The Essentials - Random Harvest
SYNOPSIS
Amnesia costs the heir to a manufacturing fortune his family -- twice --
until true love finally brings him back the happiness he had lost. Charles
Rainier's first bout of amnesia follows his shelling during World War I,
bringing him to an asylum in the English countryside. When he escapes, a
beautiful music hall performer, Paula, takes him under her protection,
calling him "Smithy" in the absence of his real name. The two fall in love
and marry. On a business trip to Liverpool, Smithy is struck by a cab and
regains his memory, only to forget his life since the war. Paula and
Smithy are eventually reunited when she gets a job as his secretary, now
calling herself "Margaret." But she dare not reveal their true
relationship for fear of triggering a complete mental breakdown. Then
Rainier, who can't commit emotionally to any woman as long as he has a
three-year gap in his memory, proposes a marriage of convenience to
Margaret so he can enter politics with the perfect wife by his side. The
stage is set for a reconciliation if only his wife can find the right
trigger to help him regain his memory on his own.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Producer: Sidney Franklin
Screenplay: Claudine West, George Froeschel, Arthur Wimperis
Based on the Novel by James Hilton
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Editing: Harold F. Kress
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Music: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Ronald Colman (Charles Rainier/John "Smithy" Smith), Greer Garson
(Paula/Margaret), Philip Dorn (Dr. Jonathan Benet), Susan Peters (Kitty),
Reginald Owen ("Biffer"), Edward Fielding (Prime Minister), Henry Travers (Dr.
Sims), Margaret Wycherly (Mrs. Deventer), Alan Napier (Julian), Norma
Varden (Julia), Rhys Williams (Sam), Henry Daniell (Heavy Man), Arthur
Shields (Chemist), Peter Lawford (Soldier), Una O'Connor (Tobacconist),
Aubrey Mather (Sheldon)
BW-125m.
Why Random Harvest is Essential
Random Harvest is often cited as one of Hollywood's all-time
greatest tearjerkers. It's also considered the definitive treatment of
amnesia in a romantic film.
Spurred by the success of
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's
Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
With the success of
Random Harvest, Ronald Colman proved he could
still play a romantic hero, even at the age of 51. The film ensured his
continuing popularity through the rest of the decade, climaxed by his
Oscar® win for Best Actor in 1947's
A Double Life.
With this film and
Mrs. Miniver, 1942 was definitely "The Year
of Greer," as some industry insiders dubbed it. Not only did she win the
Oscar® for Best Actress for the latter, but the combined success of both films made
her the top female star on the MGM lot, a position she would hold through
the '40s.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s,
Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life.
by Frank Miller
The Essentials - Random Harvest
SYNOPSIS
Amnesia costs the heir to a manufacturing fortune his family -- twice --
until true love finally brings him back the happiness he had lost. Charles
Rainier's first bout of amnesia follows his shelling during World War I,
bringing him to an asylum in the English countryside. When he escapes, a
beautiful music hall performer, Paula, takes him under her protection,
calling him "Smithy" in the absence of his real name. The two fall in love
and marry. On a business trip to Liverpool, Smithy is struck by a cab and
regains his memory, only to forget his life since the war. Paula and
Smithy are eventually reunited when she gets a job as his secretary, now
calling herself "Margaret." But she dare not reveal their true
relationship for fear of triggering a complete mental breakdown. Then
Rainier, who can't commit emotionally to any woman as long as he has a
three-year gap in his memory, proposes a marriage of convenience to
Margaret so he can enter politics with the perfect wife by his side. The
stage is set for a reconciliation if only his wife can find the right
trigger to help him regain his memory on his own.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Producer: Sidney Franklin
Screenplay: Claudine West, George Froeschel, Arthur Wimperis
Based on the Novel by James Hilton
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Editing: Harold F. Kress
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Music: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Ronald Colman (Charles Rainier/John "Smithy" Smith), Greer Garson
(Paula/Margaret), Philip Dorn (Dr. Jonathan Benet), Susan Peters (Kitty),
Reginald Owen ("Biffer"), Edward Fielding (Prime Minister), Henry Travers (Dr.
Sims), Margaret Wycherly (Mrs. Deventer), Alan Napier (Julian), Norma
Varden (Julia), Rhys Williams (Sam), Henry Daniell (Heavy Man), Arthur
Shields (Chemist), Peter Lawford (Soldier), Una O'Connor (Tobacconist),
Aubrey Mather (Sheldon)
BW-125m.
Why Random Harvest is Essential
Random Harvest is often cited as one of Hollywood's all-time
greatest tearjerkers. It's also considered the definitive treatment of
amnesia in a romantic film.
Spurred by the success of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
With the success of Random Harvest, Ronald Colman proved he could
still play a romantic hero, even at the age of 51. The film ensured his
continuing popularity through the rest of the decade, climaxed by his
Oscar® win for Best Actor in 1947's A Double Life.
With this film and Mrs. Miniver, 1942 was definitely "The Year
of Greer," as some industry insiders dubbed it. Not only did she win the
Oscar® for Best Actress for the latter, but the combined success of both films made
her the top female star on the MGM lot, a position she would hold through
the '40s.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s, Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life.
by Frank Miller
Pop Culture 101 - Random Harvest
Made during the first full year in which the U.S. was involved in World
War II,
Random Harvest achieved success partly because its depiction
of a shell-shocked veteran adjusting to peacetime life captured the anxieties
and post-war mood of its era.
With its record-setting success,
Random Harvest was prominently
featured in MGM promotional materials. Among them were two short films:
"Partners" (1943), which spotlighted such rising stars as Susan Peters, and
"Some of the Best" (1944), a 20th anniversary salute to the studio narrated
by Lionel Barrymore.
In Chapter 19 of J.D. Salinger's modern classic
The Catcher in the
Rye the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, sees
Random Harvest at
the Radio City Music Hall.
