Love Among the Ruins
- TV Movie
- 1975
- 1h 40m
An aging actress is being sued for breach of promise. She hires as her lawyer a man who was an ex-lover, and is still in love with her, although she doesn't know it. She realizes that the on... Read allAn aging actress is being sued for breach of promise. She hires as her lawyer a man who was an ex-lover, and is still in love with her, although she doesn't know it. She realizes that the only way to win this case and protect her assets is to destroy her reputation.An aging actress is being sued for breach of promise. She hires as her lawyer a man who was an ex-lover, and is still in love with her, although she doesn't know it. She realizes that the only way to win this case and protect her assets is to destroy her reputation.
- Won 6 Primetime Emmys
- 9 wins & 2 nominations total
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn 1973, during an interview on the The Dick Cavett Show (1968), Cavett asked Katharine Hepburn if she was sorry she had never acted with Sir Laurence Olivier. With a smile and a laugh, Hepburn replied, "Well, neither of us is dead yet. Even though you may think so." Two years later, Hepburn and Olivier made this movie together.
- GoofsThe premise of the movie is invalid because only women could sue for breach of promise to marry, not men.
- Quotes
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: And what is your age?
Jessica Medlicott: [smiling, nervous and not speaking for several seconds]
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: Did you not hear the question that I asked?
Jessica Medlicott: I heard your question. I could not believe that you asked it.
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: Don't you want the jury to know how old you are?
Jessica Medlicott: I cannot think that it is any of their business. I don't know their ages, why should they know mine?
[continuing smiling while people in the courtroom chuckle]
The Judge: Silence!
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: Ah, so you won't say in what year you were born then?
Jessica Medlicott: I was born in the year of my birth.
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: I assure you, it's quite customary to tell one's age in the witness box.
Jessica Medlicott: And I assure you it is quite incompatable with the civilized behavoir. No gentleman would dream about insisting upon it.
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: I'm sure my learned opponent would agree with you whole-heartedly. How he would like us to believe that all suck things such as birth certificates, eh, should be ignored or even surpressed.
Jessica Medlicott: Neither in my case. Merely lost.
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: How lost? In a fire?
Jessica Medlicott: In a fire, exactly.
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones: And what fire was that, Mrs. Medicott?
Jessica Medlicott: Any fire you like.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 27th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1975)
But the ways of love are never smooth and Jessica's involvement with (and subsequent rejection of) a younger man who clearly is interested in her money (and played with precise sliminess by Leigh Lawson) now has her entangled in a court case and probably not in as strong a position as she (or Sir Arthur) would like.
To complicate matters, Sir Arthur is still in love and reminds her of how they met these long years ago. Jessica's memory may not be so good, but Sir Arthur is determined to do all possible to save her from the slimey young man.
The film centers around three kinds of scenes: almost all are focussed on Olivier. In some Sir Arthur remembers his earlier time with Jessica and plots his performance in court - with his clerk and others. In these we see Sir Arthur and the feelings he still has for Jessica and his hope that maybe you can go back again.
In other scenes the focus is on Jessica and Sir Arthur, his memories, her current situation, his plans for the trial. Sir Arthur's feelings are sometimes concealed (though not always well) while Jessica (once an actress) is better at masquerading.
Finally, there are the courtroom scenes in which Olivier transcends both Olivier and Sir Arthur and shows us a barrister putting on a performance in the court that is entirely different from all we have seen Sir Arthur do before.
But Jessica is also putting on a performance, and when the depth of this performance and the deliberateness of her deceit are revealed, you suddenly have a second chance to see who Jessica is and was and maybe who she will be.
There have been a number of great filmed love stories (and Hepburn is no stranger to them), but this is a bit different - its about young love - between two people who are far from young. Its about hope and how things work out sometimes. Its funny and sad - often at the same time. It may not be a great film - but its a very good one indeed, well worth watching and rewatching.
But since it was made for TV it seems to have been destined to be quietly ignored - this is a shame as it is far better than most of the stuff thats endlessly recycled on cable.
- jefu
- May 18, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Liebe in der Dämmerung
- Filming locations
- St Pancras International Railway Station, Euston Road, St Pancras, London, Greater London, England, UK(Courtroom exteriors, corridors and staircases.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro