Top 5 Movies That Make Me Cry

“They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

It’s an old movie adage that definitely applies to making me cry. I don’t know what it is, but a handful of classic movies can still melt my heart and reduce me to tears.

I don’t even have to watch the entire movie. I can re-watch a specific scene for the 20th time on YouTube and I can still expect that my eyes will water.

So here are my “Top 5 Movies That Make Me Cry.” And spoiler alert! Most of these tear-worthy moments appear near the end of these films.

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It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Maybe it has something to do with Christmas. Not the commercialized Christmas chaos where gratuitous gifts are the only things that matter. But rather the old traditional Christmas celebrations where you’re surrounded by a festive family and fabulous friends.

Most of the time I cry at the end of the movie after George Bailey realizes how he positively impacted his community. Clarence the angel has done his job and now George’s neighbors are donating money to save the Bailey Building & Loan.

Occasionally, the tears roll down my cheeks when Sam Wainwright extends him a $25,000 line of credit (about $400,000 in today’s money). (But it’s a line of credit. So does George have to pay him back? With interest?)

However, it’s usually when Annie the cook gives up her bad marriage nest egg. “I been savin’ this money for a divorce if ever I get a husband.” You have to love ol’ Annie.

But some years, I cry much earlier. It’s after 12-year-old George refuses to deliver the poisonous capsules from Gower the druggist. Yes, Gower is distraught because he just lost his son to the Spanish flu. But then he beats the living daylights out of tween George before he realizes his mistake. I don’t know what I’m crying about here: the child abuse or baby George’s forgiveness.

Scrooge (1951)

Another Christmas cry and yes, it’s the 1951 black-and-white version of A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim.

Here I’m a complete mess because I sob during the entire Christmas Day sequence after Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts and offered a chance at redemption (well, technically four ghosts; let’s not forget Jacob Marley).

The tears begin when Ebenezer declares that he’s “as giddy as a drunken man” and prepares to stand on his head. Then they really start to stream down my cheeks when Mrs. Dilber is given a guinea to buy herself a present and enjoy herself “like a good girl.” 

And then the floodgates open wide when Ebenezer apologizes to nephew Fred’s wife for “having no eyes to see with” and “no ears to hear with, all these years.” “Bravo, Uncle Scrooge, bravo!”

Casablanca – 1942

Okay, let’s stick with the black-and-white brilliance but step away from Christmas. My next target for tears is during a very specific scene in the all-time movie classic, Casablanca.

Major Strasser and his Nazi comrades are arrogantly singing the patriotic “The Watch on the Rhine” around Sam’s piano inside Rick’s Café. Just then, Czechoslovakian Resistance leader, Victor Laszlo, strides towards the band and demands them to play the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”

The French nationals stand and sing with gusto. The Germans are drowned out and eventually give up. Victor’s wife, Ilsa, looks on with fear and awe. 

And then there’s Yvonne, played by Madeleine LeBeau who fled the Nazis herself in 1940. She played Rick’s jilted lover who spitefully showed up at the bar with an obliging Nazi soldier on her arm.

Now with national pride back in her heart and tears in her eyes, she shouts out “Vive la France! Vive la liberté!”

And I am a puddle.

Cinema Paradiso – 1988

Now let’s jump ahead several decades to my next sob story, Cinema Paradiso.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s an Italian film about the friendship between a young boy and the middle-aged projectionist of the town’s only movie theater. 

The boy develops a love for the silver screen while the adult crowds are frustrated that many sections of their favorite films are censored by the fanatical town priest. So on the big screen they never get to witness any nudity or kissing or even hugging.

I’ll skip over much of the plot to say that the boy grows up to be a famous film director who promised the projectionist, Alfredo, that he would leave his hometown forever in search of cinematic success.

When Alfredo dies, the director returns to pay his respects. He is then given an unlabeled film reel by his old friend’s widow who tells him that Alfredo followed his entire career with immense pride.

The final scene is what brings me to tears.

It’s the lonely movie director sitting in his private screening room watching Alberto’s film reel made up of all the romantic scenes the town priest had previously censored. It’s truly a magical montage filled with desire, lust, and love. Tears of wonder fill the director’s eyes as the old images remind him of his love for movies and his old friend, Alberto.

Jojo Rabbit – 2019

We return to the Nazis for my fifth melt-my-heart movie. This time it’s the 2019 comedy-drama, Jojo Rabbit.

In this coming-of-age film, a 10-year-old German boy named Jojo finds out that his mother is harboring a Jewish girl named Elsa. Naturally, Jojo’s Nazi ideals are severely questioned as he innocently falls in love with her.

Obviously, I’m leaving out a lot of the plot to get to the waterworks scene. And with little surprise, it’s at the end of the movie.

Throughout the film, Jojo’s mom has encouraged him to dance and play like a boy, rather than fight and foment Nazi propaganda like a brainwashed adult.

Also Elsa herself has said that the first thing she would do if she ever was freed from the Nazi terror is dance.

Much later, the Nazis are defeated. Fearing that Elsa will leave him if she found out that Germany lost the war, Jojo lies and tells her that Germany won the war instead.

Soon, Elsa goes outside and discovers for herself that the Allies have won. She slaps Jojo who admits that he deserved that. “What do we do now?”

After a fearful glance down the street, Elsa remembers her wish and begins to dance. Jojo happily joins her. And I sob.

The icing on the cake? The song is “Helden,” the German-language version of David Bowie’s unforgettable hit, “Heroes.” Perfect.

••••

So clearly I’m a sucker for Christmas redemption stories and patriotic stands against the Nazis. And I’m sweet on Italian films too. I’m not exactly stoic at the end of The Bicycle Thief and A Beautiful Life either.

Movies move me. Strong story arcs bend my brain. And sometimes… a melodramatic epic can reduce me to tears. Now excuse me, I think there’s something in my eye…

For more lists regarding movies and television, check out:

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/top-10-disturbing-things/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/best-written-tv-series/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/12-movies-for-12-days-of-christmas/