Harold S. Buquet's WITHOUT LOVE (1945) is without doubt one of Katharine Hepburn's most underrated films. She plays a Jamie Rowan, a scientist's daughter who rents out part of her Washington DC home to a Pat Jamieson (Spencer Tracy), a scientist who cannot find anywhere to live and work due to the housing shortage of WWII DC. Jamie has given up on love because she tragically lost her first husband, and cannot envision loving anybody else. Pat refuses to have any romance in his life because he has been jilted by the girl he was crazy about. So, the obvious conclusion for this mismatched pair is to enter into a loveless marriage and work together as colleagues on the scientific innovations that will win the war. Well, if you've EVER seen a Hepburn/Tracy movie in your life, you can imagine the laughs these two have before yielding to the inevitable and falling hook, line, and sinker for each other!
"You don't want love in your life, I don't want it in mine. But our reasons are as different as the sun is from the moon. You don't want it because you've had all the worst of it. I don't want it because I've had all the best." (Jamie)As philosophical as this all sounds, the movie is actually rather light, and full of laughs. Hepburn is as good here as she is in some of her more popular comedies, like BRINGING UP BABY (1938), THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), or ADAM'S RIB (1949). If you haven't seen it already, WITHOUT LOVE is definitely one to add to your collection. Here are my top ten favorite things about the movie.
