Random Harvest (1942)

Ronald Colman plays a WWI vet who suffers amnesia and falls in love with lovely Greer Garson. The two marry and are immensely happy for a short time until an accident restores his pre-amnesia memories and takes away his memories of his new life. One of the all-time great romance movies. I say that as a guy who does not usually seek out these sorts of films. But when I see one that is as beautiful and touching as this, I have to give it its due. It's an exquisite-looking film with the wonderful sets and costumes you would expect from MGM during the Golden Age. The cinematography is excellent and the music fits the tone perfectly at all times. The script is soapy and sentimental to a fault but in the absolute best way. Fine supporting cast includes Henry Travers, Philip Dorn, and Susan Peters. But, of course, the stars are what makes this work above all else. Ronald Colman and Greer Garson have amazing chemistry. Both play their roles with such sensitivity and elegance. Remarkable work from two screen legends. It's just such a great film. It tugs at the heartstrings and gives you "feels" in so many ways. I've seen it many times over the years and it gets better with each viewing.

Possibly the ultimate weepie,Random Harvest is directed by Mervyn LeRoy,produced by Sidney Farnklin,with a screenplay by Arthur Wimperis,Claudine West and George Froeschel, is based on the novel by James Hilton and stars Ronald Coleman,Greer Garson,Susan Peters,Henry Travers and Philip Dorn.Charles Rainier(Ronald Coleman)is a World War One veteran who cannot remember anything from his past,not even who he is.He has great difficulty in speaking due to shell shock.He is a patient at an asylum when news of the wars end comes through.He goes for a walk in the grounds and escapes into the town.There he meets beautiful music hall singer Paula(Greer Garson)she nicknames him Smithy and tries to help him remember his past.He cannot but she does enable him to regain his speech and the two fall in love and marry.Paula gives birth to a daughter and all seems well until Smithy receives a job offer and goes to Liverpool for an interview.He is struck down in the street by a taxi,the fall causes his blocked memories to come back to him,but there's a catch,he now remembers nothing of Paula or their life together.Paula searches for him and eventually discovers he is now Charles Rainier and takes a job as secretary at his firm to be near him,can she make him remember her?Well grab the biggest Kleenex box you can find and some chocolates and get caught up in this to find out.Coleman(in an Oscar nominated performance)is mesmerising as both the shy and awkward Smithy and the powerful but lonely Rainier,with Garson simply enchanting as the luminous love of his life.Susan Peters also received an Oscar nomination for her role as Kitty Rainier's young fiancé. Susan could have become a star after this but she sadly became paralysed when she was injured in a hunting accident and died a few years later.One of the best romances of the studio era,Random Harvest is one that you won't forget in a hurry.

I have a tendency to like LeRoy's thirties movie best ("I'm a fugitive from a chain gang" "they won't forget" "Waterloo bridge" ) but "random harvest " is a superb melodrama which does not forget the zeitgeist of the time:mysterious past ,lapses of memory,Freudian sides were present in many Hitchcock,Lang ,Siodmak and Tourneur of the time.Le Roy's is psychoanalytical melodrama (whereas theirs were thrillers) Greer Garson was Le Roy's favourite actress at the time :she had been Edna Gabley who devoted her life to orphans ("Blossoms in the dust") and the same year Wyler's "Mrs Minniver" followed by another Le Roy's work "Madame Curie" (to think that there are French critics who do not like that movie!)So it is surprising to see a cast against type Greer Garson portray a music hall dancer (she manages quite well though).She won't stay in the job for long anyway and the rest of the movie shows Greer Garson in her usual role :an actress who never overplays -which in melodramas can be dreadful- and plays with restraint and sensitivity.The structure of the movie is bizarre ,there are several parts with sometimes a lack of connection between them ;take Garson's reappearance after the greedy family episode .Few scenes in the pure melodrama genre leave the viewer ill at ease like this one.In its own way ,it predates the second part of "Vertigo" .The end of the movie is what we have got to call "catharsis" ,or how the hero finally comes to term with his past .Ronald Coleman may seem a bit too old in the first scenes but as the movie at least spans a decade or more ,it's not a big problem,except may be for the short romance with his distant niece .Melodrama buffs cannot ignore "random harvest" .

I first saw this 68 years ago,at the Radio City Music Hall, Way back then they had a stage show as well, & for Christmas It featured in mime ,the Birth of Jesus,plus other acts, including a symphony Orchestra.They also showed a newsreel & a cartoon.Nearly every performance was shown to near capacity audiences. The theatre had slightly under 6100 seats.We probably went to a Sunday matinée,Total cost for the three of us was probably,just under $3.00Now back to the Movie.RANDOM HARVEST was one of the best films of 1942, I still think these many years later it still would be one of the best. It stars two of the biggest names in film history.Greer Garson (who was only making film for about 3 years & will win an Oscar for her previous film MRS MINIVER) Her co-star Ronald Colman (a movie veteran who will win his Oscar in a few years for(A DOUBLE LIFE).Now leave us ignore the fact that both actors were too old for the characters. The charisma & charm of both make us believe, they were younger.Mervyn LeRoy directed & it is based on James Hilton's novel,( he also wrote LOST HORIZON). Back then Hollywood loved to change novels to suit the studio owners.I do not remember how close to the novel the film is. The story in both novel & book is pure romantic soap opera & delightful romantic fantasy,This is the way they made films back then. The scenes supposedly in Liverpool were studio made & no there is no resemblance to the real Liverpool or to real homes etc.The running time is a very fast 134 minutes, the DVD also has about an hour of interesting extras.I had not started to keep records of the movies I saw then, that hobby started in January 1943.If I had my rating would be the same as today.Ratings" **** (out of 4) 98 points (out of 100) IMDb (10 out of 10)