No matter how many times I see it, I still get weepy over Spenser Tracy's speech at the end of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Especially the sequence where he says, "The only thing that matters is what they feel, and how much they feel, for each other. And if it's half of what we felt... that's everything." [Cut to long shot of Katherine Hepburn beaming at him with pride and tears in her eyes.]

It's a good speech by itself, but placed in context -- Tracy was dying, and both he and Hepburn knew it was the last time they'd ever act together -- it really nails me. (Plus he looks just the way I remember my own grandfather, slightly stooped over, with white hair and black framed glasses...and a perpetually cranky disposition.)

It speaks volumes about the kind of respect that Spencer Tracy commanded as an actor that the film ever got made at all. Because he was terminally ill and insurance companies refused to cover him, both director Stanley Kramer and Hepburn voluntarily put their salaries in escrow in case he died while filming. And they shot his scenes for only a couple hours in the mornings, because later in the day he was too weak to go on set.

Reportedly, Hepburn never saw the completed film, and no wonder. Tracy died less than three weeks after filming ended, and she did not attend his funeral out of deference to Tracy's widow. If that scene makes me cry, I can't imagine how painful it would have been to watch for the woman who'd been his loving companion for a quarter of a century.

Did anyone see the AFI's 100 years, 100 Cheers Wednesday night?

So many of the movies listed in this thread were on the list. Number one was It's a Wonderful Life.

http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/cheers.aspx

Thanks for posting that link; I caught only the tail end of that broadcast. I'm disappointed that To Kill A Mockingbird wasn't ranked first, but that's another discussion!

Scrolling through the list, I can't believe I forgot another film that brings me to tears: On Golden Pond. I remember going to see that with my parents when in came out in the theaters. Now that I've lost both of them earlier this year -- my dad to Alzheimer's and my mom to cancer -- the interaction between the aging couple in that film is all the more poignant.

The scene that hits me where I live: when Henry Fonda gets confused and loses his way on the trail that he used to know like the back of his hand, and he panics; then later, when he admits to Katharine Hepburn that he came rushing back home to her, to where he could feel safe.... (*sob*)

Probably easier to list the movies I do NOT cry in but the ones that come to mind for me where I absolutely bawled.

Beaches
Terms of Endearment
Brian's Song (probably cried most in this one -one with James Caan as Brian Piccolo)
Imitation of Life
Penny Serenade
City of Angels

The only ones that i can think of that i cried at are
We Were Soldiers and Schindler's List

The only movies I've ever cried during are Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King. I cried during the first one when the left Lothlorien. I'm not sure why, but I just found it sad. And in the last one, well I cried like the entire last half hour of the movie.

Please dont laugh at this one-it was a TV movie no less--the movie was Brian's Song-with James Caan and Billy Dee Williams-I knew the story and then saw it on film. I have seen the movie at least 20 times-and I still blubber like a baby.

The main two movies that I cried in were A Walk To Remember and The Return of the King. The last part of the Return of the King, where Frodo and Gandalf leave, I bawled my eyes out. And I think I cried through almost the whole of A Walk to Remember

I cry during the holidays when Hallmark has those lenghthy commercials. They make me ball like a baby.
Alot of Sandra Bullock movies make me cry. 1 that comes to my mind but I can't remember the name of it for the life of me, had me laughing & crying at the same time. Gena Rowlands played her mother.
Another movie she was in that made me cry was 28 Days.

Mighty Joe Young is the only one I can remember that got me a little misty eyed. I know there were a few others though.

Brian's Song did it for me. Gale Sayers'(Billy Dee Williams)speech to his Chicago Bears teammates near the end completely did me in. The first time I saw it was in high school and it was nearly impossible to hide the tears.

All of the movies mentioned are great ones, of course, but the one that was most heart-rending for me has always been "Sophie's Choice". The scene where she is standing at the rail siding and the German officer tells her that she must give up one of her children. She cries "Ich kann nicht wahlen! Nein, ich kann nicht wahlen!" ("I cannot choose! No! I cannot choose!") The German officer threatens to take and kill them both and then she gives him her tiny daughter and he takes her away.

