Deborah Kerr’s stateroom in An Affair to Remember is so classically elegant that by today’s standards, it looks hip. Love the drapery valance, and the two little oranges on the table, picking up the color of her dress. Wow!
Who could forget the grandmother’s glorious sun-drenched villa on the French Riviera… And Kerr’s apartment (from the tear-jerking end of the movie) has some amazing pieces we’d love to come across at an antique shop… that green lamp! That sofa!
We’re revealing a slight Cary Grant obsession here: Indiscreet is another favorite. Ingrid Bergman’s stage actress character lives in a fabulous London apartment, where most of the action takes place. We love the soft blue walls hung floor to ceiling with art and the stately brocade sofas and chairs. If it weren’t for the glorious costumes (and—okay—Cary Grant), we’d be focused on the apartment from beginning to end.
Amélie may be an obvious choice, but we never get tired of her apartment. It’s full of surprises. The artwork is whimsical, the lamps are strange and beautiful, and the wallpaper choices make us wonder why we have any bare walls at all. All the pillows tossed everywhere create such an inviting and cozy feel.
The silly romantic comedy A Lot Like Love might feel out of place in the company of our other choices, but Amanda Peet’s split-level apartment is reason enough to watch it (and hey, sue us, but we actually think it’s funny). She lives in one of those buildings where people in L.A. always live in the movies, with a garden courtyard and friendly, attractive neighbors. Her apartment looks comfortable and eclectic, like someone really lives there. (We couldn't find any stills of the interior: You'll just have to watch!)
If you can bear some truly bad singing, the recent Mamma Mia is set in an amazing cliffside hotel on a Greek island, where the rooms are colorful, sun-filled, and a little scruffy around the edges. It’s lovely to look at: walls in various shades of aqua blue and red woven rugs tossed helter-skelter on the terra cotta floors.
What are some of your favorite romantic movie interiors? Do tell!
Photos: carygrant.net, IMDB, decorology, Yahoo! Movies, Entertainment Weekly
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Comments (55)
The I/we thing on this site is really strange. "It occurs to us?" really?
Although not completely my style, I appreciate the set for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It's so 1940's glam! I was inspired to give some more glitz to my place after seeing that!
I love the resort from the beginning of Charade, yet another Carey Grant movie. Honestly Paris in the 60's everything is gorgeous!
I agree with metromom! lol!!
I/we/me/us... just "WHO" are YOU people???!!
Mamma Mia and Amelie are some of my favorites!!
Just got back from a showing of Roman Holiday at an old theater. It was quite romantic!
I love the interiors in "Indiscreet." Doris Day had a fabulous London apartment in "Midnight Lace." And I've always coveted the composer's studio apartment in "Rear Window" (although clearly privacy would be an issue...).
Mama Mia was the worst piece of garbage I'd seen in my life. I'm angry with this blob for reminding me of any part of that movie.
A Room With a View, Harold and Maude, the deco sets of Fred Astaire movies...
two little oranges on the table, picking up the color of her dress...and her hair...and her lipstick
!
I have a slight Cary Grant weakness too. So many of his movies are set in lovely places, homes.
I regularly re-watch Cary Grant movies (OK, he's a life-long crush.) and made a diagram of the colors of the picture mats in Ingrid Bergman's "Indiscreet" living room a couple of years ago. I feed my MCM obsession by watching old TV shows and movies for ideas. Check out one of my favorites from the sixties, "A Man and A Woman."
Aw, more Cary Grant lovers! I heart him too!
While it's not exactly a romance, there are some romances in Mona Lisa Smile and I just love the sets- all that old fashioned wallpaper and some beautiful homes.
I love the old inn in White Christmas, so cozy. And I've always loved all those cabins in Dirty Dancing.
Everything in Notebook. And though I'm not huge on shabby chic, I love Diane Lane's house in Must Love Dogs.
Funny Face - the film is all about Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, but I LOVE the Quality Magazine offices (those pink doors!) and Duval's over-the-top atelier.
