Best Romance Movies of 1929

This early example of the "backstage" musical genre tells the story of Kitty Darling, a fading burlesque star who tries to save her convent-educated daughter April from following in Mom's footsteps.

At the conclusion of World War I, a French girl is romanced by an American doughboy even though she is promised to a French soldier who was sent to the front.

An unhappily married woman is caught up in scandal and murder when her affection toward a young man is misinterpreted.

Capt. James Stewart pursues the bandit "The Kinkajou" over the Mexican border and falls in love with Rita. He suspects, that her brother is the bandit.

A fisherman and a rising lawyer who grew up as brothers fall in love with the same woman.

The vaudeville act of Harriet and Queenie Mahoney comes to Broadway, where their friend Eddie Kerns needs them for his number in one of Francis Zanfield's shows. When Eddie meets Queenie, he soon falls in love with her—but she is already being courted by Jock Warriner, a member of New York high society. Queenie eventually recognises that, to Jock, she is nothing more than a toy, and that Eddie is in love with her.

Molly and Bee, sweet young 'working girls,' live in a cheap room over a New York grocery store. Molly's idol, wealthy Jack Cromwell, lives in a Long Island mansion but is markedly less happy, since his fiancée Jane won't discourage her other admirers. Fleeing in his car, Jack ends up in an urban block party where he meets you-know-who.

Passion carried an innocent boy and a worldly woman beyond the barriers of conscience.

A flapper unwittingly falls for the boss' son.

A bored socialite finds fleeting romance with an artist.

A prince in Java tries to seduce his visitor's wife, but he's discovered.

Six friends, all hoping to become aviators, are to graduate the next day from the United States Naval Academy. When the officer of the day becomes sick, Tommy Winslow has to take his place, while the others go out and celebrate.

A delightful pre-code cocktail recipe. Take three couples (add gin and tonic), their several divorces and the seven children/stepchildren of their intermarriages and blend thoroughly, and you have a mixture a too-young-to-believe Frederic March will try to straighten out.

The rich, amoral Zelie is married to Pierre Boucheron, "The Rat" - but her interest in another man is an open secret. Forced to defend his honour, the Rat takes refuge in his old domain of the Paris underworld. But even here he has a rival - and when murder is afoot, the sinister Morel's ambition threatens to cost the Rat dear....

In 1840, Sam Lash heads west for adventure. He meets up with some Mountain Men, and they head for the Rockies to trap beavers and cats. In Taos he meets Lola, a beautiful Mexican girl from a proud and rich family. They fall in love and he persuades her to elope with him. After they get married, Sam is torn between his love for Lola and his yearn for traveling.

A middle-aged magician is in love with his beautiful young assistant. She, on the other hand, is in love with the magician's young protege, who turns out to be a bum and a thief.

A vaudeville comic and a pretty young dancer aren't having much luck in their separate careers, so they decide to combine their acts. In order to save money on the road, they get married. Soon their act begins to catch on, and they find themselves booked onto Broadway. They also realize that they actually are in love with each other, but just when things are starting to look up, the comic starts to let success go to his head.

A homeless and destitute violinist joins a combo to bring it success, but has problems with her love life.

Odd little circus film about trapeze artists and obsessive love.

Tommy, home from school, is infatuated with his father's secretary, so he goes to their office to try to tell her.After quoting much poetry, he finds she loves another, causing more quotes.

Lady Hamilton's love affair with Admiral Horatio Nelson rocks the British Empire.

French General Birabeau has been sent to Morocco to root out and destroy the Riffs, a band of Arab rebels, who threaten the safety of the French outpost in the Moroccan desert. Their dashing, daredevil leader is the mysterious "Red Shadow". Margot Bonvalet, a lovely, sassy French girl, is soon to be married at the fort to Birabeau's right-hand man, Captain Fontaine. Birabeau's son Pierre, in reality the Red Shadow, loves Margot, but pretends to be a milksop to preserve his secret identity. Margot tells Pierre that she secretly yearns to be swept into the arms of some bold, dashing sheik, perhaps even the Red Shadow himself. Pierre, as the Red Shadow, kidnaps Margot and declares his love for her.

For the ventriloquist Gabbo his wooden dummy Otto is the only means of expression. When he starts relying more and more on Otto, he starts going mad.

A gangster is put in prison, but finds salvation through music while serving his time. Again on the outside, he finds success elusive and temptations abound.

On a volcanic island near the kingdom of Hetvia rules Count Dakkar, a benevolent leader and scientist who has eliminated class distinction among the island's inhabitants. Dakkar, his daughter Sonia and her fiance, engineer Nicolai Roget have designed a submarine which Roget pilots on its initial voyage just before the island is overrun by Baron Falon, despotic ruler of Hetvia. Falon sets out after Roget in a second submarine and the two craft, diving to the ocean's floor, discover a strange land populated by dragons, giant squid and an eerie undiscovered humanoid race.

A chorus girl loses her job and thus the room she owes back rent on, and ends up being rescued from the street by a dashing rich man. But his family isn't over-accepting of chorus girls joining their family.

A follower of Napoleon escapes the firing squad, flees to a woman's bedroom and winds up butler.

