A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 10 wins & 16 nominations total
Videos7
Katharine Balfour
- Mrs. Barrettas Mrs. Barrett
- (as Katherine Balfour)
Tommy Lee Jones
- Hank - Oliver's Roommateas Hank - Oliver's Roommate
- (as Tom Lee Jones)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
The love story of young adults Oliver Barrett IV and Jenny Cavilleri is told. Oliver comes from an extremely well off and old money New England family, the Barrett name which holds much gravitas and which is plastered especially all over Harvard where Oliver is in pre-law. Like those before him, he plans on attending Harvard Law School, which is not an issue in either the school not accepting him or he not wanting to attend. He has an extremely stiff relationship with his parents, especially his father, Oliver Barrett III, who loves his son in the old school way. Jenny, a music student at Radcliffe, comes from a working class Rhode Island background, she working her way through the program before she plans on going to Paris to further her studies. Unlike Oliver's relationship with his father, Jenny has a very casual one with her baker father, who she calls by his given name Phil. When Oliver and Jenny meet, there are immediate fireworks - she always with a quick quip to put him in his place - both of a good and bad kind, but they both quickly come to the realization that they are in love with each other. They have many obstacles to overcome in having a committed relationship, outwardly his father's disapproval of someone like her not being Barrett material being arguably the the biggest. However, other things that happen in the natural course of life and death may trump all. —Huggo
- Taglines
- Love means never having to say you're sorry
- Genres
- Certificate
- AA
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe scenes with Oliver Barrett walking alone through a snowy New York were added after principal photography was completed. The production was almost out of money and did not have the necessary funds for permits to shoot in New York City again - so all the shots were grabbed illegally using a skeleton film crew and Ryan O'Neal.
- GoofsDuring HarvardVDartmouth Oliver is seen wearing #7 jersey for Harvard. In the penalty box he tells Jenny that he is concentrating on how he is going to total the Dartmouth player who had him sent to the box. He points to the Dartmouth player who at this point has just taken down another Harvard player that is clearly wearing #7.
- Quotes
Jennifer Cavalieri: You look stupid and rich.
Oliver Barrett IV: Well, what if I'm smart and poor?
Jennifer Cavalieri: *I'm* smart and poor.
Oliver Barrett IV: Well what makes you so smart?
Jennifer Cavalieri: I wouldn't go out for coffee with you that's what.
Oliver Barrett IV: Well what if I wasn't even gonna ask you to go out for coffee with me?
Jennifer Cavalieri: Well that's what makes you stupid.
- Crazy creditsUnusually, for a movie released in the early 1970s, there were no opening credits after the title has been shown.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
- SoundtracksConcerto No. 3 in D Major
Johann Sebastian Bach (as J. S. Bach)
Top review
Easy to understand why this had the country lined up around the block...
Everyone dreams of that love of a lifetime, which is perhaps why this film was so phenomenally successful. It features a young couple in love--in unabashed love--without a hint of that then-trendy lust or flaky passion. These college kids are not beatniks or rebels; they have family members who disapprove, but they forge ahead with their marriage plans while not seeming too reckless. At least not to us. We see that they have the kind of desire for each other that is so well-meaning it's practically G-rated (only some of Ali MacGraw's tart language keeps the film from being so). It's a moving film, not particularly warm or fuzzy (and by that, I don't just refer to the chilly Eastern locales). The couple face cynicism and tragedy, and director Arthur Hiller (doing his only truly great work behind the camera) is wise not to shift too much away from these two. The audience ends up hanging onto their every word in preparation for what's on the way. No wonder that final line of dialogue ("Love means...") is so legendary: the entire picture rests on it. *** from ****
helpful•62
- moonspinner55
- Apr 1, 2002
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $106,550,690
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $87,198
- Feb 9, 2020
- Gross worldwide
- $106,550,690
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