Harold and Maude
Drawing of Harold holding various deadly items (left) and Maude on the right
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHal Ashby
Written byColin Higgins
Produced byColin Higgins
Charles B. Mulvehill
StarringRuth Gordon
Bud Cort
Vivian Pickles
Cyril Cusack
Charles Tyner
Ellen Geer
Eric Christmas
G. Wood
Judy Engles
Shari Summers
CinematographyJohn Alonzo
Edited byWilliam A. Sawyer
Edward Warschilka
Music byCat Stevens
Production
companies
Mildred Lewis and Colin Higgins Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 20, 1971 (1971-12-20) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,200,000 (estimated)[1]

Harold and Maude is a 1971 American romantic black comedydrama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama. The plot follows the exploits of Harold Chasen (Bud Cort), a young man who is intrigued with death, and who rejects the life his detached mother (Vivian Pickles) prescribes for him. Harold develops a friendship, and eventual romantic relationship, with 79-year-old Maude (Ruth Gordon) who teaches Harold about the importance of living life to its fullest.

The screenplay by Colin Higgins began as his master's thesis for film school. Filming locations in the San Francisco Bay Area included both Holy Cross Cemetery and Golden Gate National Cemetery, the ruins of the Sutro Baths, Mori Point, and Rose Court Mansion in Hillsborough, California.

Critically and commercially unsuccessful when first released, the film eventually developed a cult following, and first made a profit in 1983.[1][2] The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1997, and was ranked number 45 on the American Film Institute list of 100 funniest movies of all time in 2000. The Criterion Collection released a special edition Blu-ray and DVD in 2012.[3]

Plot

Harold Chasen is a young man obsessed with death. He stages elaborate fake suicides, attends funerals (usually for people that he doesn't know), and drives a hearse, all to the chagrin of his self-obsessed, wealthy socialite mother.[4] His mother sends Harold to a psychoanalyst, sets him up with blind dates, and buys him a luxury car, all schemes he subverts in his own way.

Harold meets 79-year-old Maude one day while at a random stranger's funeral Mass, and discovers that they share a hobby. Harold is entranced by Maude's quirky outlook on life, which is bright and delightfully carefree in contrast with his moribund demeanor. Maude lives in a decommissioned railroad car and thinks nothing of breaking the law; she is quite skilled at stealing cars and will swiftly uproot an ailing tree on public property to re-plant it in the forest. She and Harold form a bond and Maude shows Harold the pleasures of art and music (including how to play banjo), and teaches him how to make "the most of his time on earth."[4]

Meanwhile, Harold's mother is determined, against Harold's wishes, to find him a wife. One by one, Harold frightens and horrifies each of his appointed computer dates, by appearing to commit gruesome acts: self-immolation, self-mutilation, and seppuku. His mother tries enlisting him in the military by sending Harold to his uncle, who lost an arm serving under General MacArthur in the Second World War, but Harold deters the recruitment by staging a scene where Maude poses as a pacifist protester and Harold seemingly murders her out of militarist fanaticism.

As Harold and Maude grow closer, their friendship blossoms into a romance. Holding her hand, Harold discovers a number tattooed on her forearm, indicating Maude survived the Nazi death camps. Harold announces that he will marry Maude, resulting in disgusted outbursts from his family, analyst, and priest. Unbeknownst to Harold, Maude has been planning to commit suicide on her eightieth birthday. Maude's birthday arrives, and Harold throws a surprise party for her. As the pair dance, Maude tells Harold that she "couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell." When Maude reveals that she has taken an overdose of sleeping pills, and will be dead by midnight, Harold rushes Maude to the hospital. After learning of Maude's death, Harold is shown speeding down a country road, and sending the car off a seaside cliff. After the crash, the final shot reveals Harold standing calmly atop the cliff, holding his banjo and wearing colorful clothing for the first time in the film. After gazing down at the wreckage, he dances away to "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out".

