The Way We Were (1973)

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 | Friend | Writer | Writing | Activist

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Barbra Streisand	...	Katie
Robert Redford	...	Hubbell
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:
Sean Collins	...	Army Corporal (uncredited)
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)
Francis Ford Coppola		additional writer (uncredited)
David Rayfiel		additional writer (uncredited)
Dalton Trumbo		additional writer (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
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup
Kaye Pownall	....	hairstyles

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
Michael Britton	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Richard M. Rubin	....	properties
Bob Frazier	....	swing gang (uncredited)
Carl Hansen	....	swing gang (uncredited)
Robert Hart	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Jack Iannarelli	....	props (uncredited)
Richie Kent	....	swing gang (uncredited)
George Luxemberg	....	props (uncredited)
Bud Pine	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)
George Tours	....	swing gang (uncredited)

Sound Department
Richard Portman	....	re-recording
Kay Rose	....	sound effects
Jack Solomon	....	sound
Sharron Miller	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Jerry Trent	....	dance foley (uncredited)
Bud Wolfe	....	sound (uncredited)
Al Yaylian	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Dean	....	grip (uncredited)
Ralph Gerling	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Clifford Hutchison	....	electrician (uncredited)
Carl Manoogian	....	grip (uncredited)
Ray Marshall	....	electrician (uncredited)
Glenn Maschmeyer	....	grip (uncredited)
Richard Craig Meinardus	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Herb Neft	....	electrician (uncredited)
Charles J. Renaud	....	grip (uncredited)
Frank Shugrue	....	stills (uncredited)
Dick Singer	....	electrician (uncredited)
Robert Spence	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Albert Taffet	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Bill Tharp	....	grip (uncredited)
Bob Wooten	....	electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Richard Bruno	....	costumes (uncredited)
Marie Osborne	....	costumes (uncredited)
Bernie Pollack	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)
Shirlee Strahm	....	costumes (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Margaret Booth	....	supervising film editor

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

Transportation Department
Paulie DiCocco	....	driver: Barbra Streisand (uncredited)
Bill Meredith	....	transportation (uncredited)
James Morris	....	transportation (uncredited)
Kay Watson	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Betty Crosby	....	script supervisor
Phill Norman	....	titles
Carol Shapiro	....	unit publicist
Nicholas Barber	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Sheila Barnes	....	secretary to director (uncredited)
Grover Dale	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Charles W. Geiger	....	location manager (uncredited)
Ken Hardie	....	craft service (uncredited)
Vince Martinez	....	location auditor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (present) (as Columbia Pictures)
• Rastar Productions (present)
• Tom Ward Enterprises (casting) (uncredited)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (as Columbia)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1973) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1974) (1986) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (LaserDisc)

Other Companies

• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Japan:G (2009) | Peru:14 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (1991) (1999) | UK:PG (tv rating)

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:

Revealing mistakes: In California, Katie is holding a "hot" pot and offers it to Hubble. He takes the spoonful and notes that it is indeed hot. However, moments later, Katie is holding the bottom of the pot with her bare hands.

Quotes:

Katie Morosky Gardner:I don't have the right style for you do I?
Hubbell Gardner:No you don't have the right style.
Katie Morosky Gardner:I'll change.
Hubbell Gardner:No, don't change. You're your own girl, you have your own style.
Katie Morosky Gardner:But then I won't have you. Why can't I have you?
Hubbell Gardner:Because you push too hard, every damn minute. There's no time to ever relax and enjoy living. Every things too serious to be so serious.
Katie Morosky Gardner:If I push too hard it's because I want things to be better, I want us to be better, I want you to be better. Sure I make waves you have I mean you have to. And I'll keep making them till your everything you should be and will be. You'll never find anyone as good for you as I am, to believe in you as much as I do or to love you as much.
Hubbell Gardner:I know that.
Katie Morosky Gardner:Well then why?
Hubbell Gardner:Do you think if I come back its going to be okay by magic? What's going to change? What's going to be different? We'll both be wrong, we'll both lose.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Wolverine/Ghosts of Girlfriends Past/Battle for Terra (#1.10)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Paper Doll

Hollywood schmaltz or deeply felt love story?

Actually, "The Way We Were" is both, and happily so. It's a classy romantic period drama about a 1940s wallflower in New York who blooms in love with her ex-jock boyfriend (an old acquaintance from their college days), and the movie overflows with star-power. None of today's celebrities have the kind of chemistry Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford bring to the screen, and Streisand in particular is so deeply into this character that the herky-jerky editing and breathless writing don't harm her or get in the way (the faults can easily be overlooked). When writer Redford adapts his novel into a screenplay and the couple marries and moves to Hollywood in the McCarthy-Blacklist era, her passion for politics gets them both in hot water; that's where this script hits a snag, with increasingly melodramatic plotting (Redford's affair with a former flame) and confusion in the character motivations (this primarily due to hasty, eleventh-hour editing). Still, it is a handsomely-produced movie with a great tearjerker ending and two fine stars who plow right through the nonsense and bumpy continuity. They transcend the make-believe surroundings, turning the picture into something really special, something to remember. ***1/2 from ****