Love Story cover

Love Story is a well known romance movie made by Paramount Pictures in 1970. It Starred Ali MacGraw as Jenny Cavalleri, Ryan O’Neil as Oliver Barrett IV,  John Marley as Phil Cavalleri, and Ray Milland as Oliver Barrett III. It was written by Eric Segal (who simultaneously wrote a book version) and directed by Arthur Hiller. It surpassed all box office expectations and was Paramount’s most successful movie ever (to that date), and continues to be very popular.

The opening line of the movie is “What can I say about a 25-year old girl who died? That she loved Mozart, and Bach, and Beatles, and Me?” As you can tell this one doesn’t have a happy ending.

The story chronicles the two lead characters as they meet in college (he’s attending Harvard and she’s attending nearby Vassar — these are the days when both schools were single sex) through several years of marriage.

The story shows sacrificial love as Jenny gives up her own educational plans to support Oliver in his. When the couple has problems conceiving a child they get medical exams that uncover that Jenny is very sick. Her illness is never named but it appears to be Leukemia or some other form of cancer. Jenny dies of the disease but not until after she has a profound effect on Oliver and the others in her life.

The movie is probably most well known for the line “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”