Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so I thought it would be fun to compare two popular romantic films that both take place exactly one hundred years ago. One, from 1980, has a devoted fan base that gathers annually for a weekend-long convention at the film's remote island location. The other, from 1997, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the events of its story with a brand new 3D re-release this April.

In the first act of Titanic, we meet Old Rose (Gloria Stuart), a former actress, at the present-day site of the historic landmark on which the main story takes place. A newly-discovered portrait of her younger self (Kate Winslet) wearing a rare, long-lost diamond, triggers memories that take us, in flashback, to 1912.

In Somewhere In Time's opening act, Old Elise (Susan French), a former actress, delivers an antique pocket watch to Richard (Superman's Christopher Reeve). The watch, together with the discovery of a portrait of Young Elise (Jane Seymour) at the present-day, historic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, prompts Richard to time-travel to 1912.

Boy meets girl in the second act of both pictures, but it isn't easy. Jack (superstar Leonardo DiCaprio), a third-class passenger, isn't allowed on the same parts of the ship as aristocrat Rose. Theatre star Elise has a busy rehearsal schedule and an entourage of handlers keeping Richard from her.

When the couples do first meet, Rose and Elise are both melancholy and their first meetings are interrupted by Rose's possessive fiancé, Cal (Billy Zane), and Elise's controlling manager, Robinson (Christopher Plummer). Of course, the ladies manage to sneak away from their protectors, allowing love to blossom with their new suitors.

[Spoiler Alert]

Eventually we see the creation of the portraits that brought us back in time. Rose's is drawn by Jack himself, while Elise's bewitching smile is photographed as her gaze falls upon Richard, the man she now loves.

Both antagonists have their henchmen punch the heroes in the stomach and tie them up, then lie to the leading ladies -- Cal will get Jack on a lifeboat, Richard has left the island. Reluctantly accepting the lie, Rose leaves Titanic on another lifeboat while Elise leaves Mackinac Island with her theatre company. But both women soon return to be reunited with their men, who are then both torn from them -- Jack freezing to death in the Atlantic Ocean, Richard being transported back to 1980.

The men in both stories die young, the women die old, and they are all reunited once more (preserved in their 1912 personas) after death. Fade to black.

In the end, Rose, who escaped an arranged marriage, proclaims, "A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets." Elise, meanwhile, stars in a play as a woman also being forced into an arranged marriage. She ad libs a monologue on opening night, describing Richard as "the sort of man a woman dreams of in the deepest and most secret reaches of her heart."

So now you know the deepest secrets of writing a lasting love story for the big screen. Set it in 1912 and follow your heart. Happy Valentine's Day!

What are your favorite romantic movies?

Dan Margules! is a Los Angeles based screenwriter and novelist, co-founder of San Diego Filmmakers, and a board member of the Scriptwriters Network. His short film Begleiter is available in a Special Edition from Amazon.com or happy-the-dog.com. You can find more comparisons of Titanic and Somewhere In Time here and here.