We can’t forget Indy’s adventures. Or Han Solo’s bravado. As Harrison Ford continues to charm audiences, here’s a look at some romances he starred in.
When Princess Leia told Han Solo she loves him, he replied ‘I know’ (The Empire Strikes Back, 1980). Indiana Jones tells Marion Ravenwood, “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage (Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981). Harrison Ford, the true blue action hero, has saved us from boredom many times over as space pirate Han Solo, archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones, CIA analyst Jack Ryan and Rick Deckard among other roles.
The 73-year-old actor reprised his role as Han Solo in J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens. Just like in Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) where Indy is quite the family man telling his son, Mutt, to finish school and Marion there were other women but “they weren’t you honey,” The Force Awakens, presents an older and mellower Han Solo. It is another matter that Han and Leia’s son, Kylo drove them apart (Who are Rey’s Parents?). While Ford has enthralled us in movie after movie with his swashbuckling derring-do, he has also acted in romances from the sublime (Witness) to the silly (Six Days Seven Nights). Here is a look at some of them.
Hanover Street (1979)
This war-time romance directed by Peter Hyams feels like an earnest cousin of Casablanca. Harrison Ford, as bomber pilot Lieutenant David Halloran, traded the Millennium Falcon for a B-25 and the galaxy far away for London in 1943. A chance encounter on Hanover Street brings Halloran and an English nurse Margaret Sellinger (Lesley-Anne Down) together. They fall in love but there is a husband , Paul (Christopher Plummer), who is a deadly dull spy — Hollywood’s revenge on James Bond. There is an undercover mission, much bullets and Nazis before Halloran tells Margaret he loves her enough to let her go . Hard on the heels of Ford’s intergalactic Star Wars success, Hanover Street is fun in a comfortable, stereotypical way.
Witness (1985)
Film critic Roger Ebert called Peter Weir’s Witness “an electrifying and poignant love story.” Ford plays Detective John Book who is assigned to investigate a murder. Eight-year-old Samuel Lapp, an Amish boy who is visiting Philadelphia with his mother, Rachel (Kelly McGillis), is the only witness to the murder. Witness explores the slowly-growing love between Book and Rachel. The contrasts might be too obvious between gun-toting outsider and the simple Amish, but the scene where Book and Rachel dance to the car radio is heart-breakingly beautiful. Again it is love that cannot be as their worlds are too far apart. Sigh.
Working Girl (1988)
A rom-com before it was a genre, Mike Nichols’ Working Girl featured Melanie Griffith as Tess McGill, a secretary dreaming of an executive position. Sigourney Weaver is her wicked boss, Katherine Parker, while Ford plays Parker’s boyfriend, Jack Trainer, who falls for Tess. The star-studded film had Kevin Spacey as Tess’ lecherous colleague and Alec Baldwin as her cheating boyfriend. The movie is engaging with strong performances. We would like to join Jack’s team in a standing ovation as Ford changes his shirt.
Sabrina (1995)
Yes Julia Ormond is no Audrey Hepburn and nor is Greg Kinnear William Holden. Harrison Ford is wonderful as workaholic Linus Larrabee — Humphrey Bogart in the Billy Wilder’s 1954 film. Directed by Sydney Pollack, Sabrina was weighed down by the inevitable comparisons, however Ford lent the film suitable box office sheen, glasses, tuxedo and all making one’s heart go ole! ole! Yeh Dillagi (1994) with Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Kajol was based on Sabrina as well.
The Age of Adaline (2015)
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, The Age of Adaline tells of Adaline, (Blake Lively) who meets with an accident when she is 29 and stops aging — it is a fantasy. A bitter-sweet film on love and loss, Ford plays William Jones who falls in love with Adaline many years ago. Since Adaline cannot fall in love, she stood William up as he waited with a ring to propose her. Ford’s expression when he sees Adaline after all those years proves what a consummate actor he is apart from being a superstar.
We love him and he knows it!