Other films using amnesia as the catalyst for a romantic story include
Terence Fisher's
Song of Tomorrow (1948), in which a man with
amnesia falls in love with an opera singer whose voice is the only thing he
remembers from his lost past, and Sergio Rubini and Dominick Tambasco's
La Bionda (1992), in which Nastassia Kinski forgets her life of
crime and falls in love with a disabled man (Sergio Rubini).
Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman took the roles created by Garson and
Colman, respectively, for a spoof of the film on
The Carol Burnett
Show. Film critic Pauline Kael, never a big fan of Garson or MGM's
more serious films, preferred the take-off to the original. "At least it
was shorter," she wrote in
5,001 Nights at the Movies.
by Frank Miller
Pop Culture 101 - Random Harvest
Made during the first full year in which the U.S. was involved in World
War II, Random Harvest achieved success partly because its depiction
of a shell-shocked veteran adjusting to peacetime life captured the anxieties
and post-war mood of its era.
With its record-setting success, Random Harvest was prominently
featured in MGM promotional materials. Among them were two short films:
"Partners" (1943), which spotlighted such rising stars as Susan Peters, and
"Some of the Best" (1944), a 20th anniversary salute to the studio narrated
by Lionel Barrymore.
In Chapter 19 of J.D. Salinger's modern classic The Catcher in the
Rye the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, sees Random Harvest at
the Radio City Music Hall.
Other films using amnesia as the catalyst for a romantic story include
Terence Fisher's Song of Tomorrow (1948), in which a man with
amnesia falls in love with an opera singer whose voice is the only thing he
remembers from his lost past, and Sergio Rubini and Dominick Tambasco's
La Bionda (1992), in which Nastassia Kinski forgets her life of
crime and falls in love with a disabled man (Sergio Rubini).
Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman took the roles created by Garson and
Colman, respectively, for a spoof of the film on The Carol Burnett
Show. Film critic Pauline Kael, never a big fan of Garson or MGM's
more serious films, preferred the take-off to the original. "At least it
was shorter," she wrote in 5,001 Nights at the Movies.
by Frank Miller
Trivia - Random Harvest - Trivia & Fun Facts About RANDOM HARVEST
The film's wartime spirit came naturally to Ronald Colman. Off-screen,
he was heavily involved in the war effort, lending his voice to government
radio broadcasts, serving on the Hollywood Victory Committee, working for
The American Red Cross and selling bonds on extensive cross-country trips.
He also served as president of British War Relief in Los Angeles,
organizing the film capital's British colony in support of their
homeland.
In his autobiography,
Mervyn LeRoy: Take One, the director said
of the stars of
Random Harvest that "between the two of them, the
English language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
When Garson's musical number scored a hit in screenings, a stocking
manufacturer claimed that he recognized the stockings she was wearing as a
special therapeutic model he had designed. He tried to generate publicity
for his brand by giving interviews to various gossip columnists, but
couldn't remember, from interview to interview, whether she was wearing
stockings designed to camouflage knocked knees or bow legs. Garson
responded with a poem: "Say I'm dreary, say I'm sad/Say my acting doesn't
please/Say my films are awfully bad,/But don't knock my
knees."
Colman was so pleased with the film what when he finished remodeling
his Hollywood home that year, he dubbed it "Random House."
Critics carped about Colman's on-screen engagement to co-star Susan
Peters because, at 51, he seemed too old for the 21-year-old actress
(off screen, Colman's wife, Benita Hume, was 15 years younger than he).
They did not complain about his playing husband to Greer Garson, who was 13
years younger, but later that year, gossip columnists had a field day when
Garson married actor Richard Ney, nine years her junior. It didn't help
that Ney had just played her adult son in
Mrs. Miniver.
FUN QUOTES FROM RANDOM HARVEST (1942)
"I don't even know who I am."
"Well, I know who you are. You're someone awfully nice." -- Ronald Colman,
who has taken the name John Smith, confesses his plight to Greer Garson as
Paula.
"Look here, Smithy. You don't mind if I call you Smithy, do you? Now, how
are you ever going to get better if you're not happy?" -- Garson as Paula,
counseling Colman as John Smith.
"I'm -- all right. It's my speech. I can't -- remember. I'm not like the
others. I'm not like them. I'm all right. But I -- I can't go back. I
-- I'll never come out; I'll -- I'll be like the others." -- Colman as John
Smith, finally facing the truth of his situation as an amnesiac.
"Paula, it's -- it's a lot of nerve, but -- I'm -- I've fallen in love with
you. I'm asking you to marry me, on a -- on a check for two guineas."
"Smithy, don't ask me, please. I might take you up on it. I'm just that
shameless. I've run after you from the very beginning; you know I have.
I've never let you out of my sight since I first saw you in that little
shop." -- Colman as Smithy, proposing to Greer Garson as Paula.
"Never leave me out of your sight -- never again. My life began with you.
I can't imagine the future without you." -- Colman completing his
proposal.
"1920. Three years gone. Three years. France -- I remember distinctly.
But after that -- what after that? Liverpool -- what am I doing here?
Where have I been? Better go home. Yes -- may clear things up. Better go
home -- ." -- Colman getting back the memory that he's Charles Rainier, but
forgetting the wife and child he had as Smithy.
"Sometimes, especially when we've been closest, I've had the curious
feeling that I remind you of someone else - someone you once knew...someone
you loved as you'll never love me. I am nearly the one, Charles. But nearly
isn't enough for a lifetime." -- Susan Peters as Kitty, breaking her
engagement with Colman.
"You and I are in the same boat, Miss Hanson; we're both --
ghost-ridden....We are prisoners of our past. What if we were to pool our
loneliness, and give each other what little we have to give -- support,
friendship? I'm proposing marriage, Miss Hanson, or -- should I call it a
merger? A Member of Parliament should have a wife, Margaret; so I'm told
on all sides. He needs a clever hostess; you have exceptional gifts.
