When I was in junior high, there were two movies that made girls my age weep: Love Story and Romeo and Juliet. At least the latter had some Shakspeareian cultural and historical value, and beautiful cinematography. But Love Story ain't Shakespeare.

Ollie and Jenny: Rich Brat, Poor Brat

Oliver Barrett, played by Ryan O'Neal, is a rich brat from a stuffy New England family. He's going to Harvard and he's joining the family firm after he graduates -- if he can kiss his cold-hearted father's hiney long enough and hard enough -- if he's a good boy who marries a good girl who will presumably be selected by said stuffy parents.

Meet Jenny Cavileri (Ali MacGraw a poor girl with a good brain, but a limited vocabulary that depends on the "f" and "s" words quite heavily. She's attending Radcliffe on a music scholarship, with nothing much more than plenty of love and support from her widowed father, a warm-hearted Rhode Island baker played by John Marley.

The preppy Harvard guys like Jenny, with her foul mouth and oversized eyeglasses, which seem to be needed only for effect and to make her look smarter while she's expounding, emoting, insulting people and swearing.

When I was in junior high, lots of girls thought it was cool and smart to swear and wear those cute little crochet skull caps (I had five or six myself) like Jenny's. The message of the movie was abundantly clear to teenage girls at the time: swearing like a truck driver and hitting the books added to your sex appeal.

Hockey and Harpsichord Montages

After Jenny and Ollie know that their lust is more than just a passing thing, you'll be treated to plenty of footage of Ollie playing ice hockey to smarmy harpsichord music, a little of which goes a long way.

The soundtrack of this movie was absolutely abyssmal, especially for the early 1970s. Somehow, the theme by Francis Lai reached the Top 40 and even the Top 10. Our parents must have liked it and bought it, because everyone our age at the time thought it sucked -- in a very polite kind of fashion. It was cooler to listen to the Woodstock live album ("gimme an F...").

Ollie's Parents Give Jenny Two Thumbs Down

Ollie finally drives Jenny to his parents' dim and stuffy country mansion, where they stiffly sip cocktails and Mr. Barrett (Ray Milland), grills Jenny about her background and social qualifications for being involved with Ollie Heir Apparent. This little soiree lasts for about five minutes, then Ollie and Jenny take off again in Ollie's little MG, with the top down in the winter.

After his parents have rejected Jenny and Mr. Barrett tells Ollie he is disinherited if he marries Jenny, Ollie gives up his inheritance and position in the family firm (he didn't really want the job, anyway) to struggle along with Jenny. Luckily, Jenny's dad is more supportive. Unfortunately, Jenny's dad has no money.

Jenny and Ollie marry in a simple ceremony in a small chapel where they have written their own vows. From then on, it's a struggle to meet the rent. Ollie totes Christmas trees, Jenny teaches music to bratty rich kids in a private school where they pay her a pittance.

Jenny Wants Ollie to Make Peace With Dad

The senior Barretts, feeling charitable during the Christmas holidays, send Jenny and Ollie an invitation to visit. Jenny thinks they should go -- she has lost one parent, her mother, and doesn't want to think about Ollie feeling guilty if one of his parents dies and their last words with each other have been harsh.

Even though Ollie tells Jenny to ignore the invitation, she picks up the phone and tells Mr. Barrett "Ollie wants you to know he loves you very much..." before Ollie grabs the receiver out of her hand and smashes it back down to cut her off.

So Jenny runs out the door, into the cold without her coat, feelings totally ravaged. Then we get another harpsichord montage of Ollie running frantically through the streets and the music rooms on the college campus to find Jenny.

Hours later, giving up and returning home, Ollie finds Jenny shivering on the porch step because she forgot her key (yes, they have neighbors who could have opened the door for her, but freezing Jenny is more dramatic). Ollie says he's sorry: I think you all know how Jenny answered, and maybe you even bought a poster with the line written in fancy script.

We're Movin' On Up to a Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

Ollie graduates at the top of his law school class and secures a fine position in a prestigious law firm. Jenny, who has been feeling run down lately, decides to be a lady who lunches and enjoys her beautiful new apartment (with a doorman and the whole nine yards). She wants to get pregnant, but nothing is happening despite their frequent attempts.

They visit a doctor, who decides to tell only Ollie that his wife is dying of leukemia, and that's why she's not getting pregnant. Back in those days, you didn't want to tell the little woman anything that might upset her.

Ollie buys tickets to Paris and surprises Jenny, who already suspects that she's going to check out. She tells Ollie she just wants to chill out, stay home and enjoy whatever time she has left watching him play ice hockey.

Jenny, You're Looking Marvelous! Leukemia Agrees With You!

Jenny is the only leukemia patient in film history who seems to become more beautiful and vibrant as she receives cobalt and chemotherapy and whatever other drugs they used to fight cancer at the time. She gets a bit more pale, but that only enhances her lovely, glossy dark hair and liquid brown eyes.

I was about 13 when I first saw this movie, and I had never seen anyone who was dying of cancer at the time. But my instincts told me, "Hey, should Jenny really be this active and look this good if she's going to die?"

Sure, I could get into fantasy and romance as easily as any teenage girl could. I didn't want to see Jenny suffer, either, or have her vomiting for us to prove she was sick. But Jenny was too damn dignified about her fate and too accepting. I wanted her to fight a little and to DO SOMETHING more than float around looking beautiful and spouting platitudes.

The end came too quickly and suddenly to seem real to me, too. We learn Jenny is sick, see Ollie's frustration and anger that he's going to lose her, Jenny's efforts to comfort him and urge him to go on with his life, and her last wish -- "Ollie, hold me, really hold me, next to me" as he climbs into the bed with her and she dies peacefully in his arms -- still looking like the cover of VOGUE.

Really A Guy Flick, Not a Chick Flick

Love Story has a solid "chick flick" reputation, but I think it was a trick. Years later as I joked with male pals about "first times" I noticed a strange trend. Three different men my own age who don't even know each other fondly recalled their first sexual experiences: "It was in a hammock (on a beach, and in the parking lot of a movie theater) right after I took her to see Love Story...


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older
Special Effects: Well at least you can't see the strings