LOVE STORY THE MOVIE

Last night I watched the movie Love Story again. The more I watch this movie, the more I like it, for so many reasons. For those of you not familiar with it, the film was released in 1970 from a screenplay by Erich Segal, and directed by Arthur Hiller.

Love Story starred Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'neal  as Jannifer "Jenny" Cavallari and Oliver Barrett IV, two college students from vastly different backgrounds who meet and fall in love. Oliver is from an upper class family, is heir to a fortune, and attends Harvard where he plays hockey. Jenny, on the other hand, comes from a working class family, and attends Radcliff where she studies classical music. The two couldn't be more different, and yet love takes hold.

Oliver's family doesn't approve, and his father severs ties with him when he decides to marry Jenny. Without his father's money, Oliver and Jenny struggle to pay his tuition to Harvard Law School, but their sacrifice and hard work pays off when He graduates third in his class. Oliver accepts a position with a law firm in New York and two settle into a new life there, with hopes of planning family, however, not all things turn out happily-ever-after.

The scene where Oliver and Jennifer first meet, contains one of my favorite movie character interactions.

                         Oliver:  Why do you think I went to prep school?
                         Jennifer:  You look stupid and rich.
                         Oliver:  Actually, I'm smart and poor.
                         Jennifer:  No, I'm smart and poor.
                         Oliver:  Why are you so smart?
                         Jennifer:  I won't have coffee with you.
                         Oliver:  I wouldn't ask you.
                         Jennifer:  That's what makes you stupid.

They go for coffee.

Jennifer refers to Oliver as "preppy" throughout the movie, and some say the term was coined by Erich Segal. Whether he coined the term or not, he certainly is responsible for making it part of our general vocabulary.

When Paramount Pictures picked up Erich Segal's screenplay, they asked him to adopt it into a novel to be released prior to releasing the film which he did. The book came out of Valentine's Day, February 14, 1970 and became an instant bestseller. It was the perfect way to pre-publicize the film, which was released on December 16, 1970.

Love Story is slowly becoming one of my favorite films, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do. It's an all time classic, well, love story.


*** Have to seen the film version of Love Story.