Most romantic comedies are based on the mathematical formula A+B-C=D, where A stands for "boy loves girl", B for "girl loves boy" and C for some obstacle to their love which has to be removed to achieve happy ending D. At the time this film was made, the happy ending almost always involved either a marriage or the reconciliation of estranged or divorced partners. Even today the film industry generally still believes that love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. "Without Love" is based upon a variation in this formula; there is still a happy ending, but the carriage comes before the horse. Marriage comes first and love comes later.
The action takes place during World War II. Jamie Rowan is a young widow who decides to help the war effort by allowing Patrick Jamieson, a military research scientist, to set up his laboratory in the basement of her house. (I was surprised to learn that "Jamie" was used in America as a name for girls of Katharine Hepburn's generation; it did not come into use as a feminine name in Britain until much later). Jamie begins to assist Patrick with his scientific work, and the two become friends. There is, however, a psychological obstacle to love developing between them. Patrick has had a negative view of love ever since being treated badly by a former girlfriend. Jamie had a very happy marriage, but was left devastated when her husband died suddenly in a riding accident. As they put it, he has had all the worst of love and she all the best. Nevertheless, the two agree to marry "without love", believing that this will enable them to work together more effectively and that love is not an essential ingredient in a marriage. But, this being a rom-com, their relationship does not remain loveless for very long.
The leading roles are taken by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn who were of course partners in real life, although they never married because Tracy was unable to get a divorce from his wife. This was one of a number of films they made together. Watching the movie I did in fact wonder whether the screenplay had been written with younger actors in mind. We learn that Jamie was born in 1917, making her a full decade younger than Hepburn herself. As for Patrick, his heartbreak over his lost love somehow seems more appropriate to a young man of twenty or thirty than to a middle-aged one of forty-five (Tracy's age at the time of filming). Yet both play their roles well enough to overcome this potential difficulty.
The dialogue is at times witty, but I felt that the main problem with the film is that it is too static, dominated by talk rather than action. It can be amusing while you are watching it, but there is not much of any substance. It is better than something like "Quality Street" but it does not really remain in the mind in the way which Hepburn's great romantic comedies like "Bringing up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story" do. 6/10
The action takes place during World War II. Jamie Rowan is a young widow who decides to help the war effort by allowing Patrick Jamieson, a military research scientist, to set up his laboratory in the basement of her house. (I was surprised to learn that "Jamie" was used in America as a name for girls of Katharine Hepburn's generation; it did not come into use as a feminine name in Britain until much later). Jamie begins to assist Patrick with his scientific work, and the two become friends. There is, however, a psychological obstacle to love developing between them. Patrick has had a negative view of love ever since being treated badly by a former girlfriend. Jamie had a very happy marriage, but was left devastated when her husband died suddenly in a riding accident. As they put it, he has had all the worst of love and she all the best. Nevertheless, the two agree to marry "without love", believing that this will enable them to work together more effectively and that love is not an essential ingredient in a marriage. But, this being a rom-com, their relationship does not remain loveless for very long.
The leading roles are taken by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn who were of course partners in real life, although they never married because Tracy was unable to get a divorce from his wife. This was one of a number of films they made together. Watching the movie I did in fact wonder whether the screenplay had been written with younger actors in mind. We learn that Jamie was born in 1917, making her a full decade younger than Hepburn herself. As for Patrick, his heartbreak over his lost love somehow seems more appropriate to a young man of twenty or thirty than to a middle-aged one of forty-five (Tracy's age at the time of filming). Yet both play their roles well enough to overcome this potential difficulty.
The dialogue is at times witty, but I felt that the main problem with the film is that it is too static, dominated by talk rather than action. It can be amusing while you are watching it, but there is not much of any substance. It is better than something like "Quality Street" but it does not really remain in the mind in the way which Hepburn's great romantic comedies like "Bringing up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story" do. 6/10