourish of strings that pull at your heart. You haven’t seen yearning until you see “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”
#6: Usnavi & Vanessa “In the Heights” (2021)
Live singing on set is something that’s, uh, hit or miss in a movie musical. Sometimes, though, it’s absolutely the right choice. This song, “Champagne,” was recorded live and in one continuous take. The camera follows Usnavi and Vanessa as they wrestle with their love for each other, shifting perspective throughout, without ever making a cut. It makes it all feel dangerous and urgent. When the kiss finally comes, it’s timed perfectly. Vanessa, realizing she should have acted on her feelings sooner, takes a chance and kisses him like their lives depend on it. Even the music stops playing. It’s a stunning moment.
#5: Cinderella & Prince Christopher “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (1997)
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For a lot of 90s kids, Brandy and Paolo Montalban are the quintessential fairy tale couple. It’s not hard to imagine why. After meeting the Prince at the ball, Cinderella is swept off her feet, glass slippers and all. Their duet ends with some sweet cheek pecking action, but nothing can top that amazing kiss. Their chemistry is off the charts in this scene. Even as they spend the song wondering if they’re just a product of each other’s fantasy, it’s pretty clear in their eyes just how they feel that you almost don’t need the kiss. Luckily, we get the kiss too. How can you not swoon? Someone get the smelling salts!
#4: Christian & Satine “Moulin Rouge!” (2001)
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Love stories don’t always end happily, even if the lovers sing and dance their way through it. Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” is a musical melodrama determined to make you believe in love. Christian spends most of the movie trying to convince Satine that love is the only thing that matters. By the end, she believes it - and honestly, so do we. When the curtains close on the show Christian has written for her, Satine succumbs to a fatal case of consumption. As he holds her in his arms, they kiss each other through a veil of tears. Wait, no, those are our tears. It’s an exaggerated, but profoundly moving end to a great musical love story.
#3: Tony & Maria “West Side Story” (1961)
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Tony and Maria really do move as fast as their Shakespearean counterparts. One minute, they’re dancing. The next minute, they’re basically proposing marriage. While their first run-in at the dance is great, it is their romantic nighttime meeting in Maria’s room that really tugs at the heart. At the end of the musical’s most romantic song, “Somewhere,” the two kiss and embrace, silhouetted against a wall of color and light. Though they may be shunned by their families because of it, they really do love each other. The moment is achingly passionate and instantly unforgettable.
#2: Maria & Captain Von Trapp “The Sound of Music” (1965)
“The Sound of Music” is so bright and frothy that it feels like it exists outside of time and space. The central romance between Maria and the Captain is not exactly hotly passionate. Like the movie itself, it’s gentle and warm. Although it’s not just squeaky-clean, family-friendly modesty that makes their silhouetted kiss in the gazebo so perfect. This is exactly the kind of beautiful storybook image the movie needs in order to work. Musicals aren’t about realism. If they were, there’d be at least one Von Trapp kid who would rather stay in their room writing fanfiction than yodel about goatherds. But it’s moments of beauty like the now iconic gazebo kiss that make it all feel real to us. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Danny & Sandy, “Grease” (1978) Summer Loving on the Beach Sky & Sarah, “Guys and Dolls” (1955) Nice Catch, Marlon Brando Cigarette Trick, “The Pirate” (1948) Blowing Smoke in Someone’s Face Never Looked So Smooth Fanny & Nick, “Funny Girl” (1968) A Tearful Farewell on the Docks Bob & Betty, “White Christmas” (1954) Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney Kiss & Croon
#1: Donald & Kathy “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)
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As far as movie musical kisses go, this is a strangely meta one. As the audience, we’re watching Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds act out the fantasy the movies sell both in the real world and in the “Singin’ in the Rain” universe. In it, they play movie actors trying to navigate a changing Hollywood during the early sound era. When they finally have their moment in the sun, sharing a long, triumphant kiss in front of the poster for their new movie, everything is at a ten. The light is so bright it’s blinding. The chorus is singing so high and clear it sounds otherworldly. Everything is as perfect as only the ending of a classic Hollywood musical can be.