The remake of Sweet November wasn't great, but the apartment where it was mostly set was just beautiful.
Yes, I second 'Funny Face' for the wonderful early scenes at the magazine! Think Ugly Betty/The Devil Wears Prada with genuine late '50s panache. As a romance, it's kind of shaky. 58-year-old Fred Astaire and 28-year-old Audrey Hepburn, wonderful as they both are individually, can never convince me. But the great shots of the magazine office, the magazine photo shoot with the dense model, the Greenwich Village bookstore and the Paris nightclub -- high-gloss publishing & bohemia as imagined by Hollywood -- more than make up for the lack of chemistry.
I was going to say Breakfast at Tiffany's, but had to think twice. Holly Golightly's apartment is bare, ever-changing, basic. If it were featured as a house tour on AT, I'm sure it'd be dissed. BUT... I have to say, it has many things in common with my 20-something, single-woman, just-scraping-by-salary studio... Holly's philosophy is: "If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name."
So I do nominate Breakfast at Tiffany's, but not so much for the interiors themselves (though she does have that excellent bathtub sofa) as for the flair with which she pulls a deliberately unfinished apartment off. It's on the empty side, she seems to move her few pieces of furniture around every few days... but she embodies Manhattan brownstone walk-up, and her Manhattan brownstone walk-up embodies her. And the lack of furniture means she can cram a heap of people in there and throw some excellent parties.
Forgive some self-indulgence for a minute - here's the dialogue re her apartment in full:
Holly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul: Sure.
Holly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!
Oh, and PS:
The Break-up, with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, for the apartment itself and for the central role it plays in said Break-up.
Another life-long Cary Grant fan here! The MCM quasi-Frank Lloyd Wright building in North by Northwest always grabbed me...
For romantic interiors, I keep coming back to Trois Hommes et un Couffin (Three Men and a Cradle), the French original of Three Men and a Baby. Of course, the love story is with a baby, but that's appropriate too... ;-)
And don't forget Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet -- it was the first time Shakespeare came to life for me (grade 8 English class), and although you don't see that much of the interiors, I still think of that bed as the definition of a sexy bed (we never covered off that topic during Bed Month on AT), and extrapolate to John Saladino interiors.
I still recall the interiors of Truffault's La Femme d'a Coté, although it is not exactly a love story to be recalled on Valentine's day. The stone-walled houses were earthily sensual in a very French way.
Melba123 - I have to second Breakfast at Tiffany's, but more for Paul's apartment than Holly's.
Aunt Mame (1958), the story of a boy that lives with his free spirited aunt. Most of the movie takes place in Manhattan and Aunt Mame just exudes elegant style and sophisticated interiors. The design is Hollywood Regency with a bit of deco flair, really impressive and a perfect compliment to Mame's style. Love it.
The thing I love the most in Ingrid Bergman's apt in "Indiscreet" are the picture frames with different colored mattes! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
Terrible movie in my opinion, or is that "our opinion" ;-)) is "Green Card," but Andie McDowell lives in a fantastic apt. in NYC with a conservatory, etc.
I thought the house in the recent Kristin Scott Thomas movie "I've Loved You So Long," where her sister's family lived and took her in was almost like a character in the movie. So warm and welcoming. I can't wait until that DVD comes out so I can study the house more.
Breakfast at Tiffanys was great Holly's over Paul's for sure. The bathtub sofa we all want in her minimalist ecclectic style. Has anyone seen Down with Love. It's a modern send up of the old Doris Day Rock Hudson bedroom comedys, so everything is very over the top. Just my size.
Doe anyone remember the log cabin with check curtains in 'Calamity Jane'?
I love the interiors in "You've Got Mail"!!
Meg Ryan's brownstone is so warm, cozy and a little quirky. Tom Hank's penthouse is swank. Meg Ryan's children bookshop is super cute too! :)
Flashdance. Not necessarily the decor but the actual space is amazing. Also, best bed ever.
A Summer Place with Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue - the Frank Lloyd Wright (Walker House), not the house where they check to see if Sandra Dee is still a virgin. Classic!
