Protagonist women's roles
by angeliki_spatki | created - 30 Nov 2010 | updated - 19 Oct 2020 | Public38 actresses in advantageous roles - see also women top roles images list, romantic movie-couples images list
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1. A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Approved | 152 min | Drama, Romance, War
An English nurse and an American ambulance driver on the Italian front during World War 1 fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them challenge their romance to the limit.
Directors: Charles Vidor, John Huston | Stars: Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Vittorio De Sica, Oscar Homolka
Votes: 2,914 | Gross: $11.00M
Jennifer Jones as the heroine of Ernest Hemingway's play inspired from the war (1)
2. Wuthering Heights (1939)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson
Votes: 19,755 | Gross: $0.76M
Merle Oberon as Cathy, Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff: Emily Bronté's great love story novel, between different class people with an unhappy end ◊ staring Laurence Olivier in the best role of his carreer. (2)
3. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,106 | Gross: $198.68M
Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O'Hara, Margaret Mitchell's book heroine (3)
4. Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, Romance
The love of high school sweethearts Deanie and Bud is weighed down by the oppressive expectations of their parents and society in smalltown Kansas in 1928, threatening the future of their relationship.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie
Votes: 22,634 | Gross: $8.72M
Natalie Wood with Warren Beatty in Elia's Kazan masterpiece (4)
5. The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Approved | 116 min | Drama, Romance
An American journalist returns to Paris - a city that gave him true love and deep grief.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed
Votes: 4,264
Elizabeth Taylor (5 /3 roles)
6. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Brick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Votes: 53,398 | Gross: $17.57M
Elizabeth Taylor - Paul Newman
7. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker
Votes: 17,197 | Gross: $13.90M
Elizabeth Taylor's role in Tenessee Williams theatrical play
8. ...And God Created Woman (1956)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, Romance
In sunny St. Tropez, a young woman loves one brother but marries the other.
Director: Roger Vadim | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jane Marken
Votes: 9,369 | Gross: $2.00M
Brigitte's Bardot beautiful somewhat demonic dance in a St Tropez cafe (6 /2 roles)
9. Contempt (1963)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance
A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll
Votes: 36,014 | Gross: $0.04M
Brigitte Bardot is indifferent for his husband M. Miccoli after her involvment in Capri with J. Pallance, a rich American film producer - A film by J. L. Godard
10. Jules and Jim (1962)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Romance
Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino
Votes: 44,393
Jeanne Moreau as Catherine member of a romantic love triangle - A film by François Truffaut (7 /2 roles)
11. Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama
A sophisticated and self-assured woman from Paris joins a middle-class rural estate as a maid and causes quite a stir among the variously uptight, perverse and violent inhabitants.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Georges Géret, Michel Piccoli, Daniel Ivernel
Votes: 9,769 | Gross: $0.02M
Jeanne Moreau in Luis Bunuel film in the role of "Femme de Chambre"
12. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,240
Rita Hayworth as Gilda, with Glenn Ford - husband's right hand woman (8 /2 roles)
13. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders
Votes: 33,289 | Gross: $0.01M
Rita Hayworth (I told you... you know nothing about wickedness)
14. Anna Karenina (1935)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Romance
The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan
Votes: 5,789 | Gross: $0.87M
Greta Garbo's role from the Tolstoi's roman Anna Karenina (9)
15. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 426,629 | Gross: $3.20M
Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock's agonious thriller (10)
16. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,679 | Gross: $1.02M
Ingrid Bergman with Humphrey Bogart - though a tough guy, becoming familiar in that film, with a name such as "Boggy" (11 /2 roles)
17. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Passed | 170 min | Adventure, Drama, History
During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Arturo de Córdova
Votes: 10,221 | Gross: $17.80M
Ingrid Bergman in Spain as the heroine of Ernest Hemingway's drama
18. The Swimming Pool (1969)
16+ | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Lovers Marianne and Jean-Paul spend their vacation in a villa on the French Riviera near St-Tropez. Marianne invites her former lover, Harry, and his teenage daughter, Penelope, to stay. Tension rises between them, especially when Jean-Paul seduces Penelope.