Cast

  • Ruth Gordon as Dame Marjorie "Maude" Chardin, a 79-year-old free spirit. Maude believes in living each day to the fullest, and "trying something new every day". Her view of life is so joyful that, true to the film's motif, it crosses a blurred, shifting line into a carefree attitude toward death as well. We know little of her past, but learn that as a young woman she was a radical suffragette who fought off police constables with her umbrella, was once married, lived in pre-war Vienna, and has a Nazi concentration camp tattoo on her arm.
  • Bud Cort as Harold Parker Chasen, a young man who is obsessed with death. He drives a hearse, attends funerals of strangers and stages elaborate fake suicides. Through meeting and falling in love with Maude, he discovers joy in living for the first time.
  • Vivian Pickles as Mrs. Chasen, Harold's opulently wealthy mother, is controlling, snooty and seemingly incapable of affection. Hoping to force him into respectability, Mrs. Chasen replaces Harold's beloved hearse with a Jaguar (which he then converts to a miniature hearse), and sets up several blind dates (more accurately, "bride interviews") for her son.
  • Cyril Cusack as Glaucus, the sculptor who makes an ice statue of Maude and lends them his tools to transport a tree.
  • Charles Tyner as General Victor Ball, Harold's uncle who lost an arm in the war and now pulls a hidden cord to make his wire prosthetic "salute". At Mrs. Chasen's request, he attempts to prepare Harold to join the armed forces. The effort is thwarted by a planned stunt in which Harold appears to "kill" Maude.
  • Eric Christmas as the Priest.
  • G. Wood as Harold's psychiatrist.
  • Ellen Geer as Sunshine Doré, an actress, Harold's third blind date. She is one of the few arranged dates who take part in mimicking Harold's suicides, giving a histrionic rendition of Juliet's death scene.
  • Judy Engles as Candy Gulf, Harold's first blind date, whom he scares off by apparently setting himself on fire.
  • Shari Summers as Edith Phern, Harold's second blind date, whom he dissuades by pretending to cut off his hand.
  • Tom Skerritt as the Motorcycle Officer who stops Maude and Harold.[5]

Director Hal Ashby appears in an uncredited cameo, seen at a penny arcade watching a model train at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Production

UCLA film school student Colin Higgins wrote Harold and Maude as his master's thesis. While working as producer Edward Lewis's pool boy, Higgins showed the script to Lewis's wife, Mildred. Mildred was so impressed that she got Edward to give it to Stanley Jaffe at Paramount. Higgins sold the script with the understanding that he would direct the film but he was told he wasn't ready, after tests he shot proved unsatisfactory to the studio heads. Ashby would only commit to directing the film after getting Higgins' blessing and then, so Higgins could watch and learn from him on the set, Ashby made Higgins a co-producer.[6] Higgins says he originally thought of the story as a play. It then became a 20-minute thesis while at film school. The film script was turned into a novel and then a play, which ran for several years in Paris.[7]

Ashby felt that the actress portraying Maude should ideally be European and his list of possible actresses included Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans, Gladys Cooper, and Celia Johnson as well as Lotte Lenya, Luise Rainer, Pola Negri, Minta Durfee, and Agatha Christie.[8] Ruth Gordon indicated that in addition she heard that Edwige Feuillère, Elisabeth Bergner, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock, and Dorothy Stickney had been considered.[9]

For Harold, in addition to Bud Cort, Ashby considered all promising unknowns, Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Balaban, and John Savage. Also on his list were John Rubinstein, for whom Higgins had written the part, and then-up-and-coming British pop star Elton John, whom Ashby had seen live and hoped would also do the music.[10]

Anne Brebner, the casting director, was almost cast as Harold's mother, when Vivian Pickles was briefly unable to do the role.[11]

Novelization

A novelization by Higgins was released alongside the film; they differ in several respects, including the film's omission of certain scenes and characters. Other different details include the novel's version of Maude having white hair (unlike Ruth Gordon in the film) and introducing herself as "the Countess Mathilde Chardin," a different name and title than used in the film. In the novel, Maude's home is characterized as a "cottage" (unlike the retired railroad car Maude inhabits in the movie), and she and Harold briefly interact with Maude's neighbor, Madame Arouet, who is not present in the film. The novel includes an additional scene during the tree-planting expedition where Maude leads Harold in climbing to the top of a very tall pine tree to show him the view over the forest from near its summit.