That scene is so horrifying that it actually physically hurt to watch, never mind cry. I've never seen it again since even though it is an absolutely towering performance by Meryl Streep.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was so freakin sad! Can you imagine how much sadder the 5th and 6th and then 7th will be!

I cried at the end of Life is Beautiful and Saving Private Ryan, but where I really bawled was at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. To see all those young men - my grandfather vicariously among them - throwing themselves at that beach and getting mowed down, each of them with a family at home who loved them, many of them with wives and children who would mourn them for decades, that brought me to tears.

I'm not much of a crier. There is one movie that made me squirt some:

Pay it Forward

Unbelievably good movie.

no doubt a brilliant movie... but there have many others that have moved me.

Have any of you seen Dancer in the Dark? That's a tear jerker.

hi all
i remember seeing Old Yeller when it first came out (and crying when jody had to do what he had to do for his dog).
of late, i have been tearing up more often as people i know are dying around me (about once a week, someone in the Veterans Home dies) and for movies--an affair to remember gets me every time when grant recalls the description of the lady who bought his painting and goes into her bedroom to see it hanging and returns to where she is covered by a blanket on the couch and she begins her explanation. heavy sigh-- just recalling this much.

The last movie that I saw that had me all teary eyed was "Click". Has anyone else seen it?

After reading through this again, I have to add two more to my list: Beaches with Bette Midler and The Piano with Holly Hunter. The Piano is one of my all-time favorite movies.

The Notebook - When Ally and Noah confess that they have always loved each other. "It wasn't over for me; it still isn't over" *sob*

Most other chick flicks; but Top Gun really hit me when Goose died

The Notebook. What a lovely film.

So many good choices! Of course Old Yeller was the first movie I ever cried at. I noticed people talk about Forrest Gump when he's at Jenny's grave. That's not where I tear up... it's when she says "you're his daddy, Forrest."
Someone mentioned "Mr. Holland's Opus." This one gets me because my dad was a high-school drama teacher, very similar in developing his relationships with students and having students come back years later to say how much he helped them, and not just with drama.
I must say I'm saved from crying in "Steel Magnolias" by Olympia Dukakis urging Sally Field to go ahead and hit Shirley Maclaine. Instead of crying I am grateful to be able to laugh.
I didn't see anyone mention the end of "American History X" when Derek is holding his brother and crying "What did I do?" It's a powerful moment for me.
Also "Mr. Roberts" when the radio man tells them that Mr. Roberts is dead, just before Pulver throws the palm tree overboard.

-Charlotte's Web, where the narrator stated Wilbur knew he'd never have another friend quite like Charlotte.

-Father of the Bride II, when Steve Martin is gazing upon the two babies he is holding in the hospital (his daughter and his grandson,) and also when his daughter gives a tiny basketball as a present to her little sister.

-Forrest Gump, when Forrest is giving a "speech" at a rally near the Washington Monument, and he and Jenny wade quickly through the water to greet & hug one another as the crowd cheers them on.

-The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy tearfully wishes the Scarecrow farewell (I think I'll miss you most of all!) before she clicks her heels and repeats, "there's no place like home." ...

-Dragonfly, when Kevin Costner enters the sacred hut, passes many of the tribe members, and for the first time, lays eyes upon the daughter that his deceased wife led him to. He tearfully picks up his daughter, as one of the tribe members utters a single word as he looks upon the daughter's unusual birthmark. The travel guide, who also served as a translator, simply says, "dragonfly."

-Mr. Holland's Opus, at the end, when he realizes that his life's work meant so much to those he inspired.

-Where the Red Ferns Grows. UGH, do I really have to explain why...? The doggies are gone, yet the red fern lives on & keeps their memory alive for the boy (now an adult) who loved them...? )

-The Other Sister. At the end, when she and Daniel get married, they exit the church & Daniel, smiling, says "This is my gift for my bride! THEN, the marching band with "Walking Wally" marches down the street, and stops to wish the two congratulations. (He really liked band music, and this is what was playing the first time that they were intimate, which was sweet & hilarious, in itself.)

The couple both had some learning disabilities, yet were special, vibrant, and -very- funny! It was such a great feeling to know that they found true love in spite of all those around them who were not, initially, on board.

Okay, I am either a baby, or waaaay too sentimental! I have exceeded my designated number of tear-jerking movies for the day. )