Ever
re-watch a movie from your youth to see if it still lives up to your memory? I watched
The Way We Were for the first time
since the Barbra Streisand-Robert Redford epic romance came to our small town
Upper Michigan theatre in late 1973. I went with my sister, who thought Redford
was a dreamboat. I thought he was just okay, but he was enjoying a run of
popular pictures that we went to see: Jeremiah
Johnson, The Sting, The Great Gatsby, and The Great Waldo Pepper. The Way We Were still holds up—so well,
that I’m surprised Hollywood hasn’t gotten the bright idea to remake the
romantic saga. If you live long enough, every favorite movie or TV show of your
youth will be recycled! Still, it was a surprise to find that Robert Redford
turned 80 on August 18, 2016.
Streisand & Redford Together! The studio's point of view. |
The Way We Were
was one of the first “nostalgic” films of the ‘70s, covering the
Streisand-Redford couple from mid-‘30s college life to mid-‘50s Hollywood and
New York. Streisand shines as activist Katie, who grates on people’s nerves as
much as Redford’s cool school hero Hubbell charms them. These two opposites
definitely attract. When they talk about great chemistry in movies, The Way We Were should be used as a
textbook example. Funny girl Streisand freely admitted to having a crush on
Redford, who handled it with typical class—which worked for the movie’s dynamic.
The rapport between Streisand and Redford gives this film its enduring
strength.
Redford's bellbottoms & 70s hair made it in the movie! |
Streisand signed first and Redford was everyone’s first choice for Hubbell. Redford turned the role down repeatedly, as he felt Hubbell was a weak character. As much as I respect Redford, he has a history declining great parts that were outside the leading man box: Nick in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Benjamin in The Graduate, and Guy in Rosemary’s Baby. Even with Sydney Pollack, his favorite director and friend, on board, Redford held out. Pollack had to wear Redford down before he finally agreed. Redford said over the years that Hubbell felt one-dimensional, with no flaws to play off of. The reality was, that as filming progressed, Redford’s character became more sympathetic, which infuriated screenwriter Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original story. Still, this is one of Redford’s best performances, as the college jock turned writer. In a cut scene, Hubbell tells Katie about being sent to classroom to classroom as a child, with a note from a teacher, and he soon becomes the teachers’ pet. When he looked at the notes, it read, “Did you ever see such a smile?”
"College boys" Bradford Dillman & Robert Redford with two starlets on the rise: Susan Blakely & Lois Chiles. |
This
has also been Robert Redford’s dilemma. Redford was one of the first stars to
shy away from his good looks, yet falling back on them as needed. In The Way We Were, Redford is at his blond
best and flashes that toothy smile, whether in uniform, sweaters, or swimwear.
Yet, Redford, never an over-actor, is subtle in showing his discomfort with
Streisand’s character constantly prodding him to do the right thing.
The Red Scare and Blacklist-era scenes were trimmed in favor of romance. |
Streisand
is perfect in the role of Katie Morosky, probably because Laurents wrote it
with her in mind. Though Katie’s heart is in the right place, Streisand isn’t afraid
to be unlikeable when Katie gets on her soapbox and browbeats those around her.
A college Communist, Katie’s past comes back to haunt her when Hubbell goes to
Hollywood as a screenwriter. The Red Scare soon sweeps Hollywood, and their
friends and colleagues are facing the infamous blacklist. In one of the film’s
best scenes, Katie and Hubbell have it out after facing an angry crowd in Washington.
Hubbell is pragmatic, predicting that the controversy will ultimately prove
pointless, with everything going back to the status quo. Katie accuses him of
ducking the issue, saying, “People are their principles!” Hubbell responds by
sending glasses flying from a table. This is a telling scene, with Redford and
Streisand respectively standing in for Pollack, who wanted to cut it, and
Laurents, who fought to keep it in.
Director Sydney Pollack with stars Streisand & Redford in a '70s moment. |
The Way We Were
is a fine romance and to a point, a compelling drama. The filming was
problematic because the romance and drama soon competed for storytelling and
screen time. According to Laurents, Pollack favored Redford and the romance,
whereas Laurents and Streisand favored the film’s political drama. Pollack was
under pressure from Columbia Pictures to deliver a hit movie, given such a stellar
star pairing. Pollack says that there were two previews for The Way We Were, one with cuts to
political content, and one without. He claimed that the version with the focus
on romance and cutting the politics was the preview audiences preferred.
