Love Story (1970)
The love story of young adults Oliver Barrett IV and Jenny Cavilleri is told. Oliver comes from an extremely well off and old money New England family, the Barrett name which holds much gravitas and which is plastered especially all over Harvard where Oliver is in pre-law. Like those before him, he plans on attending Harvard Law School, which is not an issue in either the school not accepting him or he not wanting to attend. He has an extremely stiff relationship with his parents, especially his father, Oliver Barrett III, who loves his son in the old school way. Jenny, a music student at Radcliffe, comes from a working class Rhode Island background, she working her way through the program before she plans on going to Paris to further her studies. Unlike Oliver's relationship with his father, Jenny has a very casual one with her baker father, who she calls by his given name Phil. When Oliver and Jenny meet, there are immediate fireworks - she always with a quick quip to put him in his place - both of a good and bad kind, but they both quickly come to the realization that they are in love with each other. They have many obstacles to overcome in having a committed relationship, outwardly his father's disapproval of someone like her not being Barrett material being arguably the the biggest. However, other things that happen in the natural course of life and death may trump all.
Love means never having to say you're sorry
Oliver Barrett IV: What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?
119 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
(Oliver and Jenny's rented apartment)
Fordham University - 441 E. Fordham Road. Rose Hill, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
(Constitution Row: Oliver and his father walking after Hockey game)
Wollman Skating Rink - 830 5th Ave., New York City, New York, USA
(skating rink)
Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA
(Harvard - Cornell hockey game)
Old Westbury Gardens - 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island, New York, USA
(Barrett's estate)
The scenes with Oliver Barrett walking alone through a snowy New York were added after principal photography was completed. The production was almost out of money and did not have the necessary funds for permits to shoot in New York City again - so all the shots were grabbed illegally using a skeleton film crew and Ryan O'Neal.
In 1972, this movie was the most viewed film on television of all time.
Author Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted this into a novel, which was published before the movie's release, and became a runaway bestseller.
To prepare for their roles, Ryan O'Neal learned to ice skate, and Ali MacGraw learned to play the harpsichord. When Arthur Hiller settled on Ryan O'Neal, he rehearsed the actor and Ali MacGraw for 10 days, because he wanted them to be friends before filming began.
It was the production of this movie that led Harvard University to prohibit almost all commercial filming on their campus, reportedly because of disruptions to students and damage to the campus, including fake snow killing several trees. The production was kicked off the campus after only a week of filming. Most subsequent movies set at Harvard University filmed at other nearby schools.
Continuity
During the Harvard-Dartmouth hockey match, Oliver is wearing #7 jersey for Harvard. In the penalty box, he tells Jenny that he is concentrating on how he is going to total the Dartmouth player who had him sent to the box. He points to the Dartmouth player, who at this point has just taken down another Harvard player who is clearly wearing #7.
In the hospital towards the end, Jenny's hair on the left side of the pillow changes position every time the camera angle changes, although she herself presumably has not moved.
During the Cornell/Harvard hockey match, before Oliver enters the penalty box, his hockey jersey is almost spotless. After he sits down and takes off his helmet, a large blood smear appears on his jersey near his shoulder.
When Jenny phones Oliver's dad to decline the birthday invitation, Oliver is wearing a different pair of jeans than he is wearing in the next shot when he runs in the streets looking for her.
When Oliver talks with Phil at the hospital, his hand suddenly appears on Phil's shoulder.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
When Oliver says Jenny's father bakes cookies, she corrects him and says he makes pastries. When she meets Oliver's parents, she tells them her father bakes cookies for a living. However, it clears throughout the movie that Jenny often says things, true or not, simply to get a reaction from Oliver. It's likely at least one of those times; she was just trying to get a reaction.
Revealing mistakes
When Oliver is playing in the Harvard-Dartmouth game, the crowd is chanting "Go, Leafs, Go". The chant obviously is dubbed from a National Hockey League game in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
When Jennifer calls Oliver's father, the number she dials is 1-333-334x (Final number is not in the visible frame.), but the number Oliver told her to dial is 1-338-3434.
Crew or equipment visible
When Oliver and Jennifer pull up to his house to meet his parents, the shadow of the camera can be seen on the wheel and hood of the car.
A camera shadow can be seen on the street and car when Oliver and Jenny are talking about naming the baby Bozo.