''Without Love'' is a 1945

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and starring

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

, and

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

. Based on a 1942 play by

Philip Barry Philip Jerome Quinn Barry (June 18, 1896 – December 3, 1949) was an American dramatist best known for his plays ''Holiday (play), Holiday'' (1928) and ''The Philadelphia Story (play), The Philadelphia Story'' (1939), which were both made into ...

, the film's screenplay was written by

Donald Ogden Stewart Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), ''T ...

Plot

Lonely widow Jamie Rowan (Katharine Hepburn) helps the war effort by marrying a military research scientist, Patrick Jamieson (Spencer Tracy), who has set up his lab in her house in Washington, D.C. Patrick has had all the worst of love, and Jamie all the best. They both believe a marriage could be a success without love, as it reduces the chances of jealousy and bickering and all the other marital disadvantages. But as the film progresses, the inevitable happens as they begin to fall in love with each other.

Cast

as Patrick Jamieson *

as Jamie Rowan *

as Kitty Trimble *

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...

as Quentin Ladd *

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

as Paul Carrell *

Patricia Morison Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...

as Edwina Collins *

Felix Bressart Felix Bressart (March 2, 1892 – March 17, 1949) was a German-American actor of stage and screen. Life and career Bressart (pronounced "BRESS-ert") was born in East Prussia, Germany (now part of Russia). His acting debut came in 1914 as Malvol ...

as Professor Ginza

Production

The original Philip Barry stage play debuted on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the St. James Theatre in 1942. Katharine Hepburn starred as Jamie Rowan with actor/writer/director

Elliott Nugent Elliott Nugent (September 20, 1896 – August 9, 1980) was an American actor, playwright, writer, and film director. Biography Nugent was born in Dover, Ohio, the son of actor J.C. Nugent. He successfully made the transition from silent film ...

as Patrick Jamieson, the role Spencer Tracy would take in the film.

Audrey Christie Audrey Christie (June 27, 1912 – December 19, 1989) was an American actress, singer and dancer. Early life and family She was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Charles Christie and Florence Ferguson. She attended a fine arts school in Chicago, ...

played the Lucille Ball role of Kitty Trimble, and the cast included Royal Beal and Lauren Gilbert. Barry wrote the part expressly for Hepburn, as he had previously done with '' The Philadelphia Story'', a major Broadway hit for Hepburn which she turned into her 1940 comeback film, also starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

, and also adapted for the screen by Donald Ogden Stewart. Hepburn and Grant's 1938 film ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

''—which had already been a 1930 film—was based on a 1929 Barry play. ''Without Love'' was the third film to co-star Hepburn and Tracy, and it would be the last film directed by Bucquet. Lucille Ball would turn to this film's cinematographer, Karl Freund, six years later in her struggle to launch a filmed television show, unheard of at the time.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that "you should all go to the theatre, for, despite its gab and weaknesses in spots, 'Without Love' is really most amusing." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave a lukewarm review, faulting the film for "the general obviousness of it all, along with a somewhat static plot basis." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' called it "an amusing comedy-drama ... There is more talk than action, but the sparkling dialogue is a compensating factor."

Wolcott Gibbs Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist, theatre critic, playwright and writer of short stories, who worked for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1927 until his death. He is notable for his 1936 parody o ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote that the film had been changed significantly from the play but was "a very witty and engaging picture, recommended here without hesitation. Miss Hepburn and Mr. Tracy succeed brilliantly in the leading parts." ''Filmink'' calls it the least known of the Tracy-Hepburn films, "absolutely, resolutely, and incredibly unmemorable."

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $2,702,000 in the US and Canada and $1,082,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $619,000.

References

External links

* {{Tracy Hepburn films 1942 plays American plays adapted into films Broadway plays Plays by Philip Barry 1945 films 1945 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films American films based on plays Films about marriage Films directed by Harold S. Bucquet Films scored by Bronisław Kaper Films set in Washington, D.C. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films World War II films made in wartime Films with screenplays by Donald Ogden Stewart 1940s English-language films