The Way We Were
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| The Way We Were | |
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| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Written by | Arthur Laurents |
| Starring | Barbra Streisand Robert Redford Bradford Dillman Lois Chiles |
| Release date(s) | October 17, 1973 |
| Running time | 118 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Way We Were is a 1973 film which tells the story of an intense Jewish woman who marries a carefree WASP following World War II. Fundamental differences in the way they engage the world – as revealed in their responses to the rise of McCarthyism – eventually pull them apart. Starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, along with Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O'Neal and Viveca Lindfors, the film is both a romance of star-crossed lovers and a morality tale about the importance of commitment to both individuals and relationships.
An underlying theme, too, is the elusive quality and role of beauty: Externally, Hubbell's perfect features, aristocratic air, and self-assurance contrast with Katie's homeliness, awkwardness, and agitated yearning. But as the story unfolds, her sterling character shines forth, while his gifts are squandered, untapped for any purpose larger or deeper than self-gratification. A bittersweet role reversal transpires, in which she blossoms as a true beauty, while he fades into slack insubstantiality (Streisand would later star in other films that reflect this trope, including A Star is Born and Yentl).
The film was a runaway hit in theaters, and became the fifth-highest grossing film of 1973.
The movie was written by Arthur Laurents and David Rayfiel (uncredited) and directed by Sydney Pollack.
Part of the movie was filmed on location in New York's Capital Region. The first part of the movie was shot at Union College and in and around Ballston Spa, New York.
Tagline: Some memories last forever.
A flashback tells the story of an idealistic young woman, Katie (Barbra Streisand), who falls in love with Hubbell (Robert Redford), while they are college students in the 1930s. Their differences are immense: She is a Marxist, with strong anti-war opinions, and he is a laid-back troublemaker. She is drawn to him because of his goyish handsomeness, and his writing, which she finds confident and captivating. He is intrigued by her conviction, and determination to persuade others to take up social causes.
Years go by and they meet again. Now she works in a radio station and he, having fought in World War II, is settling into a conventional lifestyle. They fall in love and marry, as much because of their differences in background and temperament, as despite them. Soon though, Katie is incensed by the cynical jokes Hubbell's friends make. She cannot understand why he does not share her indignation at their insensitivity and their shallow dismissal of political engagement. On the other hand, his serenity is disturbed by her want of social grace and polarizing postures.
Katie is disappointed when Hubbell seeks a job as a screenwriter in Hollywood. She believes it to be a compromising waste of his literary talent, and encourages him to pursue writing as a serious challenge instead. Despite her growing frustration, they move to California. He becomes a successful, if desultory, screenwriter and the couple enjoy affluence and leisure, but her passion about the human condition abides.
Even though Katie is pregnant with their child, Hubbell has an affair with Carol Ann (Lois Chiles), his girlfriend in college and recent ex-wife of his best friend J.J. (Bradford Dillman). Katie and Hubbell decide to part. She finally sees that he is not the man she idealized when she fell in love: He will always choose to take the easiest way out — whether it is cheating in his marriage or writing predictable stories for sitcoms. Hubbell is exhausted, unable either to live on the pedestal she has thrust him upon, or to face her disappointment when he slides down into the mire.
Several years later, they meet on the street in New York by coincidence. Hubbell, who is with a stylish beauty, is now writing for a popular sitcom as one of a group of hired and nameless writers, apparently content. Katie, too, has remained faithful to who she is — flyers in hand, she is still agitating for causes which have the potential to change the world for the better.
In the movie's final scene, Hubbell asks Katie about their daughter Rachel. Now re-married, Katie tells him that he should come see for himself how beautiful she is. Hubbell walks away saying that he will, only to re-appear a moment later to confess that he can't. Katie's knowing nod acknowledges what they both, finally, understand. He was at his best when he was with her, and no one will ever believe in him or see as much promise in him as she once did. He could not bear it then, and cannot bear it now. All that Hubbell and Katie can ever share is a poignant memory of "the way we were".
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[edit] Awards
The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Music, Song (Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman for "The Way We Were"), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbra Streisand), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.
[edit] The title song
In addition to the title song's Oscar win, Barbra Streisand's rendition of "The Way We Were" was a tremendous commercial success, becoming her first number one single in the United States. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1973 and charted for 23 weeks, eventually selling over a million copies and lasting three weeks at number one in February 1974 (non-consecutive, as it was bumped from the top spot briefly by Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love's Theme"). On the Adult Contemporary chart, it was Streisand's second number one hit after "People" in 1964. Billboard named "The Way We Were" as the number one pop hit of 1974. "The Way We Were" was also the title song of a Streisand album which also hit number one (not the soundtrack album of the movie, which peaked at #20). In the UK, the song wasn't nearly as successful as it was Stateside, reaching #33.
Streisand also recorded an alternate version of the song that was so nearly identical to the original release that this alternate version is very often misidentified as the original recording. The most easily noticeable difference between the two versions is the manner in which Streisand sings the words "Whenever We Remember" near the end of the song.
Gladys Knight & The Pips returned "The Way We Were" to the charts in the spring of 1975 in a live-recorded version. Knight preceded the sung lyrics to "The Way We Were" with a spoken-word passage incorporating the lyrics to "Try To Remember" from the musical The Fantasticks. The single entered the Hot 100 in late April 1975, charted for 17 weeks and peaked at #11 U.S. and #4 UK
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure |
Academy Award for Best Song 1973 |
Succeeded by: "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno |
