Oliver Barrett IV, heir of an American upper-class 

East Coast family, attends Harvard

College where he plays ice hockey. He meets Jennifer "Jenny" Cavilleri, a quick-witted, working-
a teacher but without his father's financial support the couple struggle to pay Oliver's way
through Harvard Law School. Oliver graduates third in his class and takes a position at a
respectable New York City law firm. They are ready to start a family but fail to conceive. After
many tests Oliver is told that Jenny is terminally ill.
Oliver attempts to continue as normal withThe film was an instant box office smash.[18] It opened
in two theatres in New York City, Loew's State I and Tower East, grossing $128,022 in its first
week.[9] It expanded into another 166 theatres on Christmas Day and grossed $2,363,767 for the
weekend, becoming the number one film in the United States and grossed $2,493,167 the
following weekend.[19][20] It remained number one at the US box office for the next 4 weeks before
finishing second behind The Owl and the Pussycat for one week and then returning to the top of
the box office for another six weeks. It went into general release in the United States on June 23,
1971 expanding into an additional 143 theatres in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and
St Louis, grossing $1,660,761 in five days and returned to number one at the US box office for
another 3 weeks, for a total of 15 weeks at number one. [21][22] It was the sixth highest-grossing film
of all time in U.S and Canada with a gross of $106,397,186. Adjusted for inflation, the film
remains one of the top 50 domestic grosses of all time. [4] It grossed an additional $67 million in
international film markets for a worldwide total of $173.4 million. [2]out telling Jenny of her
condition, but she confronts her doctor and finds out the truth. Oliver buys tickets to Paris, but
she declines to go, wanting only to spend time with him. Oliver seeks money from his estranged
father to pay for Jenny's cancer therapy. His father asks if he has "gotten a girl in trouble". Oliver
says yes, and his father writes a check. class Radcliffe College student of classical music; they
fall in love despite their differences.
Oliver is upset that he does not figure in Jenny's plans to study in Paris. She accepts his
marriage proposal and he takes her to the Barrett mansion to meet his parents, who are
judgmental and unimpressed. Oliver's father says he will cut him off financially if he marries
Jenny, but after graduation they marry nonetheless.
Jenny works as Jenny makes funeral arrangements with her father from her hospital bed. She
tells Oliver to not blame himself, insisting that he never held her back from music and it was
worth it for the love they shared. Jenny's last wish is for Oliver to embrace her tightly as she dies.
A grief-stricken Oliver leaves the hospital and he sees his father outside, who has rushed to New
York City from Massachusetts to offer his help when heard about Jenny's condition. Oliver tells
him, "Jenny's dead," and his father says "I'm sorry," to which Oliver responds, "Love– Love
means never having to say you're sorry", something that Jenny had said to him earlier. Oliver
walks alone to the open air ice rink, where Jenny had watched him skate the day she was
hospitalized.