''Oliver's Story'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film and a sequel to '' Love Story'' (1970) based on a novel by

Erich Segal Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel ''Love Story'' (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Early life and education Born and raised in a J ...

published a year earlier. It was directed by

John Korty John Korty (June 22, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American film director and animator, best known for the television film '' The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' and the documentary '' Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen ...

and again starred

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...

, this time opposite

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...

. The original music score was composed by

Lee Holdridge Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and one ...

and

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film ''Love Story''. The so ...

. It was released by Paramount Pictures on December 15, 1978. This film's promotional

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

is: "''It takes someone very special to help you forget someone very special.''"

Plot

Oliver Barrett IV is emotionally devastated by the death of his young wife, Jenny, who succumbed to

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. As he tries to lose himself in his work as a lawyer, the long hours do not ease his pain, especially when he finds that his views conflict with those of the senior partners at the firm. Oliver's inconsolable grief begins to alienate those around him, at least until he finds new love with Marcie Bonwit, the wealthy and beautiful heiress to the

Bonwit Teller Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury department store in New York City, New York, founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores. In 1897, Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the par ...

fortune. Despite his affection for her, Oliver finds it difficult to leave the memory of Jenny behind, which causes many problems in their relationship, even as he concurrently begins a reconciliation with his autocratic father. Though Oliver and Marcie eventually part, Oliver and his father reconcile when both men discover surprising things they never knew about each other and Oliver finally joins Barrett Enterprises.

Cast

– Oliver Barrett IV *

– Marcie Bonwit *

Nicola Pagett Nicola Mary Pagett Scott (15 June 1945 – 3 March 2021), known professionally as Nicola Pagett, was a British actress, known for her role as Elizabeth Bellamy in the 1970s TV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973), as well as being ...

– Joanna Stone * Ed Binns – Phil Cavilleri *

Benson Fong Benson Fong ( Chinese: ; October 10, 1916 – August 1, 1987) was an American character actor. Born in Sacramento, California, Fong was from a mercantile family of Chinese extraction. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, he studied ...

– John Hsiang *

Charles Haid Charles Maurice Haid III (born June 2, 1943) is an American actor and television director, with notable work in both movies and television. He is best known for his portrayal of Officer Andy Renko in ''Hill Street Blues''. Haid was born in San ...

– Stephen Simpson * Kenneth McMillan – Jamie Francis * Ray Milland – Oliver Barrett III *

Josef Sommer Maximilian Josef Sommer (born June 26, 1934) is a retired German-American stage, television, and film actor. Early life He was born in Greifswald, Germany, and raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemens Sommer, a professor of Art ...

– Dr. Dienhart *

Sully Boyar Sully may refer to: * Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (born 1951), American pilot notable for landing his disabled airliner on the Hudson ** ''Sully'' (film), a 2016 film by Clint Eastwood about Sullenberger Places France * Sully, Calvados, commu ...

– Mr. Gentilano *

Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz ( ; born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. She is the recipient of an Emmy Award and two Tony Awards. Kurtz made her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of '' Ah, Wilderness''. She has received five Tony Award nominations ...

– Gwen Simpson *

Meg Mundy Margaret Anne Mary Mundy (January 4, 1915 – January 12, 2016) was an English-born American actress and model. She was born in London, and in 1921, at the age of six, emigrated to the United States with her family. Personal life Mundy was born ...

– Mrs. Barrett *

Beatrice Winde Beatrice Winde (born Beatrice Lucille Williams; January 5, 1924 – January 3, 2004) was an American actress. Her work as a character actor, and a singer, in theatrical, television, and film roles, spanned several decades. Life and career W ...

– Waltereen

Production

Ryan O'Neal was offered a reported $3 million for his role. He originally turned it down, saying he was unhappy with the script. "It was just a rehash of the book, which hadn't interested me," he said. "I just don't think Segal did a good job of catching him. Oliver is a real hard guy to follow." He changed his mind after director John Korty rewrote the script. O'Neal says he was paid less than $3 million, although he received $1 million up front and a share of the profits. O'Neal says that Candice Bergen was reluctant to appear in the film and he had to persuade her by giving her one of his points in the film.

John Marley John Marley (born Mortimer Marlieb, October 17, 1907 – May 22, 1984) was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in ''Love Story'' and as Jack Woltz—the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head o ...

did not reprise his role as

Ali MacGraw Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress and activist. She gained attention with her role in the film ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an ...

's father from the original. He and Paramount had come to terms on money but not billing; he was replaced by Edward Binns. In the original draft of the film, O'Neal's character was meant to end up with the one played by Nicola Pagett. However, on viewing the movie the filmmakers felt that it was not believable O'Neal would go with Pagett after being with the more beautiful Candice Bergen, so they removed these scenes from the movie.

Location

A number of scenes were filmed in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. The Stanley Woolen Mill in

Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located southwest of Boston and south-southe ...

, and other locations in that community were used for this film. Oliver's law offices were those occupied at the time by the New York firm of

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Be ...

. The Bonwit Teller store in Eastchester, N.Y. was also used as a shoot location. Filming also took place in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Critical reception

Unlike the original film, ''Oliver's Story'' was poorly reviewed and was not successful at the box office. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 7 critics. O'Neal thought a major reason behind the film's failure was the fact the character played by Nicola Pagett was cut out of the last third.

Soundtrack

''Oliver's Story'' soundtrack was released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

and cassette tape by ABC Records in December 1978.''Oliver's Story'' soundtrack album
retrieved June 28, 2015. Side 1: * "Prologue" –

(1:58) * " Theme from Love Story" –

(2:06) * "Love Theme from Oliver's Story (Oliver's Theme)" –

(2:12) * "Night Drive to Cambridge" –

(4:35) * "Oliver's Childhood Room" –

(1:25) * "Love at the Red Apple (Oliver's Theme)" –

(3:51) Side 2: * "Love Theme From Oliver's Story (Oliver's Theme)" –

(3:02) * "Hong Kong Park" –

(0:53) * "Tentative Feelings (Oliver's Theme)" –

(1:59) * "Tennis, Jogging, and Singles Bars (Oliver's Theme)" –

(2:14) * "Montage of Moments" –

(5:40)

References

External links

* * *
Erich Segal official website
{{John Korty 1978 films 1978 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American sequel films 1970s English-language films Films about widowhood Films based on American novels Films based on romance novels Films directed by John Korty Films scored by Lee Holdridge Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in New York City Films shot in Hong Kong Paramount Pictures films Sequel novels Films scored by Francis Lai 1970s American films