July is National Ice Cream Month in the USA, and believe it or not, it’s been official since the moment President Ronald Reagan signed it into public law on July 9, 1984. That presidential declaration also designated the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day calling “upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

What can be better than visiting one’s neighborhood scoop shop on a hot summer day for the favorite flavor of a ‘legendairy’ treat known since ancient times when Persians invented an ice cream recipe for their royal families made from saffron, iced rose water, vermicelli, and fruit?

‘Cone-noisseurs’ know that ice cream is a perfect companion for movie-watching and TV—bingeing, especially in summer, though it is a frequent guest star itself. Curiously, most of the ice cream we see on screen isn’t ice cream but meringue or butter with sugar. So let’s look back on the most ‘i-cone-ic’ moments in movies.

Roman Holiday by William Wyler made 24-year-old Audrey Hepburn a star in 1953; the role of Princess Ann garnered her the first Golden Globe in her career. Moreover, it made Rome’s Plaza de España one of the major tourist spots in the world because of the scene when Princess Ann and journalist Joe Bradley (Golden Globe-winning Gregory Peck) eat ice cream on the Spanish Steps of the square. This ice cream moment has become one of the most recognizable in cinema though it was lightly criticized for the fact that Princess Ann is an ice cream cone-waster because she threw out the cone when there was still ice cream left in it.

Interestingly, in her 1962 role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Hepburn was asked to nibble a croissant in the opening scene outside the NYC jewelry store. She didn’t like pastries and requested the croissant be replaced by an ice cream cone. Unfortunately, that request was turned down by Blake Edwards, and the Golden Globe winner was finally captured holding a croissant and a paper coffee cup from Schrafft’s, the legendary chain of New York eateries.

The vast menu at Schrafft’s wasn’t limited to coffee and pastries. Ice cream was one of its main attractions, whether it was a giant cup of ice cream or the butterscotch sundae known as the favorite dessert of President Kennedy. Nevertheless, one of the most famous onscreen appearances of Schrafft’s turned up in the Golden Globe-winning drama Kramer vs. Kramer starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as a couple going through a wrenching divorce and custody battle. In 1980, this film brought Hoffman his second Golden Globe award, while Streep received her very first Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.

For single dad Ted Kramer (played by Hoffman) and his son Billy (played by Golden Globe nominee Justin Henry), Schrafft’s chocolate chip ice cream becomes a test for parenting bonds. When Billy refuses to eat Salisbury steak for dinner and heads toward the fridge to get his favorite ice cream, Ted exclaims: “You put that ice cream in your mouth, and you are in very, very, VERY big trouble!”

On the contrary, the 2004 romantic drama Notebook validates ice cream as the perfect date food, as Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (the Golden Globe winner Ryan Gosling) prove that sticky vanilla ice cream kisses look sweet on the silver screen even after Allie smashes ice cream into her boyfriend’s face before kissing him.

There are plenty of ice cream stereotypes in cinema. “Girls like ice cream,” assures Tony Montana (Golden Globe winner Al Pacino) in 1983s Scarface by Brian De Palma.

Indeed, ice cream is frequently stereotyped as the #1 break-up food: if a person (in most cases, a young woman) grabs a pint of ice cream out of the freezer, we understand she most probably tries to soothe heartbreak. For instance, after the 2004 Edge of Reason film adaptation, an image of Bridget Jones (played by Golden Globe winner Renée Zellweger), wrapping herself in a comforter and trying to chase away her love triangle sadness with a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, is still one of the most viral memes in pop culture.

However, HBO’s Friends breaks the stereotype in season three (1996). When Monica (Golden Globe nominee Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Golden Globe winner Jennifer Aniston) try to comfort Chandler (Golden Globe nominee Matthew Perry) through his relationship issues, they offer him a hefty tub of French vanilla ice cream. He complains that it “tastes like crap.” Rachel replies: “Yeah, well, that’s that low-cal, non-dairy, soymilk junk. We save the real stuff for the truly terminal cases.” Monica adds: “You know when you start getting screwed over all the time, you gotta switch to low-fat.”

There are indeed a lot of ice cream scenes both in critically acclaimed films and the most famous sitcoms and TV series with a huge variety of flavors and types of this dessert.

In 2001’s The Princess’ Diaries starring Golden Globe winner Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis who physically transforms into a princess, green frozen sorbet is served as a palette cleanser between courses. Being unaware of such a culinary practice, Mia gets a massive spoonful of sorbet and has a spell of brain freeze.

But it should be said, gelato never tastes better than it does when you try it for the very first time as we see in 2021 in the Golden Globe-nominated Luca.

In 2017’s Wonder Woman Gal Gadot plays Diana, Princess of Themyscira, who comes from a long line of fierce female warriors with superhero skills but still has not seen quite a few things before, and ice cream becomes one of her revelations. “It’s wonderful! You should be very proud,” she says to the ice cream vendor.