So what makes movie romances truly romantic?

By GREG DIXON

Chick flicks they call them. Mushy movies that I and every other bloke in the universe have been dragged along to - or rented down the local video store - because she's not interested in watching Arnie or Bruce blasting Johnny Badguy for an hour and a half.

How you grumble. How you moan. And so you finally sit down and she cuddles up, you eat popcorn and ... well, you find that they're not so bad after all. Especially if you fancy the female lead.

With Valentine's Day set to roll around on Thursday, it's as likely as not that she - or maybe even he - will want to head to the local cineplex (after a flash meal with a present, of course) to watch something that will, shall we say, call forth romantic thoughts.

This year's V-Day crop is little on the average side, however. The Shipping News might do, maybe Iris if you're looking for something wordy, possibly Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale because they make such a cute couple, or perhaps Beauty And The Beast at Imax for something more old-fashioned - which may be the point.

Romance ain't what it used to be on the big screen. Gone are the days when movie amour was played above the neck. Mostly these days there's too much of the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am - certainly our leading romance writer thinks so.

"These days, instead of having to think up incredibly witty things to say to each other, the hero and heroine jump straight into bed," says Mills And Boon writer Susan Potter.

"There's a romantic scene and a lot of string music and that's a substitute for talking to each other. Talking to each other is very romantic. And when you think back to the old movies - where they weren't allowed to show even husbands and wives in a double bed together - they had to come with ways and witty conversations between a man and a women that substituted for sex. So you had a sexual tension that extended right through the movie.

"These days often, if the man and the women fall into bed together early in the movie, they've removed a certain element of anticipation for the audience."

The key element to a good romantic movie, Potter believes, is that the couple end up together in a way in which you believe they're going to be together for eternity. Which rules out Sid And Nancy. Or does it?

In any case, romance is what works for you. We asked 10 people, including Potter, to tells us their favourite romantic film, favourite onscreen kiss and favourite onscreen couple of all time ...

Susan Potter

Film: I think the original Scarlet Pimpernel (1935) with Leslie Howard is the most romantic ... but Pretty Woman is also the epitome of the romantic era, with a mature man, which is more romantic as far as I'm concerned than a teenage hero. And also it's just a very charming story and, although you can probably drive holes through the plot and I do have a bit of a problem with a prostitute as heroine, the whole thing works so beautifully. It has such warmth, charm and humour. I find humour romantic, too.

Kiss: It's in North By Northwest. Every time I see that kiss I think, 'My god that's pretty intense for when it was made'. [Carey Grant and Eva Marie Saint] managed to communicate so much passion and intensity in that kiss. I would also say Pretty Woman, too. One of the things she says to him is that she doesn't kiss on the mouth, and when they do actually kiss, you realise it's because it's getting emotional, it's not just a transaction.

Couple: Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I'm not so charmed by Runaway Bride. But the chemistry between them works.

Temuera Morrison

Film: Barb Wire starring Pamela Anderson and Temuera Morrison.

Kiss: I haven't done a good one lately, mate. They're looking a bit wooden. It takes chemistry. Probably [my favourite is] that one with Cindy Crawford and William Baldwin - Fair Game. She looked pretty good, it was the best bit of acting she did in that movie. It was a bad film, a very, very bad film. It was Cindy Crawford's acting debut, but she did the kissing scene very well.

Couple: I think the most romantic couple I've seen in a movie is that Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and there's a beautiful lady [Katherine Ross] in there and they were riding around on a bike. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head is playing and he's riding around on a bike with that lovely lady.

Mary Lambie

Film: Well I'm going to sound really pedestrian, but I thought Pretty Woman was just fantastic. I went to see it by myself about 10 years ago in the theatre in Wanganui. I remember being absolutely besotted, I thought, 'What a grand tale.' Maybe it was just a mood thing. Maybe I'd just had enough of being in Wanganui.