Diva. Gosford Park. I, too have been obsessed with the apartment in Sweet November. So much so that I watched it over and over to figure out the floor plan. Such is the lot of the house proud. Happy Valentine's Day everyone.
Love the apartment/townhouse/flat from "Charade"! Even without furnishings, the built-ins and fireplaces are an inspiration on their own.
Also, in response to the first posted comment...the I/we thing...I believe it's called the editorial we...Apartment Therapy is an entity comprising any number of persons, not a single person. It can seem a bit pretentious, I guess, but only a truly anal person would comment on that and not the topic at hand.
"About a Boy" with Hugh Grant - his flat was to die for@
I love old movies-
Big big fan of "Funny Face" if you really study it you will see where so much of todays inspirations come from. Love "North By Northwest" also "To Catch a Thief" both very stylish in general- lighting, shadows, interiors architecture, clothing, etc.
I love all Alfred Hitchcock movies and Film Noir in general.
One of my favorites is Lauren Bacall's apartment in "Dark Passage", a beautiful understated glamourous 40's Deco interior and I love the building plus she is just so cool you want to be her. It was filmed in SF and the apartment remains on Telegraph Hill.
There are so many!!
The original "Thomas Crown Affair" is super stylish and sexy!
Like that loft in "Unfaithful"
"Eyes of Laura Mars"-sets are groovy
"The 10th Victim"- is a fun fun 60's Italian cult science fiction film- if you guys have not seen it check it out you are in for a fun ride. The story is a bit silly but the sets, clothes and everything fantastic.
Italian films usually are so very stylish.
One of my favorite eye candy films is "Wings of a Dove"- really beautiful movie, the blues that are used in this film are stunning, you will see a blue color in almost every other frame. The film locations, the interiors, the clothes and the story makes this one of my all time favorites period piece movies.
The movie "Damage" 1992- directed by Louis Malle has some great interiors.
Love the house in "The Ice Storm", cool classic 60's modern.
I've always wanted to live in New England and love Kate Capshaw's in that cute movie "The Love Letter"
'The Holiday'!
i'm madly in love with kate winslet's cottage in that movie. if i could live in that exact, EXACT, cottage i would be one happy girl.
yes, yes: amelie, the holiday...
also:
1) the estate in that movie with russell crowe on a vineyard where he is a jerky investment-y type who gets emotionally reformed. a good year? something like that.
2) the house in twilight (and i say this with the requisite embarrassment that i've seen this)
3) 21 dresses. okay film, GORGEOUS interior!
4) the treehouses in kevin costner's robin hood.
charlotte...good call on green card! her garden was to die for!
oh! 'green card'! yes, i loveloveloved her apartment. and i have a very soft spot for the movie itself. :)
i also loved the snowy setting and the house in 'the family stone'.
Amelie's bathroom! A claw-foot tub, yellow and green tile, individual lamps around the mirror, <I>a dresser in the bathroom</I>... LOVE. If only my bathroom were big enough.
I love Bridget's apartment in Bridget Jones's Diary, too.
i love any audrey hepburn set especially paris when it sizzles with that huge hotel suite with all the windows and plants and that huge balcony that over-looks the eiffel tower... but there so many audrey movie sets to choose from.
I LOVED Mandy Moore's house in 'Because I Said So' (with Diane Keaton). A forgettable movie but a beautiful house. Old vintage red velvet couch, funky pillows, lots of dark wood.
Amelie's bedroom breaks most of the Linda Reeve rules. I say most because a red shade could = a pink light blub...
Ah! You nailed one of my forever favorite rooms--the sitting/drawing/parlor room in "An Affair to Remember."
The colored matting and charcoal drawings hung virtually to the ceiling... amazing!
