October 19, 1973: “The Way We Were” Premieres

Robert Redford & Barbra Streisand, 1973

October 19, 1973: The Way We Were premieres, directed by Sydney Pollack. Arthur Laurents adapted the screenplay from his own 1972 novel of the same name, which was based on his college days at Cornell University, and his experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It stars Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, both at their peak. Streisand sings the theme song, which hit Number 1 the following February. It was written by Marvin Hamlisch, and the husband & wife team of Alan & Marilyn Bergman.

Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner are immensely different. Katie is a staunch Marxist Jew with strong anti-war opinions, while Hubbell is a carefree WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), with no particular political bent.

While attending college in 1937, Katie is attracted to Hubbell's good looks and admires his natural writing skill, which he seemingly excels at. Hubbell is intrigued by Katie's ability to communicate and persuade others into supporting various social causes. Hubbell's snobbish college friends mock Katie and her passionate political stances. Neither Katie nor Hubbell act upon upon their mutual attraction, and they lose touch after graduation.

The two meet again towards the end of World War II. Katie works at a radio station, and Hubbell, having served as a naval officer in the South Pacific, is readjusting to civilian life. They fall in love, despite their differences. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies on April 12, 1945, Katie is vocally incensed when Hubbell's friends make disparaging jokes. She rejects Hubbell's indifference towards their insensitivity and dismissive political engagement. Hubbell is uncomfortable with Katie's bluntness and strong opinions. Hubbell ends their relationship, but they eventually reconcile.

When Hubbell receives an offer to adapt his novel into a screenplay, Katie believes his talent will be wasted in Hollywood. Despite her frustration, they move to California, where he becomes a successful screenwriter, and the couple enjoy an affluent lifestyle.

As the Hollywood blacklist grows in the late 1940s, and what will eventually be known as McCarthyism encroaches on their lives, Katie's political activism resurfaces, seemingly jeopardizing Hubbell's position and reputation. Eventually, Katie and other Hollywood liberals confront the government over their suppression of personal privacy and free speech.

Katie's involvement strains the marriage, and Hubbell becomes alienated and refuses to understand Katie's persistent political combativeness. Although Katie is now pregnant, Hubbell has an affair with Carol Ann, his college girlfriend. After their daughter's birth, Katie and Hubbell divorce. Katie realizes Hubbell is not the man she idealized and that he will always choose the easiest path. Hubbell is emotionally exhausted and unable to live up to Katie's expectations of him.

Years later, Katie and Hubbell meet by chance in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York, where activist Katie is part of a "Ban the Bomb" demonstration. Hubbell, accompanied by a woman, now writes for a television show, essentially confirming Katie's prediction about him. After a brief, friendly reunion, they part ways, then Hubbell crosses the street to where she is protesting. He asks about their daughter, Rachel, and whether Katie's new husband is a good father to her. After a more tender and bittersweet goodbye, Hubbell goes to the waiting taxi.

That's it. No big ending. No reconciliation. No tragedy. The film just sort of... drips to an end. Men tend to end up disappointed in the film, not because the male lead is unheroic, but because watching the film feels like a waste.

Women don't feel that way at all: If Gone With the Wind is women's Casablanca, then The Way We Were is women's The Godfather. It became a trope of women in sitcoms watching it to help them get over a breakup.

The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2: Best Song, for Hamlisch and the Bergmans; and Best Original Score, also for Hamlisch. Streisand was nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class. Redford was nominated for Best Actor -- not for this film, but for another film that year, The Sting. He did not win, losing to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger.

Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, 2015

Streisand had already won Best Actress for her 1969 performance in Funny Girl, and would win for Best Song for "Evergreen" from the 1976 version of A Star Is Born. The Sting remains Redford's only nomination for Best Actor. However, he won for Best Director for the 1980 drama Ordinary People, in which he didn't even appear. He usually doesn't appear in the films he directs. Streisand has directed, and usually does cast herself.

*

October 19, 1973 was a Friday -- the day before President Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre." The World Series was on a travel day, between Games 6 and 7. The New York Mets led the Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 2, and only had to win 1 game in Oakland. They didn't, and the A's won the Series in Game 7.

