Great Movies to Bead by....Forbidden Love Edition

Persuasion (1995)

I love most of the Jane Austen remakes from this era, but this one holds a special place in my heart. Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) is both adorable and endearing. When placed next to her ridiculous sisters, pompous father, and grasping extended relatives, she's a complete saint!

Her love for Captain Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds) runs long and deep even though her family had deemed it an unsuitable match 10+ years ago. When the Captain moves back to the area after a long and successful stint at sea, her world is turned upside down.

Does he still lover her? Will her family let them marry now that he's rich? She's much too modest to ask, and practically elopes in the end.

My favorite quote of the movie? "If I may, so long as the woman you love lives, and lives for you, all the privilege I claim for my own sex, and it is not a very enviable one - you need not covet it, is that of loving longest when all hope is gone." Anne Elliot.

Dirty Dancing (1987)

This movie will always be on my list of romantic movies to watch. Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) is a sexy dance instructor from the wrong side of the tracks who longs to shake things up a bit on the dance florr, and Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Jennifer Grey), the younger daughter of a doctor who is expected to go to college to join the peace corp. The two meet at a resort where he's teaching the Mambo to the rich crowd. The sparks fly, when she offers to fill in for a dancer who's gotten herself into some 'trouble' with a guy, but they're shut down when her father finds out.

I love the story, I love the dancing, and who can forget THE line 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner'? I know I never will. There's a surprising lack of 'dirty' dancing in the movie considering its namesake, but we'll forgive that in favor of the water scene ;)

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

After the death of her beloved father, Danielle De Barbarac (Drew Barrymore) becomes a servant in her own home, waiting on her step-mother, the Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent (Anjelica Houston) and step-sisters (Melanie Lynskey and Megan Dodds) hand and foot. Years pass, and the estate which once afforded a high living, has now been reduced to a practically fallow state thanks to ill-management on the part of the Stepmother. When one of the other servants gets sold off to pay for a debt, Danielle 'borrows' her step-sisters' clothing and sets off to save him. When Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) happens upon her attempt to barter for the servant, she's caught in a lie that leads to a whole string of lies that she can't untangle. The big problem? The Prince is looking for a wife, and she's at the top of the list, as long as the truth doesn't come out.

Leonardo DaVinci makes an appearance as a guest of the Prince, and a band of Gypsies rounds out the antics when they're invited to the ball.

Anjelica Houston plays a fabulous villainess, and Drew Barrymore is appropriately charming. You even come to like one of the step-sisters, who is a disappointment to her mother.

Action, a little adventure,beautiful gowns and jewelry, and a star-studded cast....how can you miss?

My Favorite Quotes:

"What bothers you more, stepmother? That I am common, or that I am competition?" Danielle

(referring to a brooch that pins on the front of a bodice)

Rodmilla: No, too small, it needs to draw some attention.

Sales Person: I fear Baroness, anything larger might make her fall over.