What makes a memorable screen kiss? Is it the passion, the circumstances, the buildup, the dialogue, the unpredictability, the awkwardness, the sexiness or eroticism, the cinematography, the unique quality...? Although any list of the best, most romantic, and most indelible kisses through film history is difficult to create, there are a number of kissing scenes in movies that are unforgettable and deserve special mention. Most of these scenes come from vintage, classic Hollywood films, rather than more recent films, and even stretch back to the scandalous The Kiss (1896)!

Other discussions of notable romantic or sexual scenes (with more examples of great kissing) may be found elsewhere in this site: Romance Films Genre, or Erotic/Sexual Films Genre, or the History of Sex in Cinema.

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.