The Greatest Tearjerkers of All-Time
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Title Screen
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Movie Title/Year and Brief Tearjerker Scene Description |
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Shane (1953)
#87
- the poignant final goodbye scene
in which young, anguished, and heartbroken Joey Starrett (Brandon De Wilde),
with tears streaking down his face, sadly cried out after his hero/idol
Shane (Alan Ladd): ("Pa's got things for you to do, and Mother wants
you. (the words "wants you" echo) I know she does. Shane. Shane! Come back!
'Bye, Shane"), as the wounded gunfighter rode away on his horse
toward the mountains, slumped in the saddle, in one of filmdom's most
famous and haunting endings
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The Shawshank
Redemption (1994)
#7
- the liberating, uplifting scene of
the Shawshank State Prison inmates drinking cold beers on the sunny
rooftop and feeling like 'free men' while the heroic innocent convict
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) smiled off to the side in the shade;
his convict friend Red (Morgan Freeman) commented, in voice-over:
("And
that's how it came to pass, that on the second-to-last day of the
job, the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring
of '49 wound up sitting in a row at ten o'clock in the morning, drinking
icy cold Bohemia-style beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever
walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison...The colossal prick even
managed to sound magnanimous. We sat and drank with the sun on our
shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring
the roof of one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all Creation.
As for Andy, he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange
little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer...You could
argue he'd done it to curry favor with the guards, or maybe make
a few friends among us cons. Me? I think he did it just to feel normal
again, if only for a short while")
- the tragic scene of released aging prisoner Brooks
Hatlen's (James Whitmore) suicide by hanging after carving "BROOKS
WAS HERE" on the wooden arch above him
- the similarly transcendental scene
in which Andy placed the LP record album Duettino:
Sull'Aria on
a phonograph player in the office, locked the doors and then broadcast
part of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro opera on the loudspeaker
P.A. system throughout the entire prison to share a moment of freedom
and make the prison walls dissolve
- the image of Andy's "rebirth"
after he escaped from prison - the famous overhead shot of him standing
in the cleansing "baptismal" rain with his arms raised
to the heavens
- and the optimistic conclusion in which an escaped
Andy and paroled Red re-united on a remote Mexican
beach at Zihuatanejo; Red walked bare-footed on the sand toward an
old wreck of a boat, where he found Andy patiently and meticulously
sanding the old paint from the boat's ancient surface; Red's hopeful
voice-over narration accompanied his attainment of freedom: ("I find
I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.
I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man
at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope
I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake
his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope")
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Sideways (2004)
- the sensual conversation between 'loser', hang-dog
San Diego-based English teacher and aspiring writer Miles Raymond
(Paul Giamatti) who listened to love interest Maya (Virginia Madsen),
a Santa Ynez Valley wine country resident, as she described
the sensual qualities of wine: ("I like to think about the life
of wine. Yeah. How it's a living thing. I like to think about what
was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was
shining, if it rained. I like to think about all the people
who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how
many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve.
Like, if I opened a bottle of wine today, it would taste different
than if I'd opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine
is actually alive and it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity.
That is, until it peaks like your '61. And then it begins its
steady, inevitable decline. Hmm. And it tastes so f--king good");
however, Miles ruined the mood and moment, and after excusing him
to go to the restroom, he berated himself in front of a mirror: ("God,
you are such a f--kin' loser. You make me so f--kin' sick. Oh, God.
Ah, come on")
- the ending in which Miles listened to a reconciliatory
lengthy phone call on his answering machine from estranged love interest
Maya, telling him that she really enjoyed his book - the film's final
dialogue: ("Hello, Miles. It's Maya. Thanks for your letter.
I-I would have called sooner but I think I needed some time to think
about everything that happened and, what you wrote to me. Another
reason, uhm, I didn't call you sooner is because I wanted to finish
your book, which I finally did last night. And I think it's really
lovely, Miles. You're so good with words. Who cares if it's not getting
published? There are so many beautiful and painful things about
it. Did you really go through all that? Must have been awful. And
the sister character -- geez, what a wreck! But I have to say that,
well, I was really confused by the ending. I mean, did the father
finally commit suicide, or what? It's driving me crazy. Anyway, it's
turned cold and rainy here lately, but I like winter. So, listen,
if you ever do decide to come up here again, you should let me know.
I would say stop by the restaurant, but to tell you the truth, I'm
not sure how much longer I'm gonna be working there, because I'm
gonna graduate soon. So I'll probably want to relocate. I mean,
we'll see. Anyway, like I said, I really loved your novel. Don't
give up, Miles. Keep writing. I hope you're well. Bye")
- the hopeful final image
of Miles knocking on Maya's door - having traveled all the way back
to the Valley to see her again
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Since You
Went Away (1944)
- the stunning, beautifully-filmed,
heart-rending parting scene at the train station, filmed from the
point of view of the departing serviceman William Smollett (Robert
Walker) leaving on the moving train as he watched his girlfriend
Jane Hilton (Jennifer Jones) run alongside the train and dodge large
structural supports, as she cried out to him: ("I love you
darling!")