Kiss: I thought Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews had some real chemistry going on in a gazebo in The Sound Of Music. That kiss has always been really significant because I thought there were real bells and whistles going off at the time. But I have since learned, now that I have the DVD, that was about the 30th take of that particular scene and they just laughed, the two of them, all the way through it - which I found really surprising because, for me, there was real energy in it. You know how when some people pash on the big screen and it just leaves everybody flat? Well, not Julie and Christopher.

Couple: Well, not Spew Grant, he's revolting, and that Liz Hurley thing is worse. You probably lean more towards people you're romantically inclined towards. Probably Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The frocks are gorgeous and the style is gorgeous and their grace and charm.

Bernice Mene

Film: Dirty Dancing because I liked the music. It had Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in it. It came out at that stage when I was, like, 12 years old and your hormones are just starting to kick in.

Kiss: I kinda close my eyes when that happens. That's when it gets a bit soppy for me, although the Pretty Woman kiss was pretty good.

Couple: Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller in There's Something About Mary. It was just sooo funny and it had a happy ending.

Lynda Topp

Film: Two movies that were pretty romantic - When Night Is Falling, it was Canadian movie and basically a lesbian love story with a Christian academic falling in love with a circus performer. And Desert Hearts, that was really the first big one. It was a bit of groundbreaker. They're pretty romantic for Valentine's Day. Camp Mother's favourite is Gone With The Wind and Ken's is Babe. I've spoken to Camp Leader and she thinks that Peewee's Big Adventure [is romantic], he's in love with his bike. And she loves any movie that's got a horse in it.

Kiss: There have been many same-sex kisses on screen and Greta Garbo, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Sharon Stone, Elle Macpherson, Kate Winslet, Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren and Drew Barrymore have been the best [laughs]. Those have been the sexiest and the most romantic.

Couple: When Night Is Falling was pretty major. Not only was it a lesbian love movie, but both of the women were pretty good-looking.

Bill English

Film: There's Something About Mary [English's wife is called Mary].

Kiss: Our wedding video [the one without Cameron Diaz in it, one assumes].

Couple: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Karen Walker

Film: Harold And Maude [a black comedy about the relationship between a 20-year-old and a swinging 79-year-old] for everything.

Kiss: The one in Harold And Maude. I can't really remember it, it's just unexpected and then [it cuts] to the next morning and they're in bed and she's lighting up a cigarette.

Couple: Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon in Harold And Maude. It was a cult hit and not many people saw it. It was so unexpected because of the May-December relationship. And it really made you want to listen to all your old Cat Stevens' records again.

Paul Holmes

Film: The English Patient. I loved the colours, I loved the settings from another world, I loved the music. I loved the vastness of that romance. It was beautifully understated. I saw it at a particular time in my life. I think Casablanca is one of the great romantic films, it's noble. Strictly Ballroom is hard to beat for romanticism, it's romance triumphing against all the odds, isn't it?

Kiss: Well I think anything Nicole Kidman does is pretty wonderful. You'd go a long way to beat the impact of Clark Gable carrying Vivien Leigh up the stairs in Gone With The Wind. That was pretty wrenching.

Couple: Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.

Mike King

Film: Once Were Warriors. It's got a nice soppy ending and the girl wins.

Kiss: I think it was ... oh ... ah Debbie Does Dallas.

Couple: The two people in The Princess Bride [Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin]. It was a great movie.

Petra Bagust

Film: The Princess Bride. It's one of the most popular movies in the world, according to me. It's romantic comedy, all about true love. There is just some magical fairytale quality to it, it's got excellent cameos and people being tortured. You can't really say Dangerous Liaisons, it's all about deception and I'm not interested in deception.

Kiss: I feel like it's lingering on the edge of my memory, but it's one of those kisses ... the Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan one in The Thomas Crown Affair. She's desperately unhappy and then it turns out he's on the plane behind her. Of course. It's the amount of emotion that makes it crackle, not the depth of the kiss but the depth of the longing, the desperation.

Couple: Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in Pride And Prejudice. It's just the unrequited love. They're so desperately, in the end, keen on each other.