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"Random Harvest:" better than the book
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A common complaint when Hollywood turns a popular book into a movie is that the book is much better. There are, however, exceptions to the rule, when the movie is better than the book. One such exception is “Random Harvest” (1942), based on James Hilton’s novel of the same name and starring Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn and Susan Peters. Don’t get me wrong--”Random Harvest” is a good book, but “Random Harvest” is a fantastic movie. This is one of the few, perhaps the only amnesia movie that is truly enjoyable.
The movie opens in Autumn, 1918 at the Melbridge County Asylum. Smith (Colman), a shell shock victim with amnesia and trouble speaking, goes for a walk one foggy night and wanders off the property. Confused by the noisy crowd choking the street celebrating the armistice, he ducks into a tobacco shop, where he meets Paula (Garson). When he leaves the shop, she follows him, worried that he’s not well. She quickly becomes protective of her strange new friend, and before long they fall in love, get married and settle down. It’s now time for them to live happily ever after, but there’s enough time left in the movie that you just know it isn’t going to happen.
Greer Garson reportedly considered “Random Harvest” to be her favorite of all the movies she was in. As for Ronald Colman, playing an injured WWI soldier couldn’t have been too hard: he fought for the British in the First World War at the Battle of Ypres, where he was wounded in the knee and ankle (shrapnel) and was gassed. He was decorated for bravery and several months after he was wounded was invalided out of the army.
Hollywood had a huge year in 1942 with the release of many instant or soon-to-be classic films such as “Mrs. Miniver,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Holiday Inn,” “Bambi,” “Pride of the Yankees” and “King’s Row.” The biggest of them all was, of course, “Mrs. Miniver,” claiming twelve Oscar nominations and six wins. “Random Harvest” was nominated for seven awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role (Colman lost to James Cagney for “Yankee Doodle“), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Peters), Best Picture. Ironically, “Random Harvest” lost the Best Writing, Screenplay Oscar to James Hilton (and three others) for the “Mrs. Miniver” screenplay.
You can watch “Random Harvest” on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday, June 20 at 7 p.m. CT.
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