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The Sixth Sense (1999)
#46
- the anniversary date dinner scene
of psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) arriving late at the
table with his troubled and depressed wife Anna (Olivia Williams)
in a fancy restaurant
- the disturbing, heart-breaking
scene in which clairvoyant Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) brought
deceased daughter Kyra's (Mischa Barton) videotape to her father
Mr. Collins (Greg Wood) to be played at the funeral reception - followed
by the father's confrontation with the mother (Angelica Torn) who
deliberately kept her ill: ("You were keeping her sick")
- the mournful scene of Anna
watching her wedding tape on TV. With her eyes closed, she was asking
questions, such as: "Why, Malcolm?...Why did you leave me?" She
was clutching the wedding ring that used to be on his hand. After
it rolled noisily in a circle across the parquet-wood floor, Malcolm
held his own left hand up, realizing that he was not wearing his
wedding ring. He heard patient Cole speaking to him about seeing
'dead people' all the time: ("I see people. They don't know
they're dead...They're everywhere. They only see what they want to
see."). He staggered from the room, suddenly discovering that
he was dead, and that the wound from the gunshot was lethal (the
prologue was replayed, with additional footage). Realizing that he
must let go, Malcolm told sleeping Anna on the couch: ("I think
I can go now. I just needed to do a couple things. I needed to help
someone. I think I did. And I needed to tell you something. You were
never second. Ever. I love you. You sleep now. Everything will be
different in the morning").
In her sleep, she answered and smiled: ("Good
night, Malcolm") and he replied: ("Good night, sweetheart")
- the film's ending with a brief image from their wedding
tape
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Snoopy Come Home (1972)
- the character of Snoopy's first
(or original) dog owner: hospital-ridden Lila (voice of Johanna
Baer) - lonely for company in her hospital room, and writing a letter
asking for Snoopy to come back to her, as Shelby Flint sang mournfully: "Do
You Remember Me?" (Lila's Theme) on
the soundtrack: ("I still remember a summer gone by. Why was it over
so fast? I still remember when we said good-bye. Why can’t
our summer-times last? Do you remember me? Once I called you my own.
I’m
sad as I can be. It’s no fun all alone. Why can’t a memory
roll away like a tear? Why do I go to my window hoping you will appear?
'Cause I need you, 'cause I miss you, 'cause I wish you were here")
- the good-bye or farewell party for Snoopy (voice of
Bill Melendez) who had decided to go back and live with Lila - in
which each of the members of the Peanuts gang gave Snoopy a parting
gift. Snoopy's devoted second owner Charlie Brown (voice of Chad
Webber) was so overwhelmed that he was unable to say a single word
out of grief as he simply held out his gift, head bowed -- both he
and Snoopy burst into tears; the party ended with everyone sobbing
as Linus played "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" on the piano
- also, the even
sadder scene after Snoopy left, of a depressed Charlie Brown, now
unable to sleep or eat, delivering an aching, melancholy internal
monologue/ballad about losing friends as he stared at Snoopy's
abandoned doghouse and laid in bed, to the tune of the song: "It
Changes": ("...Why
can't we get all the people together in the world that we
really like, and then just stay together forever. Someone would leave.
Someone always leaves, and then we have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes....You
know what I need? I need more 'hellos'")
- the ending in which Snoopy found a way to joyfully
return to his friends (he pointed out the "NO DOGS ALLOWED IN
BUILDING"
outside Lina's apartment building residence), who carried him in
the air triumphantly back to his doghouse
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The Snowman (1982)
#28
- the enchanting, dreamlike, pencil-animated
26-minute Christmas-themed, Oscar-nominated short about an unnamed
red-haired English boy and his snowman friend from his front yard
(created on Christmas Eve) that magically came
to life and joined him to fly all around, as choirboy Peter Auty sang
the ethereal, emotional "Walking In the Air"
- during their soaring journey, the boy visited with
St. Nick at the North Pole, who presided over a celebratory party
with many dancing snow-people guests
- the short ended abruptly with
a Christmas morning scene in which the boy rushed outside to play
with his snowy friend again, but discovered that the snowman had
melted and disintegrated into a small pile of snow - leaving him
with only the blue snowman scarf Santa Claus had given him as a memento
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- the scene in which the seven heartbroken,
sobbing and sorrowful dwarfs held a bedside vigil (accompanied by organ
music) next to their Snow White, and then placed her lifeless body
in a crystal coffin or casket, where she remained through a full
year - a cycle of seasons, as they stood around grieving
- the scene of the Prince's arrival, who was relieved
to find the ragged maiden that he had fancied at the castle. He gently
kissed her cold red lips for farewell, not knowing that his Love's
First Kiss would awaken her from her deathlike slumber
- with great
joy and cheering in the forest, the scene of Snow White venturing off
with the Prince on his horse - "and they lived
happily ever after," but
not before she kissed each of the dwarfs goodbye. Her Prince had
indeed come, and the song "Some Day My
Prince Will Come" was heard celebrating his arrival
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Somewhere in Time (1980)
- the romantic, tearjerking plot about an aspiring college
playwright Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve), after meeting an
elderly woman who offered
him a gift of a watch and made a request: "Come back to me",
willing himself (through time-travel and self-hypnosis) eight years
later to meet her as early 20th century actress Elise McKenna (Jane
Seymour)
- the couple's first meeting by the lake and her question: "Is
it...you?"
- his jolting return 'to the future' (after a night
of love-making) by finding a modern-era penny dated 1979 in his pocket
- the final scene in which morbidly depressed Richard
had an out-of-body experience toward a bright light where his long-lost
love Elise, awaited him with outstretched arms
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