Let's not forget "North by Northwest" the house on the hill in which James Mason is holding Eva Marie Saint... now that's my dream home...
i second the nomination of "a lot like love". the apartment that amanda peet's character lives in kinda makes the movie for me.
and to all the ladies: i'm ashamed! i can't believe we've forgotten one of the best television shows/movies EVER! sex and the city! i think it is one of the best examples of using set design as character development. the womens' apartments are a great extension of who the characters are. and who hasn't wanted to do a complete overhaul of their place after a bad breakup, ala carrie bradshaw?
carrie's apartment in the show has always held a special place in my heart. i can relate to having more fashion magazines than square footage, and non-matching dishes.
"are you kidding? i use my oven for storage."
Definitely "Green Card". The movie is ok....but the real reason I watch it is because of her apartment. It had lots of homey character and the green house portion is unbelievable! Also, "You've Got Mail" has a cute apartment with lots of quirks. I liked Diane Keaton's home in "Somethings Got To Give" on the beach. It's very classy, but casual that looks very comfortable.
When the surroundings are more important than the acting or story, I usually forget the entire movie. However, the most beautiful thing in an Ingrid Bergman movie is her stunning self. Why bother with the chairs, if the actors can't captivate you or the story and direction don't compel you, leave the theater at once or remove the disc.
What I do remember of some great flicks are the outdoor scenes. Blood simple beginning of the movie on the straight road. No country for Old Men, oh goodness that vast and lonely rural Texas. Casa Blanca that last scene at the airport. In those cases, the place was also a protagonist. Can your eyes move away from Audrey Hepburn's face? Brad Pitt's etc.
In the Documentary, "The Story of the Weeping Camel", the insides of the Mongolian nomad tents are nothing short of amazing. The contrast between the bland, harsh desert and the saturated colors of the warm interiors is a dazzling. (And the story and music are also deeply moving.)
1. The Graduate
2. Casino - 70's Vegas baby.
3. Single White Female (remember that? With Jennifer Jason Leigh as the crazy stalker?) - LOVED that NYC Apartment they shared
4. Harry Potter - Hogwarts Academy - so enchanting
5. Under the Tuscan Sun - a bit cliche, but I'm still jealous!
6. Anne of Green Gables (Kevin Sullivan adaptation) - Prince Edward Island, huge house with a wrap around porch, so simple.
7. Sound of Music - the von trapp mansion! I remember thinking that was the epitome of wealth and class! The garden especially
8. Clockwork Orange
9. I really love most sets on Ugly Betty
10. Edward Scissorhands - from his mansion to the suburban village to the beauty shop. I just think Tim Burton "gets it!"
Down With Love - for its over the top mid century mod glamour!
Rosemary's Baby- that is a romance movie... right?
Hey, I just saw Rosemary's Baby for Valentines, great apt, except for the meddlesome satanic neighbors! My favorite movie house might be the one in Atonement. Miss Pettigrew is fun too.
"The Story of the Weeping Camel", nazrd that is an interesting choice and I agree. I have tears thinking about it, really moving.
I saw Fatal Attraction this weekend, really rethinking my love for all white rooms.
i agree! i love amelie's french apartment in ``amelie`` and will's lazy flat in ``about a boy``.
the other one that i can't get out of my head is erica's beach house in ``something's gotta give``. and never forget about carrie's cozy brownstone apartment in ``sex and the city``!
"An American in Paris" - Gene Kelly's apartment, in which everything folds or flips and slides and stores away so perfectly into a TINY space...
Talk about small apartments with creative storage!
I adore "You've Got Mail" for the sets. And the dog, and Tom Hanks, and the references to coffee, and books. Yum.
Don't forget "Chocolat", and I love Kate Winslet's cottage in "The Holiday", even if the movie itself completely blew chunks. I admit to loving Harry Potter for some of the whimsy, like the Weasley's house and their tent at the Quidditch Cup tournament.
Any of the interiors in Annie Hall, Hannah & Her Sisters...
The Graduate...
Goldie Hawn's apartment in Shampoo...
not really a romantic movie but any interior in Catch Me If You Can...
The houses and apartments in Woody Allen's movies, definitely! All beautiful, usually casual.
Also, I liked The Amazing Mr. Ripley's apartment in that movie, very Baroque!