Without Love

source: Without Love

This movie was quite slow and drawn-out, silly and dated, and not very funny either. The main idea about a couple who marry for convenience, and intend not to share a bedroom, but then develop feelings for each other after all, is quite good though - although not original. So much more could have been made by it. What one wants to see in a story with that theme, is the sexual tension slowly growing between the man and woman, and some innuendo... that is the whole point. Instead there were too many other, uninteresting, people involved here, and there was too much running in and out through doors like in a drawing room comedy on the theater stage. The whole movie is carried by the two leads: Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. I like it that Hollywood already in the 1940:s could make a love story with leads who were no longer young (especially that the woman is no longer young), and who did not have the traditional perfect handsome/pretty looks but instead more individual looks. The couple makes the movie worth watching once, in spite of all its shortcomings.

In Wahington during WWII, a scientist and a rich widow enter into a marriage of convenience. Arguably the least well known of the nine films they co-starred in, Tracy and Hepburn are OK here but the script is nothing special. In fact, it's a rather silly affair about him developing a high altitude oxygen mask for fighter pilots and her becoming his assistant. Ball and Wynn provide some humor, and Grahame has a bit role in just her second film. The script is by the team that wrote "The Philadelphia Story," but the inspiration is lacking. It is directed by someone named Bucquet, who suffered an untimely death soon after making this, his last film.

I liked this film despite not really caring for Katharine Hepburn as an actress. I do, however, like Spencer Tracy. Having not seen (or even aware of) the Broadway play, I have nothing to compare it to. I think that made the film better for me. The plot line moved along well, predictably perhaps. For supporting cast, I was really surprised to see Lucille Ball. She was much better to me playing a more serious character without the slapstick comedy. The ending was pleasing, good to see things all work out between them. My favorite part of the film I would say was the repartee between Hepburn and Tracy's characters, nothing is said directly to each other and yet each knows what the other meant. Fun film, which I enjoyed.

Without Love is the third Philip Barry play that Katharine Hepburn was in on Broadway and then brought to the screen. It certainly is less well known than Holiday and The Philadelphia Story, but it's not as good. The story concerns a government scientist who arrives in town without a place to stay. The housing shortage in Washington, DC during the World War II years was the whole premise behind The More the Merrier. Here it's a vehicle that gets Tracy to meet Hepburn. She's a Washington socialite with a big house that she's trying to sell. Perfect for Tracy and his experiments trying to invent an oxygen mask for high altitudes. They develop feelings for each other, but both have been married before. Tracy's gone through a bad divorce and Hepburn is a widow. They agree to marry, but without emotional involvement. How that all works out is the reason you ought to see the film. For me it's the weakest of all their films together. It doesn't have the sparkle of either Woman of the Year or Adam's Rib. Possibly because on stage, Tracy's part was played by Elliott Nugent. I'm sure that the part had to have been built up for someone of Tracy's stature to even consider it even if it was Hepburn as the leading lady. Lucille Ball, Keenan Wynn, and Patricia Morison all have good supporting parts here. The fans of Tracy and Hepburn, individually and collectively, should appreciate this. That's a group that takes in a whole lot of territory.

One of my favorite film proposals is from Without Love. Based on Philip Barry's play, Katharine Hepburn, who starred in the show on Broadway, recruited her off-screen sweetheart Spencer Tracy to act in the film adaptation. They play intellectual patriots-he's a government scientist and she's his assistant-who get along quite nicely as friends but aren't interested in romance. Because of logistics during wartime, Kate gets the bright idea that it would be easier if they married so he can continue his important experiments, and she gives a hilarious nervous monologue proposing a marriage "without love". The Hays Code didn't allow an unmarried couple to lay down next to one another; one person's feet had to be always on the ground. Without Love was pretty daring for its time, since it stretched the boundaries and filmed some pretty risqué bedroom scenes using the excuse that Spencer Tracy's character was a chronic sleepwalker. To modern audiences, those scenes might seem a little silly, but try and imagine how it felt seeing them in 1945! While this isn't my favorite Tracy-Hepburn pairing-that award goes to Adam's Rib and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner-it's definitely worth watching. They're awfully cute together in this one, and the romance doesn't include constant bickering like some of their other films. It's nice to see them actually get along, plus Felix Bressart, Kennan Wynn, Gloria Grahame, and Lucille Ball round out the supporting cast nicely.

Wow! A movie with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn! But don't too excited! Who directed? Harold S. Bucquet, no less. Bucquet started off as an assistant director way back in 1922, then graduated to shorts in 1935 and finally to features with Young Dr. Kildare in 1938. He died on February 13, 1946, so Without Love was his last fling. At its best, Without Love is moderately entertaining, but, alas, it's at its least interesting when Tracy and Hepburn are on screen – thanks partly to Bucquet's rigorously dull direction with its long, static takes. And partly to a rather odd screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart which delivers all its brightest and most lively lines to the support cast, particularly Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn! Admittedly, Tracy does deliver a few bright comebacks. But that's about all we can say on the plus side. Production values are rigorously "B"-grade and it's hard to believe that Karl Freund was in charge of photography. To sum up: Without Love is an "A" feature with "B" production values.

