8 On-Screen Kisses That Forever Changed Cinema

Before the advent of filmmaking and other visual mediums, kisses were a private, intimate affair. As far as historians can tell, the phenomenon of kissing goes back to at least 2500 BC. Since then, it's become a standard display of affection between lovers, friends, or even strangers. Once movies hit, that shared intimate moment took on new grandeur and cinematic appeal.

Old movies seem just that—old-fashioned. Before the adoption of the Hays Code (censorship rules), however, films often captured stunning, even explicit moments. Smooching is a common occurrence, so it makes sense the act would make its way to film. But some movie kisses were so explosive, so enchanting, they changed cinema forever. Let's explore 8 of these revolutionary on-screen kisses.

Directed by Robert Rossen, 1957's "Island in the Sun" depicts a tale of violence, politics, and inequity on the fictional island of Santa Marta. While it isn't the most memorable film, it produced the first interracial kiss in cinema history between actors Joan Fontaine and Harry Belafonte.

Depicting something of a love triangle between a woman and two pilots, William A. Wellman and Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast's "Wings" became the first silent film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It also became the first film in history to depict a kiss shared by two men, actors Richard Arlen and Charles Rogers.

Though it's next to impossible to find clips of the film online (the picture above is taken from one of his other films), Eadweard Muybridge's 1887 short film "The Kiss" remains a landmark of cinema. Muybridge helped revolutionize cinema through the use of a zoopraxiscope, a primitive technique of presenting photographs in quick succession. Not only did his short show the first smooch on camera, but it also depicted the first kiss between two women. That's pretty revolutionary for the 19th century.

While some kisses were movie-firsts, no kiss is as memorable as the one in "From Here to Eternity." Depicted in stark black and white, actors Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster share a kiss while they lie amidst incoming ocean waves. Kerr's character says, "No one ever kissed me the way you do." Indeed, it became such an iconic embrace that it was recreated in movies like "Shrek."

Upon its release in June 1955, "Lady and the Tramp" became one of Disney's biggest hits. It depicted a love story between two dogs from very different backgrounds. It also produced one of the most iconic kisses in history, with the pups sharing a string of spaghetti until they lock lips.

John Hughes made his name with classic teenage movies, but 1984's Sixteen Candles remains his most beloved. It tells the story of the romance between a popular upperclassman and a quirky girl. The kiss the characters share over her birthday cake became iconic and cemented Hughes' reputation for charming, intimate teenage rom-coms.

The most iconic kiss of the 21st century comes from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man." In the film, Kirsten Dunst's character shares a rainy kiss with an upside-down Spider-Man (Tobey McGuire). While it became an instant classic and won the 2003 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, it was reportedly a challenging shot to accomplish.

"I know it was you, Fredo." Thus kicks off one of the most memorable kisses in cinema history from "The Godfather Part II." Unlike the other moments on this list, this kiss is not romantic. Instead, it evokes the "kiss of death" from Al Pacino's character to his brother after realizing his brother's betrayal.