There was a college football game between ranked teams: The University of Houston, ranked Number 14, beat the University of Miami, ranked Number 15, 30-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-90 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The Boston Celtics beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-102 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Capital Bullets, 117-103 at the Chicago Stadium. Phil Chenier scored 36 points in defeat for the Bullets, who changed their name to the Washington Bullets the next season.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-94 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 118-91 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 111-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Memphis Tams, 101-88 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Virginia Squires beat the San Antonio Spurs, 105-93 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Carolina Cougars, 121-109 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 101-96 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Denver Rockets beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 113-100 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

Only 1 game was played in the NHL: The Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. This was an outlier: The Canucks had a terrible season, while the Flyers went on to win the Stanley Cup.

There were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association. The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the New England Whalers, 1-0 at the St. Paul Civic Center. ("Saints" because they played in St. Paul, not in Minneapolis, or in suburban Bloomington like the NHL's Minnesota North Stars.) And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Edmonton Coliseum.

September 23, 1969: "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" Premieres

September 23, 1969: Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid premieres, with Paul Newman as Robert Leroy Parker, a.k.a. Butch Cassidy; Robert Redford as Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid; and Katharine Ross as Etta Place, a.k.a. "The Sundance Woman." It was one of the earliest "revisionist Westerns," telling the story of the Wild West more like how it actually was, than the traditional, far simpler story.

Scriptwriter William Goldman and director George Roy Hill knew that the 1960s were changing things, so they made a Western for the times. They had the vision. Or, as Goldman had Newman/Cassidy say, "I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals."

The real Butch and Sundance were active in the Rocky Mountains, especially Utah and Wyoming, in the 1890s. Targeted by local sheriffs and -- "Who are those guys?" As it turned out, the Pinkerton detective agency -- in 1901, they fled to South America, and became farmers in Bolivia. In 1908, when that stopped panning out, they went back to robbery.

The story that we've all heard is that, on November 3, 1908, the Bolivian Army cornered them in a piazza, and beat them in a shootout. It's been said that Butch was an expert robber, but never killed anyone in his life, until the end, when he used his last 2 bullets on an already-wounded Sundance, and then on himself.

But it's also been said that the army caught someone else, and that Butch and Sundance survived, got away, and went back to America, and lived a while longer. Director George Roy Hill finished the last scene with them frozen and still fighting, with the sound of gunfire all around them, giving the illusion that, maybe, just maybe, they pulled off the million-to-one escape.

Lessons to be learned from this movie:

1. Nothing lasts forever, not even the Wild West.
2. Use enough dynamite, no more.
3. There are no rules in a knife fight.
4. The man who is the best at something might not be the best man at it for you.

5. Don't worry about being unable to swim when the fall will probably kill you.

6. Life, especially a life of crime, is harder in a foreign country, especially when the dominant language is not your first language.

7. If you got a woman who looks like a young Katharine Ross, and she says we should go home because it's too dangerous to stay where we are, go home.

8. Western movies rarely tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

*

September 23, 1969 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 8-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski hit 2 home runs, and American League Comeback Player of the Year Tony Conigliaro hit 1, knocking Mel Stottlemyre out of the box after 4 innings.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Bud Harrelson singled home the winning run against Bob Gibson in the bottom of the 11th inning. Tug McGraw was the winning pitcher, with 4 innings of relief of Jim McAndrew. Lou Brock went 2-for-6 in defeat. The next night, the Mets beat the Cards, 6-0, and clinched the National League Eastern Division title.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Willie Stargell went 0-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Orioles' only run came on a homer by Frank Robinson. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3. But the O's, already having clinched the AL Eastern Division title, were doomed in this game by back-to-back bases-loaded walks of Ken Harrelson and Tony Horton by Tom Phoebus in the 3rd inning. Sam McDowell went the distance for the win.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 and 5-2. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 6-for-10 with a home run and 2 RBIs, and Johnny Bench went 1-for-6 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew went 2-for-5.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 10-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. The night before, he hit his 600th career home run against Mike Corkins of the Padres.