The first 95% of this film was excellent. In particular, the dialog was first-rate--especially the very suggestive and smart-alecky lines given to supporting actress, Lucille Ball, though the rest of the cast all had some wonderful zingers scattered throughout the film. And the main idea of the plot--two people who marry out of convenience but come to love each other is marvelous. However, there is one small gripe and one big one about the film. The small one is that Katherine Hepburn's marriage proposal just seems to come out of thin air--with no indication WHY she would do this (other than the fact it was in the script, of course). But the biggest problem was that this film SHOULD have gotten a score of 8, but the ending was such a dud--a major letdown! Suddenly, the smart acting and hip dialog degenerated to a sickly sweet and annoying conclusion. It's a real shame, because with a smoother ending, this might have been among the best of the Tracy-Hepburn films. A final note--I think it was probably an inside joke and done intentionally, but when Katherine Hepburn is making faces in the mirror at herself, the reflection isn't totally in sync--especially at the very end. Watch the scene carefully and you'll see what I mean.

Both Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy gave performances throughout their year that are deservedly highly regarded, not just together but also in other films individually. Their pairing, which can be seen in nine films over a 25 year period (from 1942 with 'Woman of the Year' to 1967 with 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner') is considered one of cinema's most legendary and one can see why when seeing all their films together. 'Without Love' does very little to waste this iconic pairing and serves both Tracy and especially Hepburn, as well as the rest of the cast, well. It is not one of their best films together (one of the lesser ones for me), my personal favourite is 'Adam's Rib' with my least favourite perhaps being the still pretty decent 'Keeper of the Flame'. But that 'Without Love' is not one of their best and still be quite good, while uneven too, indicates how great their best films together were ('Adam's Rib' being a classic). Maybe the pace could have done with more momentum in spots when the direction had moments where it lacked spark and became stagy. Some of the film, or at least on occasions, is silly and too reliant on coincidence, and the wit of the best Tracy-Hepburn films is not quite as strong here. Also found the ending rather saccharine and with not enough build up getting there, which made what happened somewhat random and compared to what we'd seen in the rest of the film not entirely plausible. However, both Tracy and especially Hepburn are on top form. Again Tracy giving the more subtle performance and the ever radiant Hepburn sinking her teeth into her role. Their chemistry is charming and also sizzles in wit and intensity and they succeed in giving their material and characters substance. They also have a good supporting cast, with Keenan Wynn providing plenty of zest and Lucille Ball having a whale of a time. Gloria Grahame has a nice short appearance and it is hard not to endear to Dizzy. Further advantages are a script that still does have enough wit and sophistication (just not as strongly as some of their other films) and just about avoids being too talky, a very entertaining train-sequence and the chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn makes the romantic element believable. The production values are pleasing and the story has a good deal of charm and is easy to like. In conclusion, nice film if not a Tracy-Hepburn essential. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Dizzy excellent and cute. Lucy always a riot. Wynn a perfect, bumbling drunken fool. Tracy, whom I had seen in "San Francisco" (where he has no woman, but Clark Gable gets the woman), with Hepburn is always an interesting character study. Tracy puts Hepburn in the barn, but that is strangely chauvinistic. That Hepburn puts up with it is puzzling. Yes, Dizzy in the luggage and wearing a gas mask and oxygen tank on his back is sort of cute, yet grotesque and cruel. Hope the dog's handler made a lot of money on this film. I did not like, however, how Hepburn and YES Tracy mercilessly ordered Dizzy to get down off the sofa. Reminded me of movie in which Bonita Granville had two huge great danes named "Get Off the Couch" and "You, Too". I still liked this movie, however. People can marry for lots of reasons, and love is not always the reason. These people supposedly did not "love" each other, but when the old GF(wife?) and new BF show up, sparks start flying -- not the romantic type, but the marital jealousy type. Hepburn should have told Tracy to shove it, and run off with the Spanish guy, who at least paid Hepburn the attention she deserved. Regarding Tracy as being said to be a no-nonsense one-take actor, I feel his -Hepburn roles portrayed him as the ultimate dip-sh#t. He was even nicer in "Father of the Bride", with Elizabeth Taylor. He was extremely nice in the aforementioned "San Francisco". I cannot imagine what the real-life Tracy-Hepburn "romance" was all about. I see her pouring him coffee in these movies, and I wonder if their RL personal relationship was all that great. He comes off as a crude, nonromantic individual overall. Hepburn could have done better. All in all, I was interested in seeing this movie and what it was about. Given the times, strong women were expected to somewhat downplay their independence. I was disappointed that Hepburn only wanted to be Tracy's assistant; she should have been his overlord and master. In today's patois, if she had asked him to marry her, I would have expected her to give him a great big honkin' diamond men's engagement ring, lol. 10/10