Have you Scene It? Our Favorite Movie Scenes

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It was one of those things that happened by chance--I was watching other people's TedX Talks--since I gave one Saturday, yikes!--and the computer then offers you more stuff to watch, right? It’s diabolical, really, how it wants to KEEP you watching.

Anyway, up came a wedding video of a bride and groom at their wedding reception and the caption was “Bride and Groom Perform Dirty Dancing.“ Now, I ask you. Are you gonna watch that, or not? (Of course, this photo is from the movie.)

So of course I did, and it was adorable, and they were perfect, perfect!--and so proud of themselves and so determined and so cute. And of course, the song always brings tears to my eyes.

And it reminded me not only of that iconic scene, but all the iconic movie scenes that stay with us. “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” in Casablanca. So many in Casablanca --like the singing of La Marseillaise in Rick’s Cafe. (SO many in Casablanca!)

Of course there’s Gone with the Wind, "Frankly, my dear...." with the music swelling as tomorrow is another day.

And --laughing now--”Love means not having to say you’re sorry.”

And one of my dear favorites is in The Devil Wears Prada, when ugly duckling Andi swans in wearing the Chanel boots.

Oh! And in Working Girl, in the end, when the camera pulls out to show Manhattan and the triumphant Melanie Griffith with her newly perfect 80's hair (but as the shot makes us remember, she’s actually just one story in a million) and Carly Simon sings. Oh, so perfect.

How about you,Reds and readers? What movie scenes stay with you?

JENN MCKINLAY: Romancing the Stone: When the hero (can’t remember his name - sorry, Michael Douglas!) tells Joan she was always okay when they have to part company because the cops are coming and he’s got to scoot.

Field of Dreams: James Earl Jones. Any of his speeches from this movie, because, seriously, I would follow James Earl Jones’s voice anywhere, yes, even though he’s also Darth Vader.

Um, any Elvis movie but particularly Blue Hawaii, because...Elvis. Can’t you just see him swinging his hips with his hair falling over his forehead just so? And, finally, on a family note, On Golden Pond: “Chelsea did a backflip!” I so loved Henry and Jane, working out their own father-daughter issues in this movie. Still cry whenever I watch it. 

RHYS BOWEN: I’m a sucker for the scenes that make me cry:

You know like the end of ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE when everyone comes in with money to save Jimmy Stewart, or

CASABLANCA when Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman why she should get on that plane. “We’ll always have Paris.” Isn’t it interesting how not many recent movies come to mind. HIDDEN FIGURES when the boss smashes the Whites Only bathroom sign. That was a keeper. OUT OF AFRICA  is one of my all-time favorite movies. When Robert Redford washes Meryl Streep’s hair--that’s one of the sexiest scenes ever.

Dead Poet’s Society--the Captain my captain scene. But really recent? I can think of movies I enjoyed watching but really haven’t stayed with me. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've mentioned before there are certain movies the kids and I watch over and over again at certain times each year, and those tend to be the ones that have scenes that stick with me. DIE HARD (Christmas Eve), when the bad guys are screaming at each other offscreen because their plans are going awry and Bonnie Bedelia says, "It's John. He's alive. Only John can make someone that crazy."

In THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (Coldest or snowiest day of the winter) we all love the scene where the heroes race away... from the rapidly dropping temperature. "Run!" we say to the screen. "Run from the cold!" Sadly, in real life, you can't outpace subzero weather.

And in INDEPENDENCE DAY (4th of July, of course) there's a lovely bit where President Bill Pullman jumps up on a piece of equipment with a megaphone and delivers a genuinely stirring version of the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V. 

You can tell by this my movie tastes run to the distinctly lowbrow. Give me explosions, car chases or the end of the world, and I'm a happy woman.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I would second most of the above, especially the scenes from Field of Dreams, Casablanca, and It’s a Wonderful Life. Thinking of Kevin Costner, the scene in Bull Durham where he paints Susan Sarandon’s toenails! There are so many scenes in Love Actually; Rowan Atkinson wrapping the necklace in the department store,

the lobster in the school play,

Colin Firth’s manuscript blowing into the lake.

And because I just saw The Holiday over the holidays, and it’s one of my favorite movies, I have too many gems to list.

But the top two are Kate Winslet walking Eli Wallach to the stage at the awards ceremony, and the final New Year’s Eve dance. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know what I mean.

HANK: I've never seen that movie, Debs! (I was worried it would be too sad.) How about you, Reds and readers? Tell us your favorite movie scene. Why do you love it?

(And if you want to see the wedding video, it's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcT-rtTyFYw  )