To say that RANDOM HARVEST was a highly popular success when released in 1942 is almost an understatement. It played for ten weeks at the huge Radio City Music Hall, filling it with appreciative fans who couldn't get enough of this sentimental James Hilton romance.
Most of its success is due to the charisma of RONALD COLMAN and GREER GARSON, both at their absolute peak of professional charm and poise, with Colman doing a magnificent job of making the shell-shocked "Smithy" one of his most appealing characters and Garson giving one of her most radiant performances as Paula.
But if you take a moment to examine the story contents, it makes you realize what an accomplishment the performances are since the story has so many flaws in realism, particularly regarding the instant falling in love that happens when Garson first discovers "Smithy" is from an asylum and then her refusal to tell him the truth for a long period of time while she patiently waits for him to get his memory back. Too patiently.
The amnesia theme was a favorite of '40s Hollywood and it has never been used to better advantage than it is here. But the instant attraction between SUSAN PETERS and Colman when he returns to his snobbish family after an auto accident that makes him forget Paula, seems a contrivance that doesn't ring true. Nor do the subtle clues that bring his memory back seem reasonable enough to swallow. However, the moment when she realizes he is still thinking of another, is brilliantly handled by both Peters and Colman.
Nevertheless, all of the schmaltz has been so skillfully directed by Mervyn LeRoy that most will fall under the spell of the film's unrelenting romanticism and let cynicism fade. That's just as well, because LeRoy's direction is slow-paced at times, almost cumbersome, letting the film run to an inordinate length before letting "Smithy" and Paula get together for a final embrace while cherry blossoms fall and the music swells to an appropriate volume for "The End".
I don't rank this film as high as WATERLOO BRIDGE or TO EACH HIS OWN, both romances that skillfully told a tale without resorting to the glossy romantic close-ups and violin music that "Harvest" uses to accentuate the chemistry of Colman and Garson--a distinctly MGM trait.
But they do have enormous chemistry and that is the factor that makes the whole unbelievable story work.
Most of its success is due to the charisma of RONALD COLMAN and GREER GARSON, both at their absolute peak of professional charm and poise, with Colman doing a magnificent job of making the shell-shocked "Smithy" one of his most appealing characters and Garson giving one of her most radiant performances as Paula.
But if you take a moment to examine the story contents, it makes you realize what an accomplishment the performances are since the story has so many flaws in realism, particularly regarding the instant falling in love that happens when Garson first discovers "Smithy" is from an asylum and then her refusal to tell him the truth for a long period of time while she patiently waits for him to get his memory back. Too patiently.
The amnesia theme was a favorite of '40s Hollywood and it has never been used to better advantage than it is here. But the instant attraction between SUSAN PETERS and Colman when he returns to his snobbish family after an auto accident that makes him forget Paula, seems a contrivance that doesn't ring true. Nor do the subtle clues that bring his memory back seem reasonable enough to swallow. However, the moment when she realizes he is still thinking of another, is brilliantly handled by both Peters and Colman.
Nevertheless, all of the schmaltz has been so skillfully directed by Mervyn LeRoy that most will fall under the spell of the film's unrelenting romanticism and let cynicism fade. That's just as well, because LeRoy's direction is slow-paced at times, almost cumbersome, letting the film run to an inordinate length before letting "Smithy" and Paula get together for a final embrace while cherry blossoms fall and the music swells to an appropriate volume for "The End".
I don't rank this film as high as WATERLOO BRIDGE or TO EACH HIS OWN, both romances that skillfully told a tale without resorting to the glossy romantic close-ups and violin music that "Harvest" uses to accentuate the chemistry of Colman and Garson--a distinctly MGM trait.
But they do have enormous chemistry and that is the factor that makes the whole unbelievable story work.