Thursday, February 27, 2020

New York City Movie Location (The Plaza) From The Way We Were. "Your Girl Is Lovely Hubbell"

While in New York City last week, I decided to stop by The Plaza and take a few photographs of the location where the final scene of The Way We Were was shot.

It's a scene, even after first seeing the film way back in 1974, that still causes my eyes to tear with bittersweet emotion. Both Redford (Hubbell Gardiner) and Streisand (Katie Morosky) are absolutely wonderful in the scene because their acting is quietly internalized, yet the depth of what they are thinking and feeling is so powerfully conveyed through their eyes. Their onscreen chemistry in this film is pure cinema magic.

When I lived in New York, my apartment was not very far from The Plaza, so I would often walk past it on my way to the 5th Ave and 59th Street subway. It's one of those Manhattan landmarks that you often forget is a landmark when you live there full-time. It's only when you go back after no longer living there, do you realize what a special location it truly is.

It's majestic.

Below are photographs from the final scene, which I created by taking screenshots from the movie and then cropped them. Interjected are several comparison photographs of the same location and how it looks presently. There is a lot of construction going on at The Plaza and surrounding area, so you'll notice that it looks quite different from the 1970's. However, its beauty still shines through.

Please enjoy...

A candid shot of Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford talking between takes....

The opening of the final scene...

I couldn't get a photograph of the exact same angle because there were two cars parked next to the curb that blocked my view. However, this is the same spot (and lamppost) that Streisand walked by in the scene above...

Suddenly, Katie spots Hubbell...

Suddenly, Hubbell spots Katie...

She smiles...

He smiles...

Katie runs across the street to meet him...

*notice the difference in automobile styles, then and now...

Katie and Hubbell briefly catch up on their lives, as his wife looks on...

After talking, Katie crosses the street and goes back to her political activist work...

Hubbell follows her...

...and after a private exchange of their love for each other, Katie brushes Hubbell's hair with her hand (an infamous gesture that was created by Streisand herself for her character)...