Would it interest you to have a wider field for them? You need have no
fear that -- I would make any -- emotional demands upon you. I have only
-- sincere friendship -- to offer. I won't ask any more from you." --
Colman as Rainier, proposing to Garson, now calling herself Margaret, not
realizing they're already married.
"Isn't there something morbid in burying one's heart with the dead?"
"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."
"In some vague way, I still have -- "
"-- hope?"
"Yes, I suppose that's it."
"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." -- Colman and Garson, considering their links to
the past.
Compiled by Frank Miller
Trivia - Random Harvest - Trivia & Fun Facts About RANDOM HARVEST
The film's wartime spirit came naturally to Ronald Colman. Off-screen,
he was heavily involved in the war effort, lending his voice to government
radio broadcasts, serving on the Hollywood Victory Committee, working for
The American Red Cross and selling bonds on extensive cross-country trips.
He also served as president of British War Relief in Los Angeles,
organizing the film capital's British colony in support of their
homeland.
In his autobiography, Mervyn LeRoy: Take One, the director said
of the stars of Random Harvest that "between the two of them, the
English language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
When Garson's musical number scored a hit in screenings, a stocking
manufacturer claimed that he recognized the stockings she was wearing as a
special therapeutic model he had designed. He tried to generate publicity
for his brand by giving interviews to various gossip columnists, but
couldn't remember, from interview to interview, whether she was wearing
stockings designed to camouflage knocked knees or bow legs. Garson
responded with a poem: "Say I'm dreary, say I'm sad/Say my acting doesn't
please/Say my films are awfully bad,/But don't knock my
knees."
Colman was so pleased with the film what when he finished remodeling
his Hollywood home that year, he dubbed it "Random House."
Critics carped about Colman's on-screen engagement to co-star Susan
Peters because, at 51, he seemed too old for the 21-year-old actress
(off screen, Colman's wife, Benita Hume, was 15 years younger than he).
They did not complain about his playing husband to Greer Garson, who was 13
years younger, but later that year, gossip columnists had a field day when
Garson married actor Richard Ney, nine years her junior. It didn't help
that Ney had just played her adult son in Mrs. Miniver.
FUN QUOTES FROM RANDOM HARVEST (1942)
"I don't even know who I am."
"Well, I know who you are. You're someone awfully nice." -- Ronald Colman,
who has taken the name John Smith, confesses his plight to Greer Garson as
Paula.
"Look here, Smithy. You don't mind if I call you Smithy, do you? Now, how
are you ever going to get better if you're not happy?" -- Garson as Paula,
counseling Colman as John Smith.
"I'm -- all right. It's my speech. I can't -- remember. I'm not like the
others. I'm not like them. I'm all right. But I -- I can't go back. I
-- I'll never come out; I'll -- I'll be like the others." -- Colman as John
Smith, finally facing the truth of his situation as an amnesiac.
"Paula, it's -- it's a lot of nerve, but -- I'm -- I've fallen in love with
you. I'm asking you to marry me, on a -- on a check for two guineas."
"Smithy, don't ask me, please. I might take you up on it. I'm just that
shameless. I've run after you from the very beginning; you know I have.
I've never let you out of my sight since I first saw you in that little
shop." -- Colman as Smithy, proposing to Greer Garson as Paula.
"Never leave me out of your sight -- never again. My life began with you.
I can't imagine the future without you." -- Colman completing his
proposal.
"1920. Three years gone. Three years. France -- I remember distinctly.
But after that -- what after that? Liverpool -- what am I doing here?
Where have I been? Better go home. Yes -- may clear things up. Better go
home -- ." -- Colman getting back the memory that he's Charles Rainier, but
forgetting the wife and child he had as Smithy.
"Sometimes, especially when we've been closest, I've had the curious
feeling that I remind you of someone else - someone you once knew...someone
you loved as you'll never love me. I am nearly the one, Charles. But nearly
isn't enough for a lifetime." -- Susan Peters as Kitty, breaking her
engagement with Colman.
"You and I are in the same boat, Miss Hanson; we're both --
ghost-ridden....We are prisoners of our past. What if we were to pool our
loneliness, and give each other what little we have to give -- support,
friendship? I'm proposing marriage, Miss Hanson, or -- should I call it a
merger? A Member of Parliament should have a wife, Margaret; so I'm told
on all sides. He needs a clever hostess; you have exceptional gifts.
Would it interest you to have a wider field for them? You need have no
fear that -- I would make any -- emotional demands upon you. I have only
-- sincere friendship -- to offer. I won't ask any more from you." --
Colman as Rainier, proposing to Garson, now calling herself Margaret, not
realizing they're already married.
"Isn't there something morbid in burying one's heart with the dead?"
"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."
"In some vague way, I still have -- "
"-- hope?"
"Yes, I suppose that's it."
"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." -- Colman and Garson, considering their links to
the past.
Compiled by Frank Miller
The Big Idea - Random Harvest
James Hilton published
Random Harvest in 1941. Like his earlier
books
Goodbye, Mr. Chips and
Lost Horizon, it became a
runaway best seller.
Hilton took the title from a British war report: "According to a
British Official Report, bombs fell at random." He motivated the
connection by naming the protagonist's family manor Random
Hall.
MGM bought the rights to Hilton's novel for $50,000 the year it came
out, thinking it might be a good vehicle for contract star Spencer
Tracy.
After notable hits in the '30s -- including the first
Bulldog Drummond
film (1929),
A Tale of Two Cities (1935),
Lost Horizon (1937)
and
The Light That Failed (1939) -- Ronald Colman's career had
faltered when his first two films of the '40s,
Lucky Partners (1940)
and
My Life With Caroline (1941), fared poorly with fans and
critics. Now in his '50s, Colman feared his career was drawing to a close
until he scored a hit with George Stevens'
The Talk of the Town
(1942). The film put him back on the radar and encouraged MGM to cast him
in his most popular film of the decade,
Random Harvest. It was his
first MGM film since
A Tale of Two Cities seven years
earlier.