* The California Angels beat the Seattle Pilots, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Following a home run by Don Mincher in the 4th inning, the Pilots took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 6th, but, if you read Ball Four by the since-traded Jim Bouton, you can probably guess what happened: The bullpen blew it in the bottom of the 6th.

* The Oakland Athletics swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox at the Oakland Coliseum, 4-3 and 5-3. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4 in the opener, but in the nightcap, he went 1-for-2 with 3 walks, his hit being his 47th home run of the season. In spite of his illustrious career, 47 would remain his career high.

* And the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators were rained out at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Senators swept, 8-4 and 7-4. Jim Hannan outpitched Denny McLain, and then the Senators beat Mickey Lolich. Al Kaline did not play in the 1st game, and went 1-for-5 in the 2nd game.

May 11, 1984: "The Natural" Premieres

May 11, 1984: The film version of Bernard Malamud's baseball-themed 1952 novel The Natural premieres, starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey, Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Wilford Brimley, Red Farnsworth, Darrin McGavin, Michael Madsen and Robert Prosky.

Is it the best baseball movie ever? Maybe. Certainly, it's the one with the best photography, thanks to director Barry Levinson;  and the one with the best music, thanks to Randy Newman.

It's not perfect, though. And I don't mean that it's corny or sappy.

I'd still like to know what happened to Roy Hobbs between 1923, when he was a hot pitching prospect and got shot, and 1939, when he was 35, a right fielder, and a great hitter. Not to mention what happened to him after he shot out the lights at the end. Sure, he reunites with his wife and son, which is the whole point. But, still, I'd like to know that story.

Richard Farnsworth died in 2000, Darren McGavin in 2006, Robert Prosky in 2008, Wilford Brimley in 2020. The rest of the stars, along with director Barry Levinson and composer Randy Newman, are still alive as of May 11, 2022.

UPDATE: Robert Redford died on September 16, 2025. Michael Madsen died 2 months earlier, Joe Don Baker 2 months before that.

*

May 11, 1984 was a Friday. Andrés Iniesta, a star for Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona, was born.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Ken Griffey Sr. hit an RBI single to send the game to extra innings, and the teams traded runs in the 14th inning, including a home run by the Yankees' Roy Smalley. But a Jack Perconte sacrifice fly won it for the M's in the top of the 17th inning.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Rookie sensation Dwight Gooden went the distance, pitching a 4 hit shutout, striking out 11.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks, but no stolen bases. Joe Morgan had a 2-RBI double. Eddie Murray went 1-for-3, Cal Ripken 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. César Cedeño hit a home run for the Reds. Manager Pete Rose did not put player Pete Rose into the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 8-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. For the Angels, Reggie Jackson goes 0-for-4, and Rod Carew only 1-for-5, but Doug DeCinces hits a home run. But the Tigers get a home run from Kirk Gibson.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount hit a home run.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.) George Brett did not play for the Royals in this game, but Jorge Orta hit a home run.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Phils got homers from Len Matuszek, Ozzie Virgil Jr., MIke Schmidt and Sixto Lezcano. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Ordinarily, football would have been out of season. But these 4 games were played in the United States Football League that night:

* The New Jersey Generals lost to the Washington Federals, 31-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Yes, the Generals lost to the Feds. That was embarrassing.

* The Birmingham Stallions beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 42-10 at Legion Field in Birmingham.

* The Memphis Showboats beat the San Antonio Gunslingers, 38-14 at the LIberty Bowl in Memphis.

* And the Chicago Blitz beat the Denver Gold, 29-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 6 of an Conference Semifinal: The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 106-104 at Madison Square Garden. Bernard King scored 44 to offset Larry Bird's 35, and send the series to a Game 7 at the Boston Garden. But the Celtics won it.

And the Stanley Cup Finals were between games. The previous night, the Edmonton Oilers had beaten the New York Islanders, 1-0 at the Nassau Coliseum, on a 3rd period goal by Kevin McClelland. The Isles had won 4 straight Cups, but their "Drive For Five" would come to a disappointing end: Their dynasty ending, and the Oilers' dynasty beginning.