Release

Harold and Maude was released with a vague, text-only poster and very little marketing. The initial release was a box-office flop, but it gradually found success in repertory theatres and recouped its costs after several years.[12] According to Danny Peary, author of the Cult Movies series: "The film was a runaway cult favorite, and, most memorably, in Minneapolis, residents actually picketed the Westgate Theater, and tried to get the management to replace the picture after a consecutive three-year run."[13][14]

Home media

The Criterion Collection released Harold and Maude for Region 1 on DVD and Blu-ray on June 12, 2012, including a collection of audio excerpts of director Hal Ashby from January 11, 1972, and of screenwriter Colin Higgins from January 10, 1979, a new video interview with Yusuf/Cat Stevens, a new audio commentary by Ashby biographer Nick Dawson and producer Charles B. Mulvehill, and a booklet which includes a new film essay by Matt Zoller Seitz. Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are a new digital restoration of the film with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack and an optional remastered uncompressed stereo soundtrack. Other exclusives are a New York Times profile of actress Ruth Gordon from 1971, an interview from 1997 with actor Bud Cort and cinematographer John Alonzo, and an interview from 2001 with executive producer Mildred Lewis.[3][15][16]

Reception

Critical response

At the time of its release, Harold and Maude received mixed reviews, with several critics being offended by the film's dark humor. Roger Ebert, in a review dated January 1, 1972, gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars. He wrote, "And so what we get, finally, is a movie of attitudes. Harold is death, Maude life, and they manage to make the two seem so similar that life's hardly worth the extra bother. The visual style makes everyone look fresh from the Wax Museum, and all the movie lacks is a lot of day-old gardenias and lilies and roses in the lobby, filling the place with a cloying sweet smell. Nothing more to report today. Harold doesn't even make pallbearer."[17] Vincent Canby of The New York Times also panned the film, stating that the actors "are so aggressive, so creepy and off-putting, that Harold and Maude are obviously made for each other, a point the movie itself refuses to recognize with a twist ending that betrays, I think, its life-affirming pretensions."[18]

The reputation of the film has since increased greatly. Rotten Tomatoes, which labeled the film as "Certified Fresh", gave it a score of 85% based on 46 reviews, with an average score of 7.80/10. A consensus on the site read, "Hal Ashby's comedy is too dark and twisted for some, and occasionally oversteps its bounds, but there's no denying the film's warm humor and big heart."[19] In 2005, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #86 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.[20] In Sight & Sound's 2012 poll of the greatest films of all time, Niki Caro, Wanuri Kahiu, and Cyrus Frisch voted for Harold and Maude. Frisch commented: "An encouragement to think beyond the obvious!"[21] In 2017, Chicago Tribune critic Mark Caro wrote a belated appreciation, "I'm sorry, Harold and Maude, for denying you for so long. You're my favorite movie once again."[22]

Awards and accolades

At the 29th Golden Globe Awards, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon were nominated as Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy film, respectively.[23]

The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1997, along with others deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress.[24][25]

In September 2008 Empire ranked Harold and Maude #65 among their 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[26] Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #4 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films."[27]

American Film Institute lists

Harold and Maude has repeatedly been ranked among the various lists compiled by the American Film Institute. In 2000 the film ranked #45 on the list of 100 Years... 100 Laughs, the top hundred comedies.[28] Two years later Harold and Maude ranked #69 on the AFI list 100 Years... 100 Passions, honoring the most romantic films of the past century.[29] In 2006 the film ranked #89 on the AFI list 100 Years...100 Cheers, recognizing the most inspiring movies.[30] In June 2008, AFI revealed its 10 Top 10: the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres, placing Harold and Maude at #9 in the romantic comedy genre.[31][32]

Music

The music in Harold and Maude[33][34] was composed and performed by Cat Stevens. He had been suggested by Elton John to do the music after John had dropped out of the project.[35] Stevens composed two original songs for the film, "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" and performed instrumental and alternative versions of the previously released songs "On the Road to Find Out", "I Wish, I Wish", "Miles from Nowhere", "Tea for the Tillerman", "I Think I See the Light", "Where Do the Children Play?" and "Trouble" (all from his albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman). "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" remained unreleased on any album until the 1984 compilation Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

Additional music in the film is sourced from well known compositions. "Greensleeves" is played on the harp during dinner. The opening bars of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 are heard during the scene of Harold floating face-down in the swimming pool. The Sunnyvale HS Marching Band plays "The Klaxon" by Henry Fillmore outside the church following a funeral.[36] A calliope version of the waltz "Over the Waves" by Juventino Rosas is played at the amusement park. Harold and Maude waltz together in her home to "The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss II.

