A Brief History of Kissing in Movies By A. O. SCOTT DEC. 10, 2014 The New York Times Magazine The first open-mouthed kiss was in the 1926 film “Flesh and the Devil.” Countess Felicitas von Rhaden (Greta Garbo) meets an Austrian soldier, Leo von Harden (John Gilbert). Credit MGM/Photofest Who was your first kiss? Not the actual, physical kiss — that is really none of m..