When Colman's services became available after the success of
Talk of
the Town, MGM dropped plans to star Tracy in
Random Harvest and
rushed to sign Colman instead.
Colman's life paralleled the character's in many ways. Both had grown
up in the same part of England. Both had served in World War I and been
released with medical discharges (Rainier, a shellshock victim; Colman with a shattered
ankle). Both had faced postwar life with a degree of alienation and a
sense of loss and had overcome those feelings through artistic work:
Charles as a writer; Colman as an actor.
Colman had been one of Greer Garson's idols when she was a young girl. She was delighted with the chance to finally work with him.
Both Colman and Garson had scored hits in earlier adaptations of
Hilton's works: Colman in
Lost Horizon (1937) and Garson in
Goodbye,
Mr. Chips (1939), which made her an overnight sensation in her first
American film.
The other plum role in the film was Colman's fianc¿ Kitty. LeRoy
cast young Susan Peters, hoping he could mentor her to stardom as he had
done with Loretta Young, Ginger Rogers and, most notably, Lana Turner.
Although she would turn in a fine performance and win an Oscar®
nomination, her career would be cut short a few years later when she was
paralyzed in a hunting accident. She played a few roles in a wheelchair --
including the title heroine of
Miss Susan (1951), a television
series about a lawyer detective that preceded Raymond Burr's
wheelchair-bound
Ironside by almost two decades. -- before she died
in 1952 at the age of 31. Some observers suggested she had died of a
broken heart.
Shortly after Franklin signed Peters for the role, MGM hired a young
Australian actress named Ann Richards, who looked enough like Garson to
have been her younger sister. Since Kitty's resemblance to Paula was a key
plot point, Franklin told Richards that he should have waited and cast her,
but he wasn't going to go back on his agreement with Peters. Instead, he
cast Richards as another family member. She and Colman felt like family
anyway; she had gone to school in Australia with his brother, Eric's,
children.
The Production Code Administration demanded certain changes in the
novel to make it acceptable for filming. In particular, they demanded that
Rainier's first wife be omitted so the character would not be a bigamist,
however unwittingly, and that there be no indication that he and Paula had
intimate relations before their first marriage.
by Frank Miller
The Big Idea - Random Harvest
James Hilton published Random Harvest in 1941. Like his earlier
books Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Lost Horizon, it became a
runaway best seller.
Hilton took the title from a British war report: "According to a
British Official Report, bombs fell at random." He motivated the
connection by naming the protagonist's family manor Random
Hall.
MGM bought the rights to Hilton's novel for $50,000 the year it came
out, thinking it might be a good vehicle for contract star Spencer
Tracy.
After notable hits in the '30s -- including the first Bulldog Drummond
film (1929), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937)
and The Light That Failed (1939) -- Ronald Colman's career had
faltered when his first two films of the '40s, Lucky Partners (1940)
and My Life With Caroline (1941), fared poorly with fans and
critics. Now in his '50s, Colman feared his career was drawing to a close
until he scored a hit with George Stevens' The Talk of the Town
(1942). The film put him back on the radar and encouraged MGM to cast him
in his most popular film of the decade, Random Harvest. It was his
first MGM film since A Tale of Two Cities seven years
earlier.
When Colman's services became available after the success of Talk of
the Town, MGM dropped plans to star Tracy in Random Harvest and
rushed to sign Colman instead.
Colman's life paralleled the character's in many ways. Both had grown
up in the same part of England. Both had served in World War I and been
released with medical discharges (Rainier, a shellshock victim; Colman with a shattered
ankle). Both had faced postwar life with a degree of alienation and a
sense of loss and had overcome those feelings through artistic work:
Charles as a writer; Colman as an actor.
Colman had been one of Greer Garson's idols when she was a young girl. She was delighted with the chance to finally work with him.
Both Colman and Garson had scored hits in earlier adaptations of
Hilton's works: Colman in Lost Horizon (1937) and Garson in Goodbye,
Mr. Chips (1939), which made her an overnight sensation in her first
American film.
The other plum role in the film was Colman's fianc¿ Kitty. LeRoy
cast young Susan Peters, hoping he could mentor her to stardom as he had
done with Loretta Young, Ginger Rogers and, most notably, Lana Turner.
Although she would turn in a fine performance and win an Oscar®
nomination, her career would be cut short a few years later when she was
paralyzed in a hunting accident. She played a few roles in a wheelchair --
including the title heroine of Miss Susan (1951), a television
series about a lawyer detective that preceded Raymond Burr's
wheelchair-bound Ironside by almost two decades. -- before she died
in 1952 at the age of 31. Some observers suggested she had died of a
broken heart.
Shortly after Franklin signed Peters for the role, MGM hired a young
Australian actress named Ann Richards, who looked enough like Garson to
have been her younger sister. Since Kitty's resemblance to Paula was a key
plot point, Franklin told Richards that he should have waited and cast her,
but he wasn't going to go back on his agreement with Peters. Instead, he
cast Richards as another family member. She and Colman felt like family
anyway; she had gone to school in Australia with his brother, Eric's,
children.
The Production Code Administration demanded certain changes in the
novel to make it acceptable for filming. In particular, they demanded that
Rainier's first wife be omitted so the character would not be a bigamist,
however unwittingly, and that there be no indication that he and Paula had
intimate relations before their first marriage.
by Frank Miller
Behind the Camera - Random Harvest - Behind The Camera on RANDOM HARVEST
Random Harvest went into production on April 21, 1942.
Like most Hollywood films of the era, it was shot entirely on a studio
backlot, where designers and technicians created their own versions of the
streets of Liverpool, London's Waterloo Station and the cottage where Paula
and Smith found happiness.
For the picnic scene in which Smithy proposes to Paula, Garson wanted
to ride her own bicycle, but for authenticity's sake, the art department
found her a vintage 1918 vehicle. When production finished LeRoy gave her
a new bike, which she gleefully rode through the streets of Beverly Hills
to the astonishment of tourists.
