Random Harvest (1942)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Claudine West (screenplay) and
George Froeschel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 September 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It's Great. Great Stars . . . A Great Story . . . A Great Author!

Plot:

An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-War life.

Plot Keywords:

Music Hall | Asylum | Secretary | Inheritance | Amnesia

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars.

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Smithy
Greer Garson	...	Paula
Philip Dorn	...	Dr. Jonathan Benet
Susan Peters	...	Kitty
Henry Travers	...	Dr. Sims
Reginald Owen	...	'Biffer'
Bramwell Fletcher	...	Assistant
Rhys Williams	...	Sam
Una O'Connor	...	Tobacconist
Aubrey Mather	...	Sheldon
Margaret Wycherly	...	Mrs. Deventer
Arthur Margetson	...	Chet
Melville Cooper	...	Uncle George
Alan Napier	...	Julian
Jill Esmond	...	Lydia

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #8545)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In her final years at MGM, Joan Crawford was handed weak scripts in the hopes that she'd break her contract. Two films she hungered to appear in were Random Harvest (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Both films went to bright new star Greer Garson instead, and Crawford left the studio soon after.

Goofs:

Continuity: Smithy's hands change position when he says that he should be in uniform vs civilain attire. This same goof occurs twice more before he gives his report of the accident.

Quotes:

Smithy: Isn't there something morbid in burying one's heart with the dead?
Paula: That's a strange thing for you to say. Your capacity for loving, your joy in living, is buried in a little space of time you've forgotten.
Smithy: In some vague way, I still have...
Paula: ...hope?
Smithy: Yes, I suppose that's it.
Paula: Have you, Charles? Do you feel that there... really is someone? That someday you may find her? You may have... come so near her, may even have brushed her on the street... You might even have met her, Charles. Met her and not known her. It might be someone you know, Charles. It might... it might even be me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004) (TV)

The only "amnesia" movie that really works.

Thank heaven Sydney Pollack did not have amnesia when choosing this year's Essentials for TCM. I had long heard of "Random Harvest," primarily from relatives who saw it on first release, but never had the chance to see it for myself until this year.

What a wonderful movie. It's never overly sentimental, it's wistful and suspenseful at times, and buoyed by supreme performances from Ronald Colman and Greer Garson.

And who knew Greer could sing and dance like Marlene Dietrich! Colman was so versatile; one of the few actors who was just as successful in talkies as he had been in silents. He was by turns dashing, heroic, dignified, playful and romantic. Here he gets to be all of them. And Greer is his equal. This movie (and "Valley of Decision") made me a fan of hers, plus we have the same birthday.

Sydney Pollack was right in abandoning his long-held plans to remake "Random Harvest." It simply couldn't be done again. Mervyn LeRoy, the James Hilton story and that wonderful company of actors can't be bested.