Heidi at Along the Brandywine has provided us with this charming tag as part of her Valentine's Day Period Drama Blog Party, and I'm sharing my answers today :-)  All titles and so on are linked to my own reviews on my blog, unless otherwise specified.

1) Your current three (or up to five!) favorite period dramas?

If we're not counting westerns, then they're:

1. We're No Angels (1955)
2. Ben-Hur (1959)
3. Chocolat (2000)
4. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
5. Anne of Green Gables (1985)

2) What would you recommend to someone who's never seen a period drama as a starter?

It really depends on what kinds of storylines they enjoy, and whether or not they're accustomed to watching older movies.  I find that kids tend to gravitate toward stories with kids in them, so The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), Little Women (1994), Anne of Green Gables (1985), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) often connect well for them.  If someone likes actiony movies, I'd recommend Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) or A Knight's Tale (2001).

If you mean "romantic costume drama," then I would start people with movies, not miniseries, and the ones with familiar actors and actresses, like Jane Eyre (2011), Emma (1996 Paltrow), Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Pride and Prejudice (2005).  It's easier to ease people into the idea of the whole "bonnets and breeches" thing in small doses if they're not used to them.

3) A favorite couple that wouldn’t be included in answer #1 (cause I’m figuring those are already top favorites ;)) and/or a favorite secondary character romance? 

Hmmm.  Well, I think I'm considering period dramas more broadly than you might be intending, as a most of my top favorites are more dramas set in a historical time period previous to when they were made, rather than romantic costume dramas.  I mean, there is romance in some of them, but only a little in several, and none at all in one.

Anyway, a favorite couple that's not included in those top five would be Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my favorite novel, and I have seen six different versions of it.  I love two (1983 and 2011) and like two (1943 and 1997) of them, and didn't care for two of them (1996 and 2006).  Hmm, a comparison post on them might be a fun thing to write up in the future...

ANYWAY, I absolutely love Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester because of how they change and grow throughout their story.  Jane must grow from naive and dependent girlhood to independent and wise womanhood.  She spends her whole life adamantly obeying God rather than the various men who try to run her life, but it's not until she begins to act for herself instead of always reacting against men that she becomes able to choose a husband for herself in a steady and wise way.  Notice what that famous line says: "Reader, I married him."  Not "he married me."  "I married him."  This was her choice, her active decision.  By the end of the story, she is not only the morally stronger half of their whole, but the physically stronger.  She chooses to use her strength to help the man she loves, for the rest of their lives.  No one tricks her into that marriage.

As for Edward Rochester, he has even more growing and changing to do, obviously.  His transformation from a selfish, shallow philanderer into a repentant and humble man who must ask and not insist... it's so beautiful.  Movie versions tend to leave out the whole part where he prays and prays, seeking God's forgiveness and asking for his help.  It's only after he's repented of his behavior and sought God that that little miracle happens, him crying out for the Jane he has lost, and her hearing him from far away.  It's like a prayer, like him asking God to give him back Jane.  And God answers with a yes.  Almost like a sign from God that yes, Rochester, you have repented and are forgiven.

All of that to say, they're my favorite :-)

4) What do you consider foundational qualities for a healthy romance? 

Honesty, respect, putting the other person above yourself, a shared belief system, and a deep interest in that person that makes you want to be interested in their interests, even the ones you don't already share.

Is that boring?  I also think physical attraction is important, but that a romance can only flourish if there's more to it than just "I think you're hot."

5) Worst villain/antagonist? 

It's a toss-up between John Thorpe from Northanger Abbey (2007) and Lucy Steele from Sense and Sensibility (1995).  UGH.

6) A favorite proposal scene? 

Well, to avoid nattering on about Jane Eyre for five paragraphs again, I'll go with the scene at the train station at the end of North and South (2004), with the rose from Helston and the shy smiles and the hard-won kiss.

7) Favorite period drama characters based on a real life couple? 