Both Colman and Garson made suggestions on improving the script, though
they never did so on set. Instead, they would either meet privately with
LeRoy or send notes to him and Franklin. Garson's notes were so extensive
and helpful, the producer jokingly offered her an office in the
writers' building.
When the writers had trouble coming up with a scene to show Paula on
stage (the book only mentioned the title of a patriotic play she was
performing in), Garson suggested singing the Harry Lauder standard "She M'
Daisy" in a short kilt. Franklin and studio head Louis B. Mayer hesitated,
concerned that the show of leg would hurt her image as the perfect lady.
They even tried kilts in three different lengths, finally choosing a
medium-length one that wouldn't show too much leg.
Garson rehearsed the number with choreographers Ernst and Marie Matray
for three weeks before shooting it on April 27, 1942, in front of an
audience of 200 extras. She was nervous until the extras started whistling
at her legs. That put her at ease, and she performed like a seasoned
vaudeville trooper. At the end of the number, the extras burst into a
spontaneous chorus of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." Studio acting coach
Lillian Burns, who witnessed the performance, said that it was the kind of
work Garson had always wanted to do. The dramatic star would have been
much happier, Burns said, doing musicals. Franklin sent her a telegram
reading, "I was simply delighted with our Scottish number and your
performance was beyond what I thought possible. I think it will add great
color to the picture and great warmth will be given to the character of
Paula."
Despite their fondness for director Mervyn LeRoy and each other, Garson
and Colman did little socializing on the set. They spent time between
shots in their dressing rooms, working on the script or just
relaxing.
The person Garson spent the most time with on set was cameraman Joseph
Ruttenberg, who was her favorite photographer. She appreciated his using a
woman's stocking over the lens to soften and glamorize her features. In
addition, he quickly realized that she looked best shot from the right and
made sure the sets were constructed so he could favor that
side.
Production finished on May 8, 1942, with the film's final scene at the
cottage gate where Charles finally remembers his lost years with Paula.
When they finished shooting, the usually reticent Colman said, "This is one
picture I hate to finish!"
James Hilton was so impressed with the film that he offered to record
the opening narration.
The film's final budget was $2 million, large for a film at that time,
but every penny of it shows up on screen.
The film's tag line: "He had found love -- lost it -- and now had
found it again!"
Random Harvest was a hit from the moment it premiered on
December 17, 1942. With a 12-week continuous run, it set a house record as
the Radio City Music Hall's longest-running film to date. Demand for
tickets was so great, they had to open the box office at 7:45 a.m. each
morning. The theatre's manager told LeRoy it could easily have played
another 12 weeks, but MGM's parent company -- Loew's, Inc. -- pulled it to
play in their own theatres.
Random Harvest was the fifth in an amazing string of seven hits
Mervyn LeRoy had directed since returning to the director's chair after a
two-year hiatus to produce. His other hits from the period include
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and
Madame Curie (1943), both
with Garson,
Johnny Eager (1942), and
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944).
by Frank Miller
Behind the Camera - Random Harvest - Behind The Camera on RANDOM HARVEST
Random Harvest went into production on April 21, 1942.
Like most Hollywood films of the era, it was shot entirely on a studio
backlot, where designers and technicians created their own versions of the
streets of Liverpool, London's Waterloo Station and the cottage where Paula
and Smith found happiness.
For the picnic scene in which Smithy proposes to Paula, Garson wanted
to ride her own bicycle, but for authenticity's sake, the art department
found her a vintage 1918 vehicle. When production finished LeRoy gave her
a new bike, which she gleefully rode through the streets of Beverly Hills
to the astonishment of tourists.
Both Colman and Garson made suggestions on improving the script, though
they never did so on set. Instead, they would either meet privately with
LeRoy or send notes to him and Franklin. Garson's notes were so extensive
and helpful, the producer jokingly offered her an office in the
writers' building.
When the writers had trouble coming up with a scene to show Paula on
stage (the book only mentioned the title of a patriotic play she was
performing in), Garson suggested singing the Harry Lauder standard "She M'
Daisy" in a short kilt. Franklin and studio head Louis B. Mayer hesitated,
concerned that the show of leg would hurt her image as the perfect lady.
They even tried kilts in three different lengths, finally choosing a
medium-length one that wouldn't show too much leg.
Garson rehearsed the number with choreographers Ernst and Marie Matray
for three weeks before shooting it on April 27, 1942, in front of an
audience of 200 extras. She was nervous until the extras started whistling
at her legs. That put her at ease, and she performed like a seasoned
vaudeville trooper. At the end of the number, the extras burst into a
spontaneous chorus of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." Studio acting coach
Lillian Burns, who witnessed the performance, said that it was the kind of
work Garson had always wanted to do. The dramatic star would have been
much happier, Burns said, doing musicals. Franklin sent her a telegram
reading, "I was simply delighted with our Scottish number and your
performance was beyond what I thought possible. I think it will add great
color to the picture and great warmth will be given to the character of
Paula."
Despite their fondness for director Mervyn LeRoy and each other, Garson
and Colman did little socializing on the set. They spent time between
shots in their dressing rooms, working on the script or just
relaxing.
The person Garson spent the most time with on set was cameraman Joseph
Ruttenberg, who was her favorite photographer. She appreciated his using a
woman's stocking over the lens to soften and glamorize her features. In
addition, he quickly realized that she looked best shot from the right and
made sure the sets were constructed so he could favor that
side.
Production finished on May 8, 1942, with the film's final scene at the
cottage gate where Charles finally remembers his lost years with Paula.
When they finished shooting, the usually reticent Colman said, "This is one
picture I hate to finish!"
James Hilton was so impressed with the film that he offered to record
the opening narration.
The film's final budget was $2 million, large for a film at that time,
but every penny of it shows up on screen.
The film's tag line: "He had found love -- lost it -- and now had
found it again!"
