The Way We Were [50th Anniversary] [Includes Digital Copy] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray]

Director: Sydney Pollack Sydney Pollack

Overview

"Gorgeous goyish guy" meets Jewish radical girl in Sydney Pollack's glossy romance. In 1937, frizzy-haired Red co-ed Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) briefly captures the attention of preppy jock Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) with her passionate pacifism, while the writing talent beneath his privileged exterior entrances her. Almost eight years later, the two are reunited in New York, when well-coiffed leftist radio worker Katie spies military officer Hubbell snoozing in a nightclub. Through her force of will, and in spite of his smug rich friends, the two opposites fall in love, sparring over Katie's activist zeal and Hubbell's writerly ambivalence after a failed first novel. They head to Hollywood so that Hubbell can write a screenplay for his buddy-turned-producer J.J. (Bradford Dillman). But the House Committee on Un-American Activities' Communist witch hunt in 1947 tears the pair apart, as a pregnant Katie refuses to keep silent about the jailing of the Hollywood Ten, while a faithless Hubbell decides to save his career. When the two meet again at the dawn of the '60s, TV hack Hubbell and A-bomb protestor Katie feel the old pull, but they have to decide if it's worth the grief. Although blacklisted writers had returned to Hollywood -- and won Oscars -- by the early 1970s, the HUAC sections of Arthur Laurents's screenplay were still considered dicey, resulting in substantial cuts; Laurents reportedly blamed star Redford for not fighting them hard enough. Regardless of the edits, and critics' complaints about the film's schlockiness, 1973 audiences went for the well-executed and still politically tinged weepie, turning The Way We Were into one of the most popular films of 1973 and Redford into a major heartthrob. Streisand won an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and the Streisand-sung title tune won for Best Song. Despite the eviscerated politics, The Way We Were poignantly captures the insoluble dilemma of reconciling private desires with public awareness.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/17/2023
UPC:	0043396579675
Original Release:	1973
Source:	Sony Pictures
Language:	English
Format:	Blu-ray
Sales rank:	957

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

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	Radio Actor
George Gaynes	El Morocco Captain
Eric Boles	Army Corporal
Barbara Peterson	Ash Blonde
Roy Jenson	Army Captain
Brendan Kelly	Rally Speaker
James Woods	Frankie McVeigh
Constance Forslund	Jenny
Robert Gerringer	Dr. Short
Susan Blakely	Judianne
Edward Power	Airforce
Suzanne Zenor	Dumb Blonde
Dan Seymour	Guest
Dorian Cusick	Professor's Wife
Don Koll	Officer Dining
Robert Dahdah	Officer Passing Plaza
Sean Collins	Army Corporal
Beverly Goodman	Young Lady Pedestrian
George Gavnes	El Morocco
Andrea True	Actor
Marvin Hamlisch	Composer
Marilyn Bergman	Composer

Technical Credits

Arthur Laurents

David Rayfiel

Dalton Trumbo

Francis Ford Coppola

Alvin Sargent

Sydney Pollack	Director
Arthur Laurents	Screenwriter
Ray Stark	Producer
Richard Portman	Sound Effects
Kay Rose	Sound Effects
Sharron Miller	Sound Effects
Jerry Trent	Sound Effects
David Rayfiel	Screenwriter
Dalton Trumbo	Screenwriter
Francis Ford Coppola	Screenwriter
Richard Roth	Producer
Alvin Sargent	Screenwriter
Raymond Stark	Producer
Jack Solomon	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

An old-fashioned Hollywood melodrama with a progressive gloss, The Way We Were succeeds on the basis of the romantic chemistry between stars Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. The film tackles the issue of commitment -- political, romantic or otherwise -- but it is the roller coaster love affair that's at the heart of the film. The sprawling script covers a lot of ground, and director Sydney Pollack occasionally strains under the weight of the material. Supposedly, some of Way We Were's more political scenes were cut by the studio, diminishing much of their impact and muddling the film's conclusion. Still, time and time again, it is the charisma between Redford and Streisand that floats the film over its rough spots. Streisand sang the title song, which won an Academy Award and became her first number one single.