The soundtrack album charted at number 173 on the US Billboard 200 in July 2021.[37]

1972 soundtrack

The first soundtrack was released in Japan in 1972 on vinyl and cassette (A&M Records GP-216). It omitted the two original songs and all instrumental and alternative versions of songs and was generally composed of re-released material that was in the film, along with five songs that were not in the film.[38]

Track listing

2007 soundtrack

The second soundtrack was released on December 28, 2007, by Vinyl Films Records as a vinyl-only limited-edition release of 2,500 copies. It contained a 30-page oral history of the making of the film, comprising the most extensive series of interviews yet conducted on Harold and Maude.[33]

Track listing
  • Side one
    1. "Don't Be Shy"
    2. "On the Road to Find Out"
    3. "I Wish, I Wish"
    4. "Miles from Nowhere"
    5. "Tea for the Tillerman"
    6. "I Think I See the Light"
  • Side two
    1. "Where Do the Children Play?"
    2. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out"
    3. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (banjo version)"—previously unreleased
    4. "Trouble"
    5. "Don't Be Shy (alternate version)"—previously unreleased
    6. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (instrumental version)"—previously unreleased
  • Bonus 7" single
    1. "Don't Be Shy (demo version)"—previously unreleased
    2. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (alternative version)"—previously unreleased

2021 soundtrack

A Record Store Day limited edition, available in yellow or orange vinyl, was released July 2021. It contained all the main songs from the 2007 album, but omitted the bonus material.

  • Side one
    1. Don't Be Shy
    2. On The Road To Find Out
    3. I Wish, I Wish
    4. Miles From Nowhere
  • Side two
    1. Tea For The Tillerman
    2. I Think I See The Light
    3. Where Do The Children Play?
    4. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
    5. Trouble

2022 soundtrack

The full soundtrack album received its first regular wide commercial release on February 11, 2022, to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary. The entire album was remastered at Abbey Road Studios. The disc includes previously unheard audio masters discovered in the Island Records/A&M archive for the two original songs Stevens wrote for the film, "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out." While there was an LP, this was also the album's first-ever release on CD.[39]

  • Side one
    1. "Don't Be Shy"
    2. Dialogue 1 (I Go To Funerals)
    3. "On the Road to Find Out"
    4. "I Wish, I Wish"
    5. Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 in B
    6. Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)
    7. Marching Band / Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)
    8. "Miles from Nowhere"
    9. "Tea for the Tillerman"
  • Side two
    1. "I Think I See the Light"
    2. Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)
    3. "Where Do the Children Play?"
    4. "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out" (Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort vocal)
    5. Strauss' Blue Danube
    6. Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)
    7. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out"
    8. Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude)
    9. "Trouble"
    10. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (ending)

Adaptations

Stage play adaptation

Colin Higgins later adapted the story into a stage play. The original Broadway production, starring Janet Gaynor as Maude and Keith McDermott as Harold, closed after four performances in February 1980.[40] The Yugoslav premiere of the play was staged at the Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP) on March 23, 1980, two months after its performance on Broadway. Directed by Paolo Magelli, the main roles were played by Tatjana Lukjanova (Maude), Milan Erak (Harold), and Žiža Stojanović (Mrs. Chasen). After Milan Erak's passing, the role of Harold was taken over by Slobodan Beštić. The play was on the BDP repertoire until 2003 when Tatjana Lukjanova passed away.[41]

French television adaptation

A French adaptation for television, translated and written by Jean-Claude Carrière, appeared in 1978. It was also adapted for the stage by the Compagnie Viola Léger in Moncton, New Brunswick,[42] starring Roy Dupuis.[43]

Musical adaptation

A musical adaptation, with songs by Joseph Thalken and Tom Jones, premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, in January 2005. The production starred Estelle Parsons as Maude and Eric Millegan as Harold.[44][45]

