She’s ensconced in fur, her hair fiery red. He’s suited-up, his devlish blue eyes peeking from under his fedora.
“You wanna make an honest woman out of me?” she asks.
When Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone banter in “Gangster Squad,” with lines ripped right from the ’40s studio playbook, you can practically feel the steam wafting off the screen.
Rachel McAdams may have had his “Notebook,” (and a romantic rain scene to boot), but once Stone and Gosling were cast opposite each other in 2011’s “Crazy Stupid Love,” the actors took a big step toward establishing themselves as the new Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who starred in nine movies together from the late ’40s to the ’70s.
“When Emma and Ryan are on screen together, they’re electric,” says “Gangster Squad” director Ruben Fleischer, who previously directed Stone in “Zombieland.” “There’s an incredible charisma between them, and it’s so fun to watch.”
Gosling had been cast in “Gangster” first, but after working with Stone himself and seeing them together in “Crazy Stupid Love,” Fleischer knew that few other “bombshell actresses” could replicate the sparks.
“There’s an authenticity to their chemistry,” says Fleischer, who finds them comparable to Tracy and Hepburn, or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
“[When not filming], you can see how much they make each other laugh, and how much they have fun together. They’re truly kindred spirits, and they have a great affinity for one another. So when you combine them, it’s a serious thing to behold.
“They have the capacity to be a timeless on-screen couple,” adds Fleischer. “There’s a timeless quality to each of them, and I think they’ll both be around for a really long time.”
Film’s dynamic duos
Names: Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
Films Together: 9
The Gold Standard: 1949’s “Adam’s Rib”/ 1967’s “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”
Names: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Films Together: 4
The Gold Standard: 1944’s “To Have and Have Not”/ 1946’s “The Big Sleep”
Names: Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Films Together: 3
The Gold Standard: 1993‘s “Sleepless in Seattle”/ 1998’s ”You’ve Got Mail”