Random Harvest was a hit from the moment it premiered on
December 17, 1942. With a 12-week continuous run, it set a house record as
the Radio City Music Hall's longest-running film to date. Demand for
tickets was so great, they had to open the box office at 7:45 a.m. each
morning. The theatre's manager told LeRoy it could easily have played
another 12 weeks, but MGM's parent company -- Loew's, Inc. -- pulled it to
play in their own theatres.
Random Harvest was the fifth in an amazing string of seven hits
Mervyn LeRoy had directed since returning to the director's chair after a
two-year hiatus to produce. His other hits from the period include
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and Madame Curie (1943), both
with Garson, Johnny Eager (1942), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944).
by Frank Miller
The Critics Corner - Random Harvest - The Critics' Corner on RANDOM HARVEST
Awards and Honors
Random Harvest brought in $4.5 million on its initial release, a
profit of $2.5 million for MGM. It ranked fifth among the year's top
moneymakers, behind
Bambi,
Mrs. Miniver,
Casablanca
and
Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The National Board of Review named Greer Garson (for
Random
Harvest and
Mrs. Miniver) and Susan Peters among the best actors
of the year. At the time, they did not give competitive acting
awards.
Random Harvest was nominated for seven Academy Awards®:,
though it failed to win anything. Its main competition was another MGM
hit,
Mrs. Miniver, which beat it for Best Picture, Best Director and
Best Screenplay. In addition, Susan Peters lost Best Supporting Actress to
that film's Teresa Wright. Colman lost Best Actor to James Cagney in
Yankee Doodle Dandy, while the film lost Best Art Direction to
another wartime drama,
This Above All, and Best Score to
Now,
Voyager.
In the screenwriting category, the writers of
Random Harvest were running against themselves. Claudine West, George Froeschel and Arthur Wimperis were also
nominated for
Mrs. Miniver, along with
Random Harvest author
James Hilton.
Sidney Franklin won the Irving G. Thalberg for his work as producer on
both of his 1942 releases, this film and
Mrs. Miniver.
Garson's failure to receive an Oscar® nomination for her acclaimed
performance in
Random Harvest would have created an uproar in any
other year, but in 1942 her performance was overshadowed by her work in the
pro-British flag-waver
Mrs. Miniver, which brought her the
Oscar® as Best Actress.
Director Mervyn LeRoy never won a competitive Oscar®. In fact,
Random Harvest brought him his only nomination for Best Director.
He would win the Academy®'s honorary Irving G. Thalberg Award in
1976.
The Critics' Corner on RANDOM HARVEST
"One of the truly fine motion pictures of this or any other year...an
emotional experience of rare quality. Rave press notices cannot fail to
greet the excellence of its production, direction, performances and
craftsmanship, for there can be no fault to find with any phase of the
great, enduring love story it stirringly brings to life." --
The
Hollywood Reporter.
"Miss Garson, more charming and seductive than ever, is an important
mainstay of the picture. Essaying a highly sympathetic role, she
overshadows Colman and places the film in the laps of the women together
with their moist handkerchiefs." -
Variety.
Random Harvest...is distinguished by (1) a moving love story, (2) the unveiling of Miss Garson's interesting legs." -
Time.
"I would like also to recommend
Random Harvest to those who can stay
interested in Ronald Colman's amnesia for two hours and who could with
pleasure eat a bowl of Yardley's shaving cream for breakfast...." -- James
Agee,
The Nation.
"Given Metro's usual glossy treatment and packed with familiar faces in
supporting roles,
Random Harvest offers many delightful surprises
(Garson dancing in a miniskirt, for one) and fantastic plot twists while
providing enough hanky action to break even the meanest cynic." - Luisa F.
Ribeiro,
Baltimore City Paper.
"The only reason to see this twaddle is the better to savor the memory of the Carol Burnett-Harvey Korman parody, which also was shorter. Mervyn LeRoy, who directed many a big clinker, also gets the blame for this one." - Pauline Kael (
5001 Nights at the Movies).
Compiled by Frank Miller
The Critics Corner - Random Harvest - The Critics' Corner on RANDOM HARVEST
Awards and Honors
Random Harvest brought in $4.5 million on its initial release, a
profit of $2.5 million for MGM. It ranked fifth among the year's top
moneymakers, behind Bambi, Mrs. Miniver, Casablanca
and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The National Board of Review named Greer Garson (for Random
Harvest and Mrs. Miniver) and Susan Peters among the best actors
of the year. At the time, they did not give competitive acting
awards.
Random Harvest was nominated for seven Academy Awards®:,
though it failed to win anything. Its main competition was another MGM
hit, Mrs. Miniver, which beat it for Best Picture, Best Director and
Best Screenplay. In addition, Susan Peters lost Best Supporting Actress to
that film's Teresa Wright. Colman lost Best Actor to James Cagney in
Yankee Doodle Dandy, while the film lost Best Art Direction to
another wartime drama, This Above All, and Best Score to Now,
Voyager.
In the screenwriting category, the writers of Random Harvest were running against themselves. Claudine West, George Froeschel and Arthur Wimperis were also
nominated for Mrs. Miniver, along with Random Harvest author
James Hilton.
Sidney Franklin won the Irving G. Thalberg for his work as producer on
both of his 1942 releases, this film and Mrs. Miniver.
Garson's failure to receive an Oscar® nomination for her acclaimed
performance in Random Harvest would have created an uproar in any
other year, but in 1942 her performance was overshadowed by her work in the
pro-British flag-waver Mrs. Miniver, which brought her the
Oscar® as Best Actress.
Director Mervyn LeRoy never won a competitive Oscar®. In fact,
Random Harvest brought him his only nomination for Best Director.
He would win the Academy®'s honorary Irving G. Thalberg Award in
1976.
The Critics' Corner on RANDOM HARVEST
"One of the truly fine motion pictures of this or any other year...an
emotional experience of rare quality. Rave press notices cannot fail to
greet the excellence of its production, direction, performances and
craftsmanship, for there can be no fault to find with any phase of the
great, enduring love story it stirringly brings to life." -- The
Hollywood Reporter.
