Steam Up Your Screen With the 50 Sexiest Movie Scenes of All Time

There are sex scenes, and then there are sexy scenes. We all know what we're gonna get in a sex scene, but what's great (honestly, even better) about a sexy movie scene is that it can be almost anything. You might witness a sultry song performed by a paragon of sexuality like Marilyn Monroe and David Bowie—or there may be no dialogue at all, like the wordless listening-booth scene in Before Sunrise. People disrobe (to a degree) in sexy scenes, sure, but amid the expected kisses and classic seductions (here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson!), they might also throw pottery, learn to whistle, play paintball or even do something as G-rated as take off a ... glove.

A truly sexy movie moment transcends time, so for our selection of sexiest scenes ever, you'll find everything from a 1932 bubble bath to a 2019 pole dance. Whatever your genre or sexual preferences, if you’re looking for something sexy, there’s bound to be something here to get your heart racing.

(Note: We didn’t include foreign language films this time around, but that’s not an indictment of their sexiness. Quite the contrary: If we looped in the films of Sweden, France and Hong Kong, not to mention India, South Korea and Mexico, there is no way this list could be contained to a mere 50 movies.)

Without further ado, here are our picks for the 50 sexiest movie scenes of all time.

Related: The Best Outlander Love Scenes to Ever Steam Up Your Small Screen—Caution, NSFW!

50 Sexy Scenes in Movies

Marlon Brando changes his shirt, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

As the raw, rugged Stanley Kowalski, Marlon Brando makes his entrance in a sweat-stained T-shirt—which he immediately changes in full view of his Southern-belle sister-in-law, Blanche Dubois (Vivian Leigh). It’s a jolt to Belle’s fragile sensibilities, and a different kind of jolt to an audience experiencing young Brando’s raw magnetism for the first time.

Tattoo reveal, Bound (1996)

Playing the sexiest handyman in film history, Gina Gershon (as ex-con Corky) is hired by bored housewife Violet (Jennifer Tilly) for a plumbing job that turns out to be a blatant seduction. Violet recognizes Corky’s lesbian-coded arm tattoo, and shows off her own ink—which requires pulling down her bra strap.

Hotel tryst, Out of Sight (1998)

The sexual chemistry between Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney is off the charts in this Steven Soderbergh thriller, in which the two A-listers respectively play a U.S. Marshal and a bank robber who becomes enthralled with one another when she tries to take down his operation. Before the big heist, they meet at a hotel bar and she proposes a “time out” from their roles. The heated conversation is intercut with a playful scene of the couple taking off their clothes for one another, and then falling into bed.

Related: Who Doesn't Love J.Lo? Relive All of Jennifer Lopez's Famous Relationships 

Elevator foreplay, Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

“Take off your panties,” mysterious billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) tells publishing assistant Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) over dinner. Then, as they squeeze into a crowded elevator to get to his hotel room, he puts his hand up her skirt, bringing her perilously close to orgasm as the rest of the elevator’s occupants remain oblivious. It’s not the most explicit sex scene in the Fifty Shades trilogy, but it shows how Ana and Christian’s S&M dynamic can sizzle in any situation.

The listening booth, Before Sunrise (1995)

In what would become the first film of Richard Linklater’s decades-spanning trilogy, a directionless American (Ethan Hawke) and a French student (Julie Delpy) engage in a whirlwind romance over the course of a single night in Vienna. They spend most of that time in deep conversation, but are silent during the film’s most electric moment: crammed in a tiny listening booth at a record store, listening to a love song (“Come Here” by Kath Bloom), the strangers blush and avoid eye contact in the way that people only do when they’re secretly dying to kiss.

A last kiss in Paris, Casablanca (1942)

With the Germans invading outside the café window, lovers Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) top off a whirlwind Paris romance with one last drink. Rick believes this is just the beginning; Ilsa knows it’s the end. “Kiss me,” she begs. “Kiss me as if it were the last time.”And he does.

“Draw me like one of your French girls,” Titanic (1997)

Titanic passenger Rose (Kate Winslet) raises the heat on her flirtation with lower-class artist Jack (LeonardoDiCaprio) asking him to sketch her, gazing directly into his eyes as she models her heart-shaped necklace (and nothing else).

Marilyn Monroe’s Semi-Topless Ballad, Some Like It Hot (1959)

It may not be as iconic as Monroe standing above a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, but no moment captures the actress’s playful sex appeal better than her performance of “I Wanna Be Loved By You” in Billy Wilder’s gender-bending comedy. Monroe, playing unlucky-in-love chanteuse Sugar Kane, croons the song wearing a slinky gown with a sheer, strategically sequined bodice. The spotlight dancing over her famous bust creates a shocking nude illusion, while her winking performance makes it clear that she’s in on the fun.

“As you wish,” The Princess Bride (1987)

Before he becomes the Dread Pirate Roberts, fairytale dreamboat Wesley (Cary Elwes) is a simple farm boy—who answers every request by Buttercup (Robin Wright) with three simple words and a gaze that would make any maiden swoon.

Whistle lessons, To Have and Have Not (1944)

It takes first-time actress Lauren Bacall all of 90 seconds to melt the formidable Bogart into a puddle, in their most famous scene from Howard Hawks’ wartime drama. After surprising him with a kiss, she suggests that if he needs her again, he should whistle: “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” That chemistry led to real-life sparks; the couple married a year later, despite the 25-year age difference, and remained together until Bogart’s death.

The tango, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

We all know that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie fell in love making this sly spy comedy (while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston), and their taboo sexual tension is palpable. The best example is the tango scene, in which Pitt’s character knows that his wife (Jolie) is trying to kill him. The sexy secret agents grope and embrace on the dance floor, searching one another for weapons while breathlessly confessing long-held secrets.

Related: How Many Times Have Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Pitt Worked Together? 

Sex on the L train, Risky Business (1983)

Anyone who’s lived in an American city can tell you that having sex on public transportation is a thoroughly unappealing prospect. However, it looks like the hottest thing ever when Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay go at it on a late-night Chicago train ride in Cruise’s breakout blockbuster.

Mrs. Robinson’s leg, The Graduate (1967)

No one has ever been as flustered by a woman’s advances as Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), who sputters, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me!” when his father’s friend’s wife (Anne Bancroft) makes her move. But can you blame him? Bancroft is so cucumber-cool in this scene, playing her young suitor like a harmonica as she casually elevates her miniskirt-clad leg—leading to the famous shot of Hoffman framed by Bancroft’s bent knee.

Playing the jukebox, Moonlight (2016)

Years after a teenage sexual encounter that was secretly meaningful for them both, Miami diner waiter Kevin (André Holland) calls Atlanta drug dealer Chiron (Trevante Rhodes), asking if he’ll visit him at work. At the diner, Kevin plays the song that made him think of Chiron: Barbara Lewis’ dreamy “Hello Stranger.” Though sensitive Chiron has spent his life building a tough façade, the two men look into each other’s eyes, and everything between them crackles to the surface.