The Way We Were (1973)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writer:

Arthur Laurents (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

19 October 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Everything seemed so important then .. even love!

Plot:

Two desperate people have a wonderful romance, but their political views and convictions drive them apart.

Plot Keywords:

College | Writing | Hollywood | Communist | Bittersweet

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Barbra Streisand	...	Katie Morosky
Robert Redford	...	Hubbell Gardner
Bradford Dillman	...	J.J.
Lois Chiles	...	Carol Ann
Patrick O'Neal	...	George Bissinger
Viveca Lindfors	...	Paula Reisner
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Rhea Edwards
Murray Hamilton	...	Brooks Carpenter
Herb Edelman	...	Bill Verso
Diana Ewing	...	Vicki Bissinger
Sally Kirkland	...	Pony Dunbar
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Peggy Vanderbilt
Don Keefer	...	Actor
George Gaynes	...	El Morocco Captain
Eric Boles	...	Army Corporal
Barbara Peterson	...	Ashe Blonde
Roy Jenson	...	Army Captain
Brendan Kelly	...	Rally Speaker
James Woods	...	Frankie McVeigh
Constance Forslund	...	Jenny (as Connie Forslund)
Robert Gerringer	...	Dr. Short
Susan Blakely	...	Judianne (as Susie Blakely)
Edward Power	...	Airforce (as Ed Power)
Susanne Zenor	...	Dumb Blonde (as Suzanne Zenor)
Dan Seymour	...	Guest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorian Cusick	...	Professor's Wife (uncredited)
Robert Dahdah	...	Officer Passing Plaza (uncredited)
Beverly Goodman	...	Young Lady Pedestrian (uncredited)
Marvin Hamlisch	...	Guest at movie screening (uncredited)
Don Koll	...	Officer Dining (uncredited)
Bruce Pecheur	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Cornelia Sharpe	...	Girl at Party (uncredited)
Andrea True	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Sydney Pollack

Writing credits
Arthur Laurents		(written by)
David Rayfiel		uncredited

Produced by
Richard A. Roth	....	associate producer (as Richard Roth)
Ray Stark	....	producer

Original Music by
Marvin Hamlisch

Cinematography by
Harry Stradling Jr.		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John F. Burnett

Production Design by
Stephen B. Grimes		(as Stephen Grimes)

Set Decoration by
William Kiernan

Costume Design by
Dorothy Jeakins
Moss Mabry

Makeup Department
Donald Cash Jr.	....	makeup artist
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup artist
Kaye Pownall	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Russell Saunders	....	unit production manager (as Russ Saunders)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hawk Koch	....	assistant director (as Howard Koch Jr.)
Jerry Ziesmer	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Richard M. Rubin	....	property master

Sound Department
Richard Portman	....	sound re-recordist
Kay Rose	....	sound effects
Jack Solomon	....	sound
Sharron Miller	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Jerry Trent	....	dance foley (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Taffet	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bernie Pollack	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Margaret Booth	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Ken Runyon	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Paulie DiCocco	....	driver: Barbra Streisand (uncredited)
James Morris	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Betty Crosby	....	script supervisor
Phill Norman	....	title designer
Carol Shapiro	....	unit publicist
Nicholas Barber	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Grover Dale	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Rastar Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1974) (1986) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (video)

Other Companies

• Solters & Digney  publicity

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Ballston Spa, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

After preview reactions, director Sydney Pollack took out a sequence of several scenes from the movie's climactic turning point, most notably: (1) a highly emotional scene where Katie drives through UCLA and stops to watch a young woman hold a political speech, reminding Katie of herself 20 years ago (2) a dialog between Katie and Hubbell where he tells her that someone has informed on her. Having a "subversive" wife, it's clear that (unless she would inform, too) he will be fired.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford embrace. He's wearing a trench coat with the collar up. In the course of the embrace, shot from behind Redford, Streisand's gloved hand moves down the back of his head, ultimately flattening the collar of the trench coat. In the next shot, face-on to Redford, the collar of the trench coat is back up.

Quotes:

Hubbell Gardner: You think you're easy? Compared to what, the Hundred Years' War?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Charlton Heston/Paul Westerberg (#19.8)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

The Way We Were

When political commitment was stronger than personal commitment

Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford look wonderful in this great story of doomed love. Character development (or arc) is supposed to be one of the basic elements of a good screenplay; but the whole point of Sydney Pollack's 1973 movie is that neither Katie Moroski nor Hubbell Gardner changes. She remains the serious-minded Jewish left-wing activist, and he the easy-going, politically uncommitted WASP, they are when they first meet in college in 1937. Fascinated with each other precisely because they are such opposites, they have an affair, marry and have a baby; but their inability to compromise - or in his case to stop compromising - leads to break-up.

The main action spans the eventful decade from the Spanish Civil War and New Deal, through WWII, to the McCarthy era, by which time Katie and Hubbell have moved from New York to Hollywood, where he is a screenwriter. Though melodramatic and sketchy, the political dimension of the story should not be underestimated; this is one of the very rare American movies in which a communist is treated sympathetically. Presumably much of this side of the scenario stemmed from the personal experience of writer Arthur Laurents, who was the same age as his protagonists, and who had McCarthy-related problems.

Both stars are perfect for their roles; we can see what they see in each other; and we desperately want it to work for them, though we know it won't! Notable in support are Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, and James Woods. The theme song, emotionally delivered by Streisand as only she can, is beautiful, but the relevance of its nostalgic lyric to this clear-eyed movie is doubtful.