"Miss Garson, more charming and seductive than ever, is an important
mainstay of the picture. Essaying a highly sympathetic role, she
overshadows Colman and places the film in the laps of the women together
with their moist handkerchiefs." - Variety.
Random Harvest...is distinguished by (1) a moving love story, (2) the unveiling of Miss Garson's interesting legs." - Time.
"I would like also to recommend Random Harvest to those who can stay
interested in Ronald Colman's amnesia for two hours and who could with
pleasure eat a bowl of Yardley's shaving cream for breakfast...." -- James
Agee, The Nation.
"Given Metro's usual glossy treatment and packed with familiar faces in
supporting roles, Random Harvest offers many delightful surprises
(Garson dancing in a miniskirt, for one) and fantastic plot twists while
providing enough hanky action to break even the meanest cynic." - Luisa F.
Ribeiro, Baltimore City Paper.
"The only reason to see this twaddle is the better to savor the memory of the Carol Burnett-Harvey Korman parody, which also was shorter. Mervyn LeRoy, who directed many a big clinker, also gets the blame for this one." - Pauline Kael (5001 Nights at the Movies).
Compiled by Frank Miller
Random Harvest
In
Random Harvest (1942), MGM's top female star, Greer Garson, continued two important partnerships. It marked her second film adapted from a James Hilton novel after she made her U.S. film debut in the screen version of his
Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939. And it was also the second of ten films she would make with cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg. She was so impressed with his work on the same year's
Mrs. Miniver - for which both won Academy Awards - that she insisted he photograph all of her subsequent films at MGM. In her opinion, he was the only cameraman on the lot who shot her to maximum effect. Throughout filming of
Random Harvest, they shared a subtle sign language, as he coached her to lift her head to just the right angle for the camera. Clearly it worked, as Garson is at her most ravishing as the musical-hall singer who sacrifices everything for her husband.
Spurred by the success of
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's
Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
The film marked a major career boost for Colman, who had been in the doldrums after two early '40s films,
Lucky Partners (1940) and
My Life with Caroline (1941), had languished at the box office. He had just starred in the popular comedy,
The Talk of the Town (1942), with
Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and
Random Harvest cemented his comeback with what critics were hailing as his best performance ever.
Also scoring mightily in the film was young Susan Peters, an MGM starlet cast as the distant relative who almost marries Colman after his memory returns. Her scene when she realizes there was another woman in his life during his lost years, won raves. Sadly, she lost the chance to build on her success when a hunting accident severed her spinal cord, putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Eventually she found a few roles, including the wheelchair-bound TV sleuth
Miss Susan (1951), in a series that aired almost two decades before Raymond Burr starred as
Ironside.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s,
Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life. The picture scored seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Colman) and Best Supporting Actress (Peters). Although it didn't win anything on Oscar night (Garson's earlier release,
Mrs. Miniver, was the big winner that year), it remains one of the screen's most glowingly romantic films.
Producer: Sidney Franklin
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay: Claudine West, George Froeschel & Arthur Wimperis
Based on the novel by James Hilton
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons.
Music: Herbert Stothart
Principal Cast: Ronald Colman (Charles Ranier), Greer Garson (Paula), Philip Dorn (Dr. Jonathan Benet), Susan Peters (Kitty), Reginald Owen ("Biffer"), Edmund Gwenn (Prime Minister), Henry Travers (Dr. Sims), Margaret Wycherly (Mrs. Deventer.
BW-127m. Closed captioning.
by Frank Miller
Random Harvest
In Random Harvest (1942), MGM's top female star, Greer Garson, continued two important partnerships. It marked her second film adapted from a James Hilton novel after she made her U.S. film debut in the screen version of his Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939. And it was also the second of ten films she would make with cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg. She was so impressed with his work on the same year's Mrs. Miniver - for which both won Academy Awards - that she insisted he photograph all of her subsequent films at MGM. In her opinion, he was the only cameraman on the lot who shot her to maximum effect. Throughout filming of Random Harvest, they shared a subtle sign language, as he coached her to lift her head to just the right angle for the camera. Clearly it worked, as Garson is at her most ravishing as the musical-hall singer who sacrifices everything for her husband.
Spurred by the success of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
The film marked a major career boost for Colman, who had been in the doldrums after two early '40s films, Lucky Partners (1940) and My Life with Caroline (1941), had languished at the box office. He had just starred in the popular comedy, The Talk of the Town (1942), with
Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and Random Harvest cemented his comeback with what critics were hailing as his best performance ever.
Also scoring mightily in the film was young Susan Peters, an MGM starlet cast as the distant relative who almost marries Colman after his memory returns. Her scene when she realizes there was another woman in his life during his lost years, won raves. Sadly, she lost the chance to build on her success when a hunting accident severed her spinal cord, putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Eventually she found a few roles, including the wheelchair-bound TV sleuth Miss Susan (1951), in a series that aired almost two decades before Raymond Burr starred as Ironside.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s, Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life. The picture scored seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Colman) and Best Supporting Actress (Peters). Although it didn't win anything on Oscar night (Garson's earlier release, Mrs. Miniver, was the big winner that year), it remains one of the screen's most glowingly romantic films.
Producer: Sidney Franklin
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay: Claudine West, George Froeschel & Arthur Wimperis
Based on the novel by James Hilton
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons.
Music: Herbert Stothart
Principal Cast: Ronald Colman (Charles Ranier), Greer Garson (Paula), Philip Dorn (Dr. Jonathan Benet), Susan Peters (Kitty), Reginald Owen ("Biffer"), Edmund Gwenn (Prime Minister), Henry Travers (Dr. Sims), Margaret Wycherly (Mrs. Deventer.
