Ah, romance. A thousand and one classic songs, novels, and films start with the same boy-meets-girl scenario. Onscreen, the genre's screwball comedies, weepies, and everything in between do more than just lay out a love story or share a tale of heartbreak -- they reflect the era in which they were made. Take a look at how movie romances, and viewers' attitudes, have changed over the past 70 years.

From Here to Eternity, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, 1953. Courtesy of the Everett Collection.