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Better than Bridget Jones: the best classic romcoms to stream online

Clockwise from left: Bridget Jones, The Apartment, Annie Hall, Bridesmaids
Clockwise from left: Bridget Jones, The Apartment, Annie Hall, Bridesmaids

Open Netflix or Amazon Prime and search for "romantic comedy", and you'll be dazzled by a bright mosaic of sparkling pink titles – most (but not all) of them 90 minutes of trite, syrupy twaddle. But a film that studies relationships – the everyday, the extraordinary, the formation and the fallout – is a fine thing when done with style, wit, and charm.

There's a dearth of Nora Ephron or Richard Curtis material available to stream online (as well as a strange shortage of rom-com heavyweights like Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts), but if the cinematic return of Bridget Jones has whetted your appetite, here's a list of some of the funniest, smartest, most challenging and much-treasured romantic comedies that are ready to watch on demand.

It Happened One Night (1934)

Dir: Frank Capra Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert Cert: U Time: 102 mins

Available on: Netflix, Amazon Instant Video

It Happened one Night
It Happened one Night

In a nutshell: The romantic comedy genre owes much to Frank Capra's sublime screwball romp – and rarely do leading couples meet their equal in as lively a fashion as the glimmering Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The meet-cute is on a New York City night bus (where else?). She's the gamine heiress on the run from a controlling father; he's the rakish newspaper reporter dead-set on an exclusive. The pair take off across Depression-era America, pretending to be a married couple before finding each other rather more tempting than planned – an idea that's been rehashed a hundred times since, with never quite the same panache or sophistication. The leads' sparring is deliciously entertaining, and the film – which still feels timeless – was the first to win Oscars in all the big five major categories.

The Apartment (1960)

Dir: Billy Wilder Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray Cert: PG Time: 125 mins

Available on: Netflix, Amazon Instant Video

The Apartment - STR/EPA
The Apartment - STR/EPA

In a nutshell: Billy Wilder's cynical Christmas movie was controversial in its day, such was the ease with which it treated the topic of adultery – but that didn't stop it winning five Oscars, including Best Picture. Mild-mannered insurance drudge CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) nips out of his apartment to wander in the rain, so his New York City home can accommodate the extramarital liaisons of four of his office managers. His perfect plan for promotion is thrown off-course, however, when one manager brings home the apple of his own eye – young elevator girl Fran (Shirley MacLaine). She's tragically in love with a man who won't leave his wife, and CC sets about making her realise whom it is she truly loves. Its content might have been sordid seen as sordid at the time, but it's a tender, if at times lonely portrayal of love and human frailty. MacLaine's wit is irresistibly dry, with a killer, now classic, closing line.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Dir: Paul Feig Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy Cert: 15 Time: 125 mins

Available on: Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video

Bridesmaids - Suzanne Hanover
Bridesmaids - Suzanne Hanover

In a nutshell: Perfectly straddling the comic and coarse, balancing uproarious gross-out gags with genuine pathos, Bridesmaids - co-written by its star Kristen Wiig - was a breakthrough in female-driven comedy. In this story of duelling bridesmaids, the real focus is on relationships between the women, and how strong, natural, or discordant those bonds can be. Romance – and, atypically, believable romance – comes for our downtrodden heroine in the form of Chris O'Dowd, but to the film's great credit it's female friendship, not the affections of a man, in which she finds resolution. It propelled established talents Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Maya Rudolph to international recognition, and director Paul Feig helped spur on a new wave in recognising 'female comedy' as simply 'comedy' – following it with The Heat, and the recent all-woman Ghostbusters reboot.

Annie Hall (1977)

Dir: Woody Allen Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Christopher Walken Cert: 15 Time: 89 mins

Available on: Netflix

Annie Hall
Annie Hall

In a nutshell: Woody Allen's 1977 classic might not be the one to rely on for feel-good, Friday night fun, but it's a masterpiece in its meticulous psychoanalytical attempt to study love – its neuroses and its joys. Allen is our narrator Alvy, a self-doubting Jewish stand-up comedian intent on picking apart his doomed relationship with guileless Midwestern singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). As ever, the leading pair's chemistry is hard to beat, and the film is visually stunning with sumptuous vignettes of Seventies New York City. The open discussion of relationships and their failures might be commonplace now, but it was in Annie Hall that they were first approached with such frankness. It is, too, a vehicle for some of Allen's most brilliant, gut-busting lines: "Don't knock masturbation," says Alvy, "It's sex with someone you really love."

Obvious Child (2014)

Dir: Gillian Robespierre Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy Cert: 15 Time: 90 mins

Available on: Netflix, Amazon Instant Video

Obvious Child
Obvious Child

In a nutshell: Abortion is a subject that remains largely unexplored on-screen, and films that approach the issue without hysteria or an exhaustive amount of moral rumination are hard to come by. For this, Obvious Child feels daring. It's the story of Donna, a young stand-up played by American comedian Jenny Slate, who finds herself pregnant after a one-night-stand with Max (Jake Lacy) and decides she's not ready for motherhood. It's dealt with calmly, and free of overbearing political dogma but still manages to be sensitive. The true focus of the plot is on the reactions of other characters to her decision, as well as observing how fledgling lovers might be able to muddle through a relationship after making such a weighty decision so early on. Slate and Lacy are endearing to watch, and their relationship has a refreshingly equal power-balance.