BW-127m. Closed captioning.
by Frank Miller
Random Harvest on DVD
In
Random Harvest (1942), MGM's top female star, Greer Garson, continued two important partnerships. It marked her second film adapted from a James Hilton novel after she made her U.S. film debut in the screen version of his
Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939. And it was also the second of ten films she would make with cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg. She was so impressed with his work on the same year's
Mrs. Miniver - for which both won Academy Awards - that she insisted he photograph all of her subsequent films at MGM. In her opinion, he was the only cameraman on the lot who shot her to maximum effect. Throughout filming of
Random Harvest, they shared a subtle sign language, as he coached her to lift her head to just the right angle for the camera. Clearly it worked, as Garson is at her most ravishing as the musical-hall singer who sacrifices everything for her husband.
Spurred by the success of
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's
Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
The film - now on DVD from Warner Video - marked a major career boost for Colman, who had been in the doldrums after two early '40s films,
Lucky Partners (1940) and
My Life with Caroline (1941), had languished at the box office. He had just starred in the popular comedy,
The Talk of the Town (1942), with
Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and
Random Harvest cemented his comeback with what critics were hailing as his best performance ever.
Also scoring mightily in the film was young Susan Peters, an MGM starlet cast as the distant relative who almost marries Colman after his memory returns. Her scene when she realizes there was another woman in his life during his lost years, won raves. Sadly, she lost the chance to build on her success when a hunting accident severed her spinal cord, putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Eventually she found a few roles, including the wheelchair-bound TV sleuth
Miss Susan (1951), in a series that aired almost two decades before Raymond Burr starred as
Ironside.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s,
Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life. The picture scored seven Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Colman) and Best Supporting Actress (Peters). Although it didn't win anything on Oscar night (Garson's earlier release,
Mrs. Miniver, was the big winner that year), it remains one of the screen's most glowingly romantic films.
The Warner DVD of
Random Harvest reflects the company's usual high standards and features a crisp black and white transfer with exceptionally clear audio. The extras, with one exception, are not really about
Random Harvest but more reflective of the era in which the film was made. These include "Marines in the Making," a combat training film narrated by Pete Smith, and "Don't Talk," an entry from the short subject series "Crime Does Not Pay" which focuses on Nazi spies in our midst. There is also a Greer Garson trailer gallery. Easily the best extra is the Lux Radio Theatre version (audio only, of course) of
Random Harvest with Colman and Garson repeating their film roles.
For more information about
Random Harvest, visit
Warner Video. To order
Random Harvest, go to
TCM Shopping.
by Frank Miller
Random Harvest on DVD
In Random Harvest (1942), MGM's top female star, Greer Garson, continued two important partnerships. It marked her second film adapted from a James Hilton novel after she made her U.S. film debut in the screen version of his Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939. And it was also the second of ten films she would make with cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg. She was so impressed with his work on the same year's Mrs. Miniver - for which both won Academy Awards - that she insisted he photograph all of her subsequent films at MGM. In her opinion, he was the only cameraman on the lot who shot her to maximum effect. Throughout filming of Random Harvest, they shared a subtle sign language, as he coached her to lift her head to just the right angle for the camera. Clearly it worked, as Garson is at her most ravishing as the musical-hall singer who sacrifices everything for her husband.
Spurred by the success of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM bought the rights to Hilton's Random Harvest in 1940, as soon as the book appeared. Initially, however, it was planned as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy. When producer Sidney Franklin and director Mervyn LeRoy learned that Ronald Colman was available, however, they jumped at the chance to sign him for the picture. His image of British sincerity was perfect for the role of a shell-shocked World War I veteran who marries while suffering from amnesia, then recovers his memory only to forget the wife he adores. With two bona fide Brits in the cast, LeRoy could boast that "the English Language was never spoken more beautifully on film."
The film - now on DVD from Warner Video - marked a major career boost for Colman, who had been in the doldrums after two early '40s films, Lucky Partners (1940) and My Life with Caroline (1941), had languished at the box office. He had just starred in the popular comedy, The Talk of the Town (1942), with
Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and Random Harvest cemented his comeback with what critics were hailing as his best performance ever.
Also scoring mightily in the film was young Susan Peters, an MGM starlet cast as the distant relative who almost marries Colman after his memory returns. Her scene when she realizes there was another woman in his life during his lost years, won raves. Sadly, she lost the chance to build on her success when a hunting accident severed her spinal cord, putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Eventually she found a few roles, including the wheelchair-bound TV sleuth Miss Susan (1951), in a series that aired almost two decades before Raymond Burr starred as Ironside.
Like most Hollywood films of the '40s, Random Harvest was shot entirely at the studio, where technicians turned MGM's stock English village into a facsimile for Medbury, the small town where Colman and Garson build their life together after he's first lost his memory. They also had to make some minor script changes to please the Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization. In particular, they had to avoid any suggestion that Colman and Garson were intimate before their marriage and eliminate his character's first wife, which would have made him a bigamist. Despite the changes, however, Hilton was so thrilled with the film that he agreed to record the opening narration himself.
Random Harvest was a major box-office hit, bringing in $4.5 million on a $2 million investment, and breaking attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall, where it premiered. Audiences during the desperate first days of World War II were drawn to its story of the effects of war on the home front and its affirmation of the importance of love and family life. The picture scored seven Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Colman) and Best Supporting Actress (Peters). Although it didn't win anything on Oscar night (Garson's earlier release, Mrs. Miniver, was the big winner that year), it remains one of the screen's most glowingly romantic films.
The Warner DVD of Random Harvest reflects the company's usual high standards and features a crisp black and white transfer with exceptionally clear audio. The extras, with one exception, are not really about Random Harvest but more reflective of the era in which the film was made. These include "Marines in the Making," a combat training film narrated by Pete Smith, and "Don't Talk," an entry from the short subject series "Crime Does Not Pay" which focuses on Nazi spies in our midst. There is also a Greer Garson trailer gallery. Easily the best extra is the Lux Radio Theatre version (audio only, of course) of Random Harvest with Colman and Garson repeating their film roles.
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by Frank Miller