A Chinese doctor vows revenge against the allied troops who killed his wife and child during the Boxer Rebellion.

With unpaid actors and staff, the stage show Phantom Sweetheart seems doomed. To complicate matters, the box office takings have been robbed and the leading lady refuses to appear. Can the show be saved?

The owner of a border town gambling saloon falls in love with a promiscuous young girl. When she has an affair with another, he tosses her out of town. She gets revenge by marrying his younger brother.

Lally is a rich girl whose father writes books and plays polo. After 23 years of marriage her father decides to divorce Lally's mother and remarry to soon-to-be-divorced Beth Cheever. This sours Lally on all men. While on vacation with her mother she meets Jack, who succeeds in stealing her heart. Then Lally discovers that Jack is the son of Beth Cheever, the woman who is to marry her father.

Jim Hutton and Mary Archer are two liberals who are content to remain faithful to each other in spirit only. They are married with all the ritual of a church wedding, the bride believing that each should be allowed perfect freedom in personal contacts. Complications arise when these ideals are put into practice.

A comedy-romance about rival brothers attending a military academy.

Dolores and Ramon celebrate their arranged betrothal with little enthusiasm: Dolores has a lover, and Ramon wants his freedom so that he can pursue Pepita. Having heard of Ramon's betrothal, Pepita gives her heart to another but when bandits accost her and try to rob her father, they give the dashing Ramon just the chance he needs to prove the gallant lover!

Stephen Ghent, a mineowner, falls in love with Ruth Jordan, an arrogant girl from the East, unaware that she is the daughter of his dead partner. Ruth is vacationing in Arizona and Mexico with a fast set of friends, including her fiancé, Edgar. Manuella, a Spanish halfbreed hopelessly in love with Ghent, causes Ruth to return to her fiancé when she insinuates that Ghent belongs to her. Ghent follows Ruth, kidnaps her, and takes her into the wilderness to endure hardship. There she discovers that she loves Ghent, and she discards Edgar in favor of him.

Mayme and sister Janie are salesgirls in Ginsberg's Department Store. Mayme is in love with store clerk Bill, but Janie tries to steal him from her. Hazel, another salesgirl, is Jean Harlow's first credited role.

Scheming coed Babs comes between college buddies Eddie and Biff.

Casey and Babe are sisters who work in a department store and each year the store puts on a show. As expected, things are going wrong with every act until Casey comes out to help Babe with her song. They are a hit, but in the final act, Casey again comes out and this time the president sees her act and fires both her and Babe on the spot. Benny is able to book Casey, Babe and Dean into Vaudeville and their act is popular. But before they have their shot at stardom, Dean and Babe leave Casey and the act.

Billy, a jockey, and Jim, an assistant manager of a New Orleans racetrack, are close friends. They become bitter enemies because of Marie, an unprincipled young woman who marries Jim after betraying her first fiancé, Billy, on their wedding day. Marie's extravagance causes Jim to steal money from the office safe and to bet on Billy. Billy wins, but Jim is arrested and sent to jail when Marie neglects to replace the stolen money. Jim serves his term and is reunited with Billy after Marie and her lover are turned out of the house.

A 1929 American pre-Code drama film with fantasy elements that was released by Fox Film Corporation in the Fox Movietone sound-on-film system on December 1, 1929.

The film takes place in the 18th century Austria and revolves around Prince Christian, commonly known as General Crack. His father had been a respectable member of the nobility but his mother was a gypsy. General Crack, as a soldier of fortune, spent his adult life selling his services to the highest bidder. He espouses the doubtful cause of Leopold II of Austria after demanding the sister of the emperor in marriage as well as half of gold of the Empire. Before he has finished his work, however, he meets a gypsy dancer and weds her. Complications arise when he takes his gypsy wife to the Austrian court and falls desperately in love with the emperor's sister.

In order to keep her job, a young dress designer must keep her recent marriage a secret from her boss. An important client arrives from Paris and her boss decides to hold a dinner party for the man at the girl's house. When her husband finds out that the client wants to take her back to Paris so she can "study," he comes up with a plan to stop it, and it begins with his being the "server" at the dinner party.

Rich lout marries for freedom.

Directed by Richard Wallace.

Little Johnny Jones is a jockey who is in love with his all-American sweetheart, Mary Baker, and also his career as the rider of thoroughbred horses. But he almost loses both when he is tricked by a showgirl, Vivian Dale. His story of vindication swings from the racetracks of America to England and the historical National Derby, with plenty of red-white-and-blue bunting waving behind the little patriot.

The English adventurer Tom Lingard gets involved with islanders on a South Seas island, and he also gets involved with Lady Edith and Mr. Travers, a sailing English couple. Tom has an unexpected love affair with Edith and while they are having this affair, Lady Edith husband's boat is destroyed and he is killed.

Escaping from a revolution, the King (Joseph Swickard) of a mythical Balkan country heads to the United States. Here he finds a friend in the form of dashing secret service agent Yorke Norray (Cornelius Keefe).

A 1929 British-Austrian romance film directed by Géza von Bolváry.

The Surprise of a Knight is a gay, hardcore pornographic film from the United States. Most likely released in 1929, it is notable for being the earliest known American pornographic film to depict exclusively homosexual intercourse.