Love Story

"Love means never having to say you’re sorry."

1970 1h 40m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 763

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver's wealthy father threatens to disown him. Jenny tries to reconcile the Barrett men, but to no avail.

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ali MacGraw
Jennifer Cavilleri
Ryan O'Neal
Oliver Barrett IV
John Marley
Phil Cavilleri
Ray Milland
Oliver Barrett III
Russell Nype
Dean Thompson
Tommy Lee Jones
Hank Simpson
Sydney Walker
Dr. Shapeley
Robert Modica
Dr. Addison

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Arthur Hiller
Writers: Erich Segal
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $136M — a 62.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Love Story Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Arthur Hiller, shot by Richard C. Kratina. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Francis Lai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert C. Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal and John Marley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Arthur Hiller directs. Richard C. Kratina behind the camera. Francis Lai scores. Robert C. Jones cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $136M — a 62.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
356 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Love Story Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Arthur Hiller, shot by Richard C. Kratina. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Francis Lai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Robert C. Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal and John Marley carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Love means never having to say you’re sorry.".
10IMDB entry: tt0066011 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 19 themes, including "based on novel or book", "harvard university", "college", "cancer".

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard C. Kratina
Original score: Francis Lai
Editing: Robert C. Jones
Makeup / hair: Martin Bell
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,200,000
Box office: $136,400,000
Return: 6200% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Love Story (1970)

Awards

Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
Golden Globe Award for Best Director
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Love Story Collection

Also by

Arthur Hiller

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522021-01-29
★ 7/10
Well acted tear-jerker has some nice scenes and dialogue between Ryan O'Neil and Ali MacGraw, and thankfully not overly schmaltzy. Today this sort of thing would be on Lifetime but back in 70 was a box office hit. Not sure it's something I'll watch again anytime soon but decent for a romance-drama. 3.5/5
CinemaSerf2022-06-24
★ 6/10
Ryan O'Neal ("Oliver") is the son of a wealthy family who falls in love with "Jenny"(Ali McGraw) - a working class girl of whom his father (Ray Milland) does not approve. When the couple decide they are serious, his relationship with his father breaks down. He is studying law, qualifies third in his class at Harvard, gets a decent job and their now married life together looks set fair - until, that is, they struggle to conceive a child. A visit to the doctor presents their idyllic lifestyle with a massive shock and the two, at just twenty four years of age, must come to terms with a looming tragedy. There is quite a bit of engaging, first love, chemistry between these actors, and the script is peppered with some gentle humour as their lively romance blossoms in front of us. The production is adequate, all it needs to be in a performance driven film like this but the nature of the ending served little purpose and felt really quite unnecessarily unfulfilling and downbeat. It is a good film, but I suspect that Francis Lai's theme tune will long outlive the memory of anything we see on screen.