Martin (Joseph Fiennes) and Katherina (Claire Cox) Luther in Luther (2003).  Not only are they both heroes of mine (we debated naming our first daughter after Katherina von Bora, even), but they're portrayed very well and close to what we know of the real Martin and Katie.  (Side note:  I plan to review that movie later this year...)

8) Any classic b/w period dramas you like? 

Um, yes. Jane Eyre (1943) and Pride and Prejudice (1940) in particular.  I love many black-and-white movies, though most of them are film noir, westerns, or WWII pictures.

9) Most mature romance in a period drama? (mature as in age and/or characters who are consciously and wisely ripened by life experience, etc.) 

Ooooh.  So, assuming that this means new romance and not a couple who is already married by the time the movie starts... I will say the romance between Cal Wayne (Bobby Darin) and Amy Martin (Emily Banks) in Gunfight in Abilene (1967).  Although they had been sweethearts before Cal went away to fight in the Civil War, they are no longer a couple when he returns.  Amy had been told that he was dead, and so, after mourning him for a year or two, she became involved with Cal's best friend's older brother, Grant Evers (Leslie Nielson).  When Cal returns from the war, most definitely not dead, he brings with him a dire secret that prevents him from trying to woo Amy away from Grant.  

Amy has a serene womanliness that attests to how grief has tempered her and refined her like a fire.  Cal's own trials and tribulations have turned him from a cocky boy into a secretive and cautious man.  Together, Amy helps Cal heal from his past trauma, once she understands it.  And Cal repeatedly assures her of his forgiveness for her beginning a relationship with another man when she thought he was dead.  

I actually co-wrote a fanfiction follow-up to this story, "Aftermath in Abilene," which you can read on fanfiction.net here.  I explored how Cal's PTSD would continue affect both him and Amy after their marriage, as well as his job as sheriff of Abilene.  My co-writer focused on his deputy, and it was a lot of fun to write.  It's the only movie I've ever written fanfic for.

10) Most excruciatingly long, slow burn romance in a period drama? 

It is very hard for me to wait patiently for Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey) and Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell) to finally get to be together in Middlemarch (1994).

11) A story that has multiple film adaptations where you love more than one of them? 

Oh, goodness.  How much time do we have?  I love many versions of Hamlet (especially 1964/Richard Burton, 1990/Mel Gibson, 1996/Kenneth Branagh, 2000/Ethan Hawke, and 2011 Bruce Ramsay).  I love two Jane Eyre films (1983 and 2011), as mentioned above.  I love three Pride and Prejudice adaptations (2005, 1995, 1940).  I discussed my tendency to like multiple adaptations of the same story more fully in this blog post on my book blog a few years ago.

12) A book you think needs to be made into a film (or a new adaptation)?

I want a big-screen adaptation of Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery.  I know there's a TV version made in the late '80s, but I've never seen it because it's a little expensive on DVD.  So I want one with Tom Hiddleston as Andrew Stuart, Dafne Keen as Jane, and Nicole Kidman as Robin.  Any time now, Hollywood.

Okay!  That was extremely fun, and I hope you enjoy reading my lengthy answers :-)  I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day weekend, however you may choose to spend it.

This is one of those films that I saw a small part of on AMC when I was a teen in the '90s, just enough to let me know that I absolutely had to see the rest of it sometime.  This happened whenever we were on vacation and stayed at a hotel with a cable TV that got AMC.  Back then, that channel actually showed classic American movies, and they very helpfully put the name of the film at the bottom of the screen from time to time.  This was particularly awesome if you, like me, only managed to watch part of a movie.  

I used to write down titles of movies in the backs of my journals, ones I really wanted to see the rest of.  Movies like We're No Angels (1955), And Now Tomorrow (1944), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), Night of the Grizzly (1966), and this.  There's still at least one movie that I saw part of that way that I still haven't tracked down, though in that case, I don't actually know the name of it.  I just know it was a jungle adventure in black-and-white that featured a man named Brandy with a mustache and a pith helmet.  My brother and I have spent twenty years arguing about whether or not Brandy was blond or dark-haired.  We may never know.

Anyway!  I didn't manage to get a copy of Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation until after I was married.  I loved it immediately, and promptly sent a copy to my parents too, because I knew they would love it too.  And they did.  Because how could they not?

Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) is a successful banker who lives in St. Louis.  He is, to understate things, a busy man.  When his wife Peggy (Maureen O'Hara) suggests that they take a vacation that summer, he's all for the idea... until he finds out what she intends.

Peggy wants to rent a quaint seaside house and share it with not only their teenage daughter Katey (Lauri Peters) and adolescent son Danny (Michael Burns), but also with their grown daughters, their husbands, and their children.  Roger protests that it won't be a vacation, it'll be a circus, but to no avail.

The house they rent turns out to be a hulking, quirky mansion.  The plumbing is unreliable.  The stairs are rickety.  

The newel post comes off in Roger's hand in what I assume is a nod to It's a Wonderful Life (1946).  

Mr. Hobbs spends a great deal of time fighting with a mechanical water pump that never actually pumps water for him, only ever for other people.  

Even Peggy's optimism begins to fray.

Their daughters arrive, husbands and children in tow.  Roger spends what feels like hours lugging people's luggage up the rickety stairs.  His grandchildren are little terrors who call him "Boompah" and don't understand the meaning of the word 'no.'  His teenage daughter Katey refuses to talk to anyone, ever, because she just got braces on her teeth and is ashamed of them.  

His youngest child, Danny, spends his every waking moment in front of the television, which he's rigged up with a homemade aeriel made from an umbrella skeleton.

And then, when Roger announces one morning that he's going to go out and get a little sun on the beach, ready to relax at last, their cook Brenda (Minerva Urecal) leaves in a towering fury because she thinks he swore at her.

Roger gives up on his grown daughters, but he's sure he can still save this vacation by connecting with his younger offspring.  He and Peggy take Katey to a local dance, where she refuses to dance with anyone.  When Roger comes up with a way to convince the boys in attendance to ask her to dance, she won't speak to them because of her braces.  

But eventually, handsome Joe (Fabian) gets her to talk, and from then on, Katey spends her every waking hour hanging out with Joe and his friends, singing songs and listening to Bobby Darin records (I'm not even making that up).  So much for Roger getting to connect with her, but at least he's found a way to help her enjoy herself.

He's still convinced he needs to spend time with his son Danny, however, so he takes him out in a funny little boat called a "spatterbox" that he doesn't actually know how to handle.  They get lost.  They get found.  And Roger succeeds in connecting with this child, at least.

If all of this sounds annoying, sad, or just plain loony, I assure you that it is none of those things!  It's a funny blend of sarcasm, sweetness, and situational humor that shows how difficult it is for different generations to understand each other, while pointing out that love and kindness cover over a multitude of annoyances.  My favorite thing about this movie is how Roger Hobbs with narrate the events in his thoughts (provided to us via voiceover) in the most melancholy, extreme ways possible, kind of adding a bit of a Walter Mitty touch to it.  

Maureen O'Hara and James Stewart have wonderful chemistry, really convincing me they're a middle-aged married couple who are comfortable with each other, but still attracted to each other, too.  I absolutely love both of them in this movie.  

I also love that Tom Lowell has a bit part in one scene here, playing a boy who dances with Katey.  He played Billy Nelson on my favorite TV show ever, Combat! (1962-67), and it's such fun seeing him here in his first feature film.  (You might know him as Canoe in the original 1965 version of That Darn Cat!).  Also, Herb Alpert has a cameo as a trumpet player at that same party, and I love his music, so that's very cool to me.

Is this movie family-friendly?  Mostly.  There are a few old-fashioned cuss words, the misunderstanding about that "sun on the beach" remark, a little mild innuendo involving a girl who wears skimpy bathing suits, and a very odd moment where Roger Hobbs mentions buying Playboy magazines for his son Danny that always weirds me out a little.  Kids wouldn't know what that was, so it would be fine, really.  I would let my kids watch this, we just haven't gotten around to it yet.

This has been my contribution to the Home Sweet Home Blogathon hosted this week by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Taking Up Room :-)  Happy Friday, everyone!