The Way We Were (1973)

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

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writer:

Arthur Laurents

Stars:

Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman

Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

The often unlikely joint lives of Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner from the late 1930s to the late 1950s is presented, over which time, they are, in no particular order, strangers, acquaintances, friends, best friends, lovers and adversaries. The unlikely nature of their relationship is due to their fundamental differences, where she is Jewish and passionate about her political activism both in political freedoms and Marxism to an extreme where she takes life a little too seriously, while he is the golden boy WASP, being afforded the privileges in life because of his background but who on the most part is able to capitalize on those privileges. Their lives are shown in four general time periods, in chronological order when they attend the same college, their time in New York City during WWII, his life as a Hollywood screenwriter post-war, and his life as a writer for a New York based live television show. It is during college that Hubbell finds his voice in life as a writer, and ...

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Plot Keywords:

communist | unfaithfulness | infidelity | soviet flag | reference to josef stalin | 

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Taglines:

Streisand and Redford together!!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 October 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nuestros años felices

Filming Locations:

Plaza Hotel - 750 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$49,919,870, 31 December 1974

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Rastar Productions,Tom Ward Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marvin Hamlisch:

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Hubbell Gardner: The trouble with some people is they work too hard.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Ruth Gordon/Chuck Berry (1977)

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Soundtracks

In The Mood
(1939) (uncredited)
Music by Joe Garland and Andy Razaf
From Wingy Manone's "Tar Paper Stomp" (1930)
Played on a radio (probably by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra)

User Reviews

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.