The Way We Were 225476 224815300 2008-07-10T15:19:49Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{otheruses}} {{Infobox Film | name = The Way We Were | image = The_Way_We_Were.jpg | director = [[Sydney Pollack]] | producer = [[Ray Stark]] | writer = [[Arthur Laurents]] | starring = [[Barbra Streisand]]<br>[[Robert Redford]] | cinematography = Harry Stradling, Jr. | editing = John F. Burnett | distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]] | released = [[October 19]], [[1973 in film|1973]] | runtime = 118 min. | country = {{flagicon|USA}} | language = [[English language|English]] | budget = $15 million | gross = $49,919,870 | imdb_id = 0070903 }} '''''The Way We Were''''' is a [[1973 in film|1973]] [[United States|American]] film which tells the story of Katie Morosky, an intense [[Jew]]ish woman, who marries Hubbell Gardiner, a carefree but talented [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant|WASP]], following [[World War II]]. Fundamental differences in outlook and personality &ndash; as revealed in their responses to the rise of [[McCarthyism]] &ndash; 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|star-crossed lovers]] and a [[morality play|morality tale]] about the importance of commitment. An underlying theme 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 silver|sterling]] character emerges, while his gifts are squandered, untapped for any purpose beyond 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 (literature)#Literary usage|trope]], including ''[[A Star Is Born (1976 film)|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]] (whose novelization of the story was published in 1972) and directed by [[Sydney Pollack]]. Laurents wrote the role of Katie specifically for Streisand, basing the character on a woman he had met at college who was active in the [[Young Communist League]]. 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.'' ==Plot== A [[flashback]] tells the story of an idealistic young woman, Katie Morosky ([[Barbra Streisand]]), who falls in love with Hubbell Gardner ([[Robert Redford]]), while they are college students in the 1930s. Their differences are immense: She is a [[Marxism|Marxist]], with strong anti-war opinions, and he is a laid-back troublemaker. She is drawn to him because of his [[goy]]ish handsomeness and his natural writing skill, which she finds confident and captivating, though he doesn't work very hard at it. He is intrigued by her conviction and her determination to persuade others to take up social causes. The two meet again at the end of World War II. She is working at a radio station, and he, having served as a Naval officer in the South Pacific, is trying to return to a conventional life. They fall in love and marry, as much because of their differences in background and temperament as despite them. Soon, however, Katie is incensed by the cynical jokes Hubbell's friends make, unable to understand his acceptance of their insensitivity and shallow dismissal of political engagement. At the same time, his serenity is disturbed by her want of social graces and her polarizing postures. When Hubbell seeks a job as a [[screenwriter]] in [[Hollywood]], Katie is disappointed, believing it to be a waste of his literary talent, and encourages him to pursue writing as a serious challenge instead. Despite her growing frustration, they move to [[California]], where he becomes a successful, if desultory, screenwriter and the couple enjoys affluence and leisure. As the Hollywood blacklist grows and McCarthyism begins to encroach on their lives, Katie's political activism resurfaces, jeopardizing Hubbell's position and reputation. Alienated by Katie's persistent abrasiveness, Hubbell has an affair with Carol Ann ([[Lois Chiles]]), his college girlfriend and the ex-wife of his best friend J.J. (Bradford Dillman), even though Katie is pregnant with Hubbell's child. Katie and Hubbell decide to part, when she finally understands that he is not the man she idealized when she fell in love with him: he will always choose to take the easiest way out, whether it is cheating in his marriage or writing predictable stories for [[Situation comedy|sitcom]]s. Hubbell, on the other hand, is exhausted, unable either to live on the pedestal Katie erected for him or to face her disappointment in his choice to compromise his potential. In the film's final scene, Katie and Hubbell meet by coincidence, several years after their divorce, in front of New York's [[Plaza Hotel]]. Hubbell, who is with a stylish beauty and apparently content, is now writing for a popular sitcom as one of a group of hired and nameless writers. Katie, too, has remained faithful to who she is: flyers in hand, she is agitating for the newest political