V1197 Orionis light curves from a long-term observing program for red giant binaries show ellipsoidal variation of small amplitude in the V and R_C_ bands, although not clearly in U and B. Eclipses are not detected. All four bands show large irregular intrinsic variations, including fleeting quasi-periodicities identified by power spectra, that degrade analysis and may be caused by dynamical tides generated by orbital eccentricity. To deal with the absence of eclipses and consequent lack of astrophysical and geometrical information, direct use is made of the Hipparcos parallax distance while the V and R_C_ light curves and (older) radial velocity curves are analyzed simultaneously in terms of absolute flux. The red giant's temperature is estimated from new spectra. The dim companion has not been observed or discussed in the literature but most solutions find its mass to be well below that of the red giant. Solutions show red giant masses that are too low for evolution to the red giant stage within the age of the Galaxy, although that result is probably an artifact of the intrinsic brightness fluctuations.