Director: Jacques Deray | Stars: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin
Votes: 12,714 | Gross: $0.03M
Romy Schneider with Alain Delon (12 /2 roles)
19. The Things of Life (1970)
GP | 89 min | Drama, Romance
A highway engineer is involved in a car crash, after which, near death, he remembers his life leading up to the accident.
Director: Claude Sautet | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Gérard Lartigau, Jean Bouise
Votes: 5,553
Romy Schneider with Michel Piccoli
20. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
R | 111 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman
Votes: 120,559
Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as a young reckless gangsters couple (13)
21. The Birds (1963)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Votes: 204,380 | Gross: $11.40M
Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hichcock's horror movie with birds all-over the skies of a town threatening his habitants (14)
22. A Man and a Woman (1966)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Romance
A widow and a widower find their relationship developing into love, but their past tragedies prove hard to overcome, causing them to proceed with utmost delicacy.
Director: Claude Lelouch | Stars: Anouk Aimée, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Pierre Barouh, Valérie Lagrange
Votes: 11,791
Anouk Aimée in Claude Lelouch's romantic film with the world-known music theme (15)
23. Match Point (2005)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for an actress who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode
Votes: 227,979 | Gross: $23.09M
Scarlett Johansson's role as the loved woman of the tennis teacher (17 /2 roles)
24. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Evan Welch
Votes: 268,765 | Gross: $23.22M
Scarlet Johansson and her friend in a trip to Spain, meet the "Latin spirit" way of life
25. Volver (I) (2006)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama
After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo
Votes: 107,448 | Gross: $12.90M
Penelope Cruz commites husband's crime and has to hide it as mother's ghost appears with all in flash-back life, taking place again (18)
26. Never on Sunday (1960)
Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An American scholar in Greece sets about improving the prostitute with whom he is infatuated.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, Giorgos Foundas, Titos Vandis
Votes: 6,148
Melina Merkouri in Jules Dassin's film - about a "strong hearted", cheerful beautiful woman living and working as a "singer" in a Pireus harbor night club in Greece, her fatal romance with a native man in the musical background of Manos Xadzidakis music, wich won an Oscar for the song - all over world after known, as "Ta paidia tou Pirea" (19)
27. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,157 | Gross: $19.52M
Anita Ekberg's famous scene in Rome's famous "Fontana Trevi" in PIazza di Spania, waters (20)
28. Roman Holiday (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
Votes: 147,549
Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck in a romance story in Rome, Italy (21 /3 roles)
29. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 70,299
Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden make a "trio", in Billy Walder's fine, amusing masterpiece
30. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 192,035
Audrey Hepburn in fond of Tiffany's jewelry
31. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne
Votes: 24,879
Marylin Monroe sings "Diamonds are a girl's best friends" (22 /2 roles)
32. Niagara (1953)
Not Rated | 92 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
As two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Max Showalter
Votes: 19,724
Marilyn Monroe in a movie centered in two couples in Niagara's waterfalls, involved in a murder, the time that one man falls in love with the other couple's woman
33. The Leopard (1963)
PG | 186 min | Drama, History
The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa
Votes: 28,801
Claudia Cardinale is a proud wealthy aristocrate daughter in Sicily (23)
34. Howards End (1992)
PG | 142 min | Drama, Romance
Set in the early 20th century, class distinctions and troubled relations affect the relationship between two families and the ownership of a cherished British estate known as Howards End.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 35,817 | Gross: $25.97M
Helena Bonham Carter in the role of independant, falling in love with a married man young woman - while her sister marries the rich proprietaire of the idyllic cottage, where she looses him for ever, when an accidental murder takes place (24)
35. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,418 | Gross: $38.41M
Keira Knightley in the debut of her career in Jane Austen's novel, trasfered successfuly to screen (25)
36. Amélie (2001)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance
Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Votes: 793,887 | Gross: $33.23M
Audrey Tautou in a pittoresque Paris young woman, figure (26)
37. Paris, I Love You (2006)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Through the neighborhoods of Paris, love is veiled, revealed, imitated, sucked dry, reinvented, and awakened.
Directors: Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydès, Walter Salles, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Daniela Thomas, Tom Tykwer, Gus Van Sant | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Leonor Watling, Ludivine Sagnier, Fanny Ardant
Votes: 74,537 | Gross: $4.86M
Juliette Binoche as Suzanne in a sketch titled "Place des Victoires" (27)
38. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
A smart but sensible new graduate lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine.
Director: David Frankel | Stars: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Adrian Grenier, Emily Blunt
Votes: 466,574 | Gross: $124.74M
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, fashion magazine editor-in-chief (28 /2 roles)
39. Annie Hall (1977)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
Votes: 278,267 | Gross: $39.20M
Diane Keaton in Woody's Allen romantic story (29 /2 roles)
40. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,175 | Gross: $45.70M
Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton in Woody Allen' masterpiece (30)
41. Pope Joan (2009)
149 min | Drama, History, Romance
A woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim in the ninth century disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks.
Director: Sönke Wortmann | Stars: Johanna Wokalek, David Wenham, John Goodman, Iain Glen
Votes: 9,110
Joanna Wokalek as "Joanna the Pope" in her successful will to become Pope disguised as a man. Exact historical representation of Vatican Popes - Roman Emperors successors and crusaders fight for Christian faith (31)
42. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Bridget Jones is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.
Director: Sharon Maguire | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones
Votes: 263,319 | Gross: $71.54M
Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones in Helen Fielding's novel (32)
43. Notting Hill (1999)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A set of circumstances makes Anna Scott, a famous actress, fall in love with William Thacker, owner of a bookstore in Notting Hill. But the paparazzi's fascination with her complicates their bond.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Richard McCabe, Rhys Ifans
Votes: 342,032 | Gross: $116.09M
Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, the famous star, who puts in trouble the librarian of the city (33 /2 roles])
44. Pretty Woman (1990)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Romance
A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.
Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 361,843 | Gross: $178.41M
Julia Robers as Vivian Ward, the beautiful free girl in a position to escort the rich guy
45. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
R | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Paris 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The ... See full summary »
Director: Jan Kounen | Stars: Anna Mouglalis, Mads Mikkelsen, Elena Morozova, Natacha Lindinger
Votes: 7,031 | Gross: $1.72M
Anna Mougalis brings successfuly to life "Mademoiselle's" fatal romance with married Russian immigrant musician Igor Stravinsky (34)
46. Belle de Jour (1967)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page
Votes: 49,027 | Gross: $0.03M
Catherine Deneuve as Severine in Luis Bunuel's movie co-starring with Jean Sorel, in search of "some" excitement in her depressed as the wife of a blind man, life (35 /(3 roles))
47. Mississippi Mermaid (1969)
R | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nelly Borgeaud, Martine Ferrière
Votes: 7,208 | Gross: $0.03M
Catherine Deneuve as the Sirene of Mississippi movie of Francois Truffault - co-starring with Jean-Paul Belmondo
48. Tristana (1970)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama
Shortly after her mother's death, an innocent and youthful woman will find refuge into the household of her middle-aged aristocratic guardian, who will submit her to his sexual advances.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Rey, Franco Nero, Lola Gaos
Votes: 12,819 | Gross: $0.01M
Catherine Deneuve in Luis Bunuel' masterpiece
49. Viridiana (1961)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama
Viridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, José Calvo
Votes: 26,116
Silvia Pinal as Viridiana in Bunuel's masterpiece (Golden Palm '61 Cannes Film Festival) (36)
50. The Easy Life (1962)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
An impulsive braggart takes a shy law student with him for a two-day road trip from Rome to Tuscany.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Claudio Gora
Votes: 12,404
Catherine Spaak (37)
51. Boredom (1998)
122 min | Romance, Drama
Martin is a philosophy teacher in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Lacking direction or purpose in his life, he initiates an affair with Cécilia, a young artist's model who might have killed her former lover.
Director: Cédric Kahn | Stars: Charles Berling, Sophie Guillemin, Arielle Dombasle, Robert Kramer
Votes: 2,282 | Gross: $0.04M
Alberto Moravia's roman transfered in screen with Sophie Guillemin in the role of a woman who could drive an auster philosophy teacher to murder (38)
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