causes. Katie, now re-married, tells Hubbell he should come see how beautiful their daughter is. He walks away saying that he will, only to return a moment later confessing that he can't, though he asks whether Katie's husband is "a good father" to their child. Katie's response acknowledges what they both finally understand: Hubbell 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 her expectations then, and cannot bear them now. All that Hubbell and Katie can ever share is a poignant memory of the way they were. ==Cast== *[[Barbra Streisand]] as Katie Morosky *[[Robert Redford]] as Hubbell Gardner *[[Patrick O'Neal]] as George Bissinger *[[Sally Kirkland]] as Pony Dunbar *[[James Woods]] as Frankie McVeigh *[[Susan Blakely]] as Judianne ==Awards== The film won [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Original Music Score|Best Music, Original Dramatic Score]] and [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Music, Song]] ([[Marvin Hamlisch]], [[Alan Bergman]] and [[Marilyn Bergman]] for "The Way We Were"), and was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading Role]] (Barbra Streisand), [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction-Set Decoration]], [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] and [[Academy Award for Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]. ==Soundtrack== On October 19, 1993, the soundtrack for The Way We Were was released by [[Sony]] on CD. The soundtrack version of the title song is sung differently than the single/subsequent "greatest hits" packages release. The soundtrack version is also available on the 4-CD collection "Just for the Record". The tracklisting is here: #THE WAY WE WERE-(soundtrack version) #RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET #LOOK WHAT I'VE GOT #LIKE PRETTY #RIVER STAY WAY FROM MY DOOR #THE WAY WE WERE #KATIE #IN THE MOOD #DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ME? #REMEMBERING #WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS (AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY) #THE WAY WE WERE - FINALE ==The title song== In addition to the title song's Oscar win, Barbra Streisand's rendition of "[[The Way We Were (song)|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 that also hit number one (distinct from the soundtrack album of the movie, which peaked at #20. Streisand also recorded an alternative version of the song that was so nearly identical to the original release that this alternative version is 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 record reached #11 in the United States and #4 in the UK (where it far outsold Streisand's original, which reached only #33 on the British chart). ==Reference in popular culture== [[Gilda Radner]] performed the title song as her character Lisa Loopner, in her album and movie ''[[Gilda Live]]''. In the Season Two finale of ''[[Sex and the City]]'', entitled "Ex and the City", the four main characters of the show discuss how [[Carrie Bradshaw]]'s romantic relationship resembles that in ''The Way We Were''. In an episode of ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', after Luke breaks up with Lorelei, she calls him and asked him to come over like the "girl in the movie ''The Way We Were''" did her ex-boyfriend. In a scene in ''Boys on the Side'', Whoopi Goldberg's and Mary Louise Parker's characters watch ''The Way We Were'' in a hotel and discuss their difference of opinions about their own lives in comparison to the movie. "The Way We Were" is mentioned in most books written by [[Jodi Picoult]]. The second episode of 'The O.C.'s second season has "The way We Were" as its title. ==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{imdb title|id=0070903|title=The Way We Were}} * [http://www.jacknilan.com/senatorjoe/waywewere.html McCarthyism and the Movies] * [http://www.barbra-archives.com/Films/streisand_waywewere.html Barbra Archives: The Way We Were Cut Scenes & Song Demos] {{start box}} {{succession box | before = "[[The Morning After (Maureen McGovern song)|The Morning After]]" from [[The Poseidon Adventure (film)|The Poseidon Adventure]] | title = [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] | years = 1973 | after = "[[We May Never Love Like This Again]]" from ''[[The Towering Inferno (movie)|The Towering Inferno]]'' }} {{end box}} {{Sydney Pollack Films}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Way We Were, The}} [[Category:1973 films]] [[Category:Best Song Academy Award winners]] [[Category:Musical films]] [[Category:Films directed by Sydney Pollack]] [[de:So wie wir waren]] [[es:Tal como éramos]] [[fr:Nos plus belles années (film)]] [[it:Come eravamo]] [[pl:Tacy byliśmy]] [[pt:The Way We Were]] [[sv:Våra bästa år (film 1973)]]