Unproduced sequel and prequel

Higgins expressed interest in 1978 about both a sequel and prequel to Harold and Maude.[46] The sequel, Harold's Story, would have Cort portray Harold's life after Maude. Higgins also imagined a prequel showing Maude's life before Harold, Grover and Maude had Maude learning how to steal cars from Grover Muldoon, the character portrayed by Richard Pryor in Higgins' 1976 film Silver Streak. Higgins wanted Gordon and Pryor to reprise their respective roles.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Harmetz, Aljean (August 8, 1983). "After 12 Years, a Profit For 'Harold and Maude'". The New York Times. p. C14. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  2. Peary 1998.
  3. 1 2 "Harold and Maude (1971)". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Bozzola, Lucia. "Harold and Maude > Overview". AllMovie. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  5. Ihnat, Gwen (June 11, 2019). "Tom Skerritt tells us the funniest thing he ever witnessed on the Alien set". The A.V. Club.
  6. Dawson 2009, pp. 120–121.
  7. Wilson, John M. (April 14, 1978). "Up From the Underground Harold; Maude". Los Angeles Times. p. g14.
  8. Dawson 2009, pp. 122–123.
  9. Gordon, Ruth (1986). My Side: The Autobiography of Ruth Gordon. D.I. Fine. p. 392. ISBN 978-0917657818.
  10. Dawson 2009, p. 122.
  11. Morrison, John (host) (May 6, 2011). "Anne Brebner". Aspect Ratio. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2011 via blip.tv.
  12. "'Harold and Maude' at 50: An Oral History of How a 'Harrowing' Flop Became a Beloved Cult Classic". Variety. December 10, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  13. Peary 1998, p. 135.
  14. Lileks, James (February 9, 2018). "When a Twin Cities movie theater vanishes, it takes neighborhood history with it". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  15. Atanasov, Svet (May 26, 2012). "Harold and Maude Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  16. Katz, Josh (March 16, 2012). "Criterion Blu-ray in June: Chaplin, Ashby, Boyle, Soderbergh, Hitchcock, Inagaki". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  17. Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1972). "Harold and Maude". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  18. Canby, Vincent (December 21, 1971). "Screen: 'Harold and Maude' and Life: Hal Ashby's Comedy Opens at Coronet; Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort Star as Odd Couple". The New York Times.
  19. "Harold and Maude". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  20. Savage, Sophia (February 27, 2013). "WGA Lists Greatest Screenplays, From 'Casablanca' and 'Godfather' to 'Memento' and 'Notorious'". wga.org. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  21. "Cyrus Frisch". www.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016.
  22. Caro, Mark (March 24, 2017). "A Movie Date With My Younger Self". The New York Times.
  23. "Harold and Maude". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  24. "National Film Registry list of films 1989–2006". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  25. "New to the National Film Registry". Library of Congress Information Bulletin. Vol. 56, no. 17. December 1997. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  26. "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time (numbers 73-64)". Empire. November 2008. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  27. "The Top 50 Cult Films". Entertainment Weekly. May 23, 2003.
  28. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs". American Film Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  29. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions". American Film Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  30. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers". American Film Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  31. "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres". ComingSoon.net. June 18, 2008. Archived from the original on August 18, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  32. "AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  33. 1 2 Harold and Maude at AllMusic
  34. Harold and Maude at Discogs
  35. Dawson 2009, p. 124.
  36. Forrester, Cathy (June 1971). "1971 SHS Yearbook page 132". secure.classmates.com. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  37. @billboardcharts (July 26, 2021). "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (4/4)..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021 via Twitter.
  38. From the FAQ section of "CatStevens.com". Archived from the original on April 5, 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  39. "Harold and Maude (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 50th Anniversary Edition to be Released February 11th, 2022" (Press release). December 7, 2021.
  40. "Harold and Maude Broadway @ Martin Beck Theatre". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017.
  41. "Harold i Mod". LIFE+. August 29, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  42. Chalifour, Annik (October 21, 2008). "Viola Léger: de la langue de la Sagouine à celle de Musset". L'Express d'Ottawa (in French). Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  43. "Roy Dupuis" (in French). ICI Radio-Canada Télé. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  44. Beckerman, Jim (January 12, 2005). "No deviations from the deviants". The Record. Hackensack, NJ. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  45. Molyneaux, Thom (January 13, 2005). "Parsons commands stage in Paper Mill's new musical". The Item of Millburn and Short Hills. Millburn, NJ. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  46. Beck, Marilyn (August 6, 1978). "Higgins eyes 'Harold's Story'". Stars and Stripes. p. 16. Retrieved January 30, 2014.

Bibliography

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