Sans amour

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.

This is an excellent vehicle for Tracy-Hepburn, not their best but darn close to it. Cleverly made comedy.

The whole cast is just fine, but I think this is Lucille Ball's all-time best feature film performance. She didn't have much opportunity for high-brow sophisticated parts, and as Kitty, the real estate agent and love interest for Keynan Wynn, Ball is just wonderful. What a shame she didn't get parts like this very often.

Direction and set design is typical of MGM's best of the 1940's.

Nifty film.....now if Warner Home Video would get around to releasing it on DVD, I'd be a happy camper.

i was able to see this movie for the first time over the weekend & have to say that i immediately fell in love with it.

the tenderness of both characters & understanding of each other's problems showed how in love might grow to being in love so deeply.

the love of the characters was not based on sexual situations or any of the vulgar material that is produced today, although they were deeply attracted to each other, first mentally and then physically.

i truly wish that they would release this film so that i could get a copy of it. it is one of the best, sweetest romances i have seen in a long time.

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 ****

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are "Without Love" in this 1945 romantic comedy, also starring Keenan Wynn, Patricia Morison, and Lucille Ball.

Based on a play by Philip Barry, Tracy plays Pat Jamieson, a scientist looking for a place to live in Washington, D. C. in wartime; he signs on as a caretaker for the home of Jamie Rowan (Hepburn), a widow.

Jamieson has had his heart broken by a French woman, Lily Vine, and Jamie feels that she can never again recapture what she had with her late husband. The two decide to marry but keep it platonic.

This light comedy is obviously predictable, elevated by the excellent cast. Tracy and Hepburn are both delightful with their usual great chemistry. Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball are on hand as an on-again, off-again couple; the Wynn character is engaged to Patricia Morison, a bossy woman, but he keeps flirting and kissing Ball. Ball's delivery is priceless.

Hollywood didn't know what to with Morison for most of her films, either B movies or small parts in A movies; in fact, her fabulous role in "Kiss of Death" was cut by the censors.

Instead, she became a tremendous musical stage star on Broadway and in London, her best role being Kate in "Kiss Me, Kate." At this writing, she's 96 and still with us.

An entertaining film, good watch.