Senza amore

Philip Barry's play about a scientist/inventor who rooms with a widow during the war might've fallen flat with a less-experienced cast; it is middling material, weighted with palaver, not even offering anything in the way of surprises. However, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are well-attuned to these characters (and to each other) and make the most of it. Tracy is talked into a platonic marriage with Kate, but eventually feels the pangs of real romance. The play's stagy action is opened-up expertly for the screen, with talky scenes nicely balanced by lively set-pieces (such as the train-sequence, the best moment in the film). The colorful supporting cast, including Gloria Grahame (in a bit part) and Keenan Wynn, perform with aplomb, plowing right through the contrivances. As Kate's girlfriend, Lucille Ball gives one of her best performances, and she has a classic retort to Spencer Tracy who commands his dog to lie down (Ball to Tracy: "Who, me?"). Not a perfect showcase for the leads, but very pleasant nonetheless. *** from ****

Without Love, one of the Tracy/Hepburn movies, is one little-known films from that series. It is a sweet story of a developing love between two people. There is a lot of comedy as well, which is fantastic and it is truly funny at times. Katie and Spence, are, as usual, sizzling up the screen and acting to perfection. Although it may not have the charm of Woman of the Year or the biting dialog of Adam's Rib, it is a charming story. Katharine Hepburn plays a widow, Spencer Tracy plays a man who doesn't want to love again. This movie is not for everyone, I especially recommend it to Tracy/Hepburn fans as they will appreciate the real romance behind this picture and enjoy watching them sizzle. Beautiful film.

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

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.

Spencer Tracy is Patrick Jamieson, a hard-headed scientist whose heart gave up on love a long time ago and which now takes refuge in facts and only facts. Katharine Hepburn is Jamie Rowan, a young widow who, having had her perfect first love and husband die in a riding accident, has closed herself off to love and life, believing she should--and could--never love again. So, from this common ground and the respect they share for the sciences, Pat and Jamie decide to get married: how perfect, how *convenient* a marriage without love can be! No jealousy, no bickering, just companionship.

Well, that's the *idea* anyway... the viewer knows with pretty much any Hepburn/Tracy vehicle that the two leads are going to wind up together, and very happily so, in the end. The thrill in coming to a film of theirs fresh is seeing how their characters get there. It's a pretty fun ride in WITHOUT LOVE: Hepburn is pitch-perfect as a widow set on becoming a spinster, and Tracy has his slightly bemused, man-(sorta)-above-the-fray character down to a T. The love story is given a lot of care in this film, so that you really can believe that eventually, love--or more importantly, the *lack* of love--can get in the way of a marriage. You watch Pat getting used to Jamie, beginning to find her indispensable; you see Jamie opening up, smiling, even longing for love again. Jamie's loneliness within their self-declared 'loveless' marriage is especially well-handled, because it is *her* heartache, at the loss of a perfect husband and true love, that seems so insurmountable and must be overcome first. Of course, it can't hurt to have the main characters played by Hepburn and Tracy--already there's a built-in audience waiting and expecting these two to get together! But the script also had quite a part to play in that, by the end of the film, I was definitely willing Pat and Jamie to discover their love for each other, and to voice it out loud instead of pretending that their marriage 'without love' hadn't already turned into one full of love. The final scene between Pat and Jamie is startlingly sweet: the roundabout way in which Pat admits his love for Jamie is both heartfelt and true to the relationship between the characters.

All this having been said, WITHOUT LOVE, along with the two melodramas KEEPER OF THE FLAME and THE SEA OF GRASS (and perhaps also Frank Capra's THE STATE OF THE UNION), still remains one of the forgotten--or at the very least, much lesser-known--movies of the nine collaborations between those immortal screen (and real-life) lovers. There probably is a reason for this--the film is entertaining (witness the scene where Pat quite literally sleepwalks into Jamie's bed!), with a clever script ("Are you trying to be vulgar?"/"It takes no effort.") and a great cast (Hepburn and Tracy, of course, but Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn also shine and charm in their small roles to great effect). However, WITHOUT LOVE (also based on a Philip Barry play) is quite simply *not* THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. The script just doesn't have the same zing or exuberance (though you can tell Barry has tried his hardest), and the actors don't share and feed off that same electric current that charged Hepburn's acting against Cary Grant and James Stewart. It can't have been too difficult to figure out, given the greatly contrasting Broadway runs the two plays (both starring Hepburn in the role she originated on stage) had--one smooth and receiving tumultuous welcome wherever it went, the other... well, not *quite* so joyously received.

Still, how often *does* a film like THE PHILADELPHIA STORY come along? Surely while waiting between classics, it couldn't hurt to watch a few solid, sweet and thoroughly engaging films like WITHOUT LOVE. And this film has bonuses as well--Pat and Jamie are more truly equals than any of the characters I've seen Hepburn and Tracy play so far... no 'slapping down' of the Hepburn character by the big gruff bear-paw of the Tracy character. Hepburn fans also get to see her sing (in French!) and totter around in the most alarming feathery get-up (that ending scene is really a hoot!). Keenan Wynn plays a delightful Philip Barry drunk--which means that he's wittier and more lucid than the rest of us, even when we're sober on a good day!--and Lucille Ball is luminous in her small role as Kitty Trimble.

So why not give WITHOUT LOVE a chance to put a smile on your face? With any luck, it'll do that and much, much more...!