During WWII there was a housing shortage in Washington, DC, and that's what sets the plot in motion in Without Love. Jamie Rowan (Hepburn), a fairly well-off widow, advertises for a caretaker for her Washington home (she also has a place in the country) and Pat Jamison (Tracy), a scientist working on an aviation invention for the government (but with no skill at taking care of the house) moves in. Both these people have been deeply hurt by love, she by the death of her husband, he by rejection from a woman he loved. They decide on a marriage "without love" because they want companionship without emotional entanglement. Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn play another couple, Carl Esmond is a man attempting to romance Kate; Patricia Morison plays an attractive bitch.I guess the movie doesn't really reach any heights, but it's a lovely, thoughtful, intelligent, warm and yet surprisingly sharp comedy, with very good acting. The film creates a little world and invites you in. Harold S. Bucquet (who took over Kate's film, Dragon Seed, when Jack Conway fell ill) had been the director of the MGM Dr. Kildare films, which were pretty darn good programmers. He brings a nice quality to this love story.

In Wahington during WWII, a scientist and a rich widow enter into a marriage of convenience. Arguably the least well known of the nine films they co-starred in, Tracy and Hepburn are OK here but the script is nothing special. In fact, it's a rather silly affair about him developing a high altitude oxygen mask for fighter pilots and her becoming his assistant. Ball and Wynn provide some humor, and Grahame has a bit role in just her second film. The script is by the team that wrote "The Philadelphia Story," but the inspiration is lacking. It is directed by someone named Bucquet, who suffered an untimely death soon after making this, his last film.

The first 95% of this film was excellent. In particular, the dialog was first-rate--especially the very suggestive and smart-alecky lines given to supporting actress, Lucille Ball, though the rest of the cast all had some wonderful zingers scattered throughout the film. And the main idea of the plot--two people who marry out of convenience but come to love each other is marvelous. However, there is one small gripe and one big one about the film. The small one is that Katherine Hepburn's marriage proposal just seems to come out of thin air--with no indication WHY she would do this (other than the fact it was in the script, of course). But the biggest problem was that this film SHOULD have gotten a score of 8, but the ending was such a dud--a major letdown! Suddenly, the smart acting and hip dialog degenerated to a sickly sweet and annoying conclusion. It's a real shame, because with a smoother ending, this might have been among the best of the Tracy-Hepburn films.A final note--I think it was probably an inside joke and done intentionally, but when Katherine Hepburn is making faces in the mirror at herself, the reflection isn't totally in sync--especially at the very end. Watch the scene carefully and you'll see what I mean.

If it wasn't for "Adam's Rib", this film would be my favourite of the Tracy/Hepburn movies. I like the characters they both play, and there's a plus of another plot going on in the background between Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn. Of course you know what's going to happen by the end but the movie is entertaining and the obviousness doesn't matter. I heard that Tracy wouldn't play in this on stage which seems a shame as he's so good on the screen as the cranky scientist taking up residence in Hepburn's cellar. Hepburn is fabulous as ever and the brittle widow is a perfect part for her. Of course no one who marries in the movies 'without love' stays that way. If they did we wouldn't have had these kind of movies in the golden age of Hollywood!