Streisand as Katie, after a '40s glam makeover. |
Robert Redford, rockin' the man in uniform look! |
Still,
the flaw that keeps The Way We Were
from film classic status is its choppy continuity. A sweet scene that was cut
is when Katie drives by a college activist rally after leaving a blacklisted
friend’s house. She literally sees her past self and realizes that she doesn’t
fit in with the conformist Hollywood crowd. But the worst cuts are with Katie
and Hubbell, who overcome huge differences to stay together, yet appear to
break up over sex with an ex on Hubbell’s part, which comes out of nowhere. One
was a great scene where Katie clears the air by saying Hubbell’s career can’t
afford a politically subversive wife. And since Katie won’t name names, she
makes the final break between them. Pollack concedes that not only Laurents,
but also Redford and Streisand were unhappy with the cuts, feeling it softened
the picture. Not to mention the film’s flow, since The Way We Were suddenly goes from the couple’s domestic woes in
Malibu to the closing scene years later, where Katie runs into Hubbell on the
streets of New York City.
Sydney Pollack directing his stars. |
Bittersweet farewell: Streisand came up with the recurring bit of her brushing away Redford's blonde bangs. |
Still,
how about that ending? Katie is back to where she started, taking it to the
streets with her activism, and Hubbell, now with a blond, silent wife. The movie ends with Hubbell and Katie having a private
moment, acknowledging their paths will not pass again, except perhaps by
chance. Streisand and Redford play this scene beautifully, and then the famous
theme song swells up. I remember a lot of tissues coming out back in 1973!
Funny
how some of Hollywood’s greatest love stories have such sad endings: Scarlett
and Rhett’s marriage not worth a damn in Gone
with the Wind, Montgomery Clift gets the electric chair instead of Liz
Taylor in A Place in the Sun, and
Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster’s beach romance is all washed up by the end of From Here to Eternity.
Redford was 37 as a college boy in "The Way We Were's" first scenes. The meter was already running on the sequel possibility. |
For
years after, there was much talk of a sequel to The Way We Were. Eventually, too much time had passed for a
feasible film follow-up to Katie and Hubbell’s love story. The talk had been so
on-going that when Barbra presented Redford with a lifetime achievement Oscar
in 2002, he said to her onstage, “I guess this is the sequel, huh, Babs?”
About
a decade later, Oprah Winfrey reunited Streisand and Redford for an interview.
Redford put it best when asked about the continued interest in a sequel to The Way We Were: “I just felt certain
things should be left alone, and this was one of them.”
Bonus: Deleted scenes from The Way We Were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfdzcLD1s4
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie page. Check it out & join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/178488909366865/
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie page. Check it out & join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/178488909366865/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Rick! An informative, interesting read.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent review. The cuts damaged the integrity of the film, so hopefully a fully restored version exists somewhere. I'm conflicted about the film though because Streisand's character is moral and driven by conviction, yet she allows Hubble to treat her badly, which doesn't ring true. Her phenomenal acting and luminous presence makes the film with watching.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I hope a restored version happens someday, too. I'm not a huge Streisand fan, but I think this film contains some of her best work. Cheers, Rick
DeleteCount me in as another in-fan of Redford. I don’t buy for a second that he didn’t want to rely upon his image and looks. He has done this for most of his career. And he never looks like a1930s college student or a WW Two Naval Officer in TWWW. He always looks like a seventies aging beach bum, and acts like it too. He allegedly had them tone down his character’s homosexuality in INSIDE DAISY CLOVER because he was chicken. He allegedly also turned down Paul Newman’s request to star with him in THE FRONT RUNNER for the same reason. He claimed that he was too old for the role, which he was, but playing gay scared him. He was never an actor who was willing to take risks. And it came across in his performances as well.
ReplyDeleteExactly. If RR was so anti-glamour, how come his hair was so blonde in his heyday? According to Mike Nichols, RR turned down the role of Nick in "Virginia Woolf" because he didn't want to play a schmuck. And Guy in Rosemary's Baby for the same reason. Rarely has he played the villain. And agree with you about his acting and persona for the most part. Cheers, Rick
Delete