Random Harvest

Buy This Item Random Harvest by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $17.99  on 11-14-2008     The ultimate tearjerker, this 1942 romance classic directed by Mervyn LeRoy (based on a novel by James Hilton) stars Ronald Colman as a British army officer suffering from amnesia after World War I. After falling in love with and marrying a dance-hall singer (Greer Garson), Colman's happy character begins a career as a writer and doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't remember who he is. A car accident changes all that, however, causing the hero's memory to return and making him forget all about his lovely cottage and bride. LeRoy modulates the obvious suspense element in the story (for example, is Colman going to remember Greer or not?) extremely well, building ever-so-deliciously slowly toward a huge payoff. This is one of the great date movies of all time. <I>--Tom Keogh</I> Reader Reviews Yes, this is a tearjerker. But no way is it a simple "chick flick". This movie has two protagonists, one male, one female. Each of them has something they want desperately, and though their goals are slightly different, the motivations behind them speak to the hopes of every human being. The second half of the movie focuses on the secret wish of a secretary to the rich Charles Rainier. The first half focuses on an equally desperate desire by wounded World War I vet Smithy. Either half in itself makes an interesting story. Bound by what the two haves have in common, the story becomes a classic that will resonate long after the credits roll. James Hilton (who wrote the novel this movie was based on), had a unique and special talent for getting at the the heart of what drives human beings most deeply: the need to connect and to belong. One of the most touching moments in this film is a scene in which the mute and amnesiac Smithy is brought face to face with an elderly couple. They have lost their son in the War and travel to the sanitorium, mistakenly believing that he might be Smithy. As the two old people sadly shake their heads and turn away, actor Ronald Coleman stretches out his hand, and makes a small gesture toward them. It's a little thing, very staged, and it could never work in a film today, but its candid pathos is so touching, I've never forgotten it. See this film, you won't regret it.

Random Harvest Available from Amazon Price: $17.99 Updated on 11-14-2008.

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