Harold and Maude
by Hal Ashby
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bud Cort, Charles Tyner, Cyril Cusack, Ruth Gordon, Vivian PicklesDirector: Hal Ashby
Writer: Colin Higgins
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-27
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: PBS Home Video
Movie Reviews of Harold and Maude
Movie Review: AFI's Great Love Stories: #69 Harold and Maude
Summary: 5 Stars
First off you cannot tell me that the people at the American Film Institute did not know exactly what they were doing when they had to pick a film for this particular slot on their Top 100 Love Stories. I certainly have found memories of "Harold and Maude," which must have been one of the first black comedies I ever saw (along with "M*A*S*H" and "The Hospital"). This is a film where a lot of people must have had their heads explode trying to decide if they were more offended by Harold's hobby of committing fake suicides for the "benefit" of his mother or the fact that the 20-year old Harold has an affair with the 79-year old Maude.That is basically all you know about this particular film to decide if it is even remotely close to your cup of tea. Screenwriter Colin Higgins, who went on to write the "Foul Play" and "Nine to Five," and director Hal Ashby, who went on to do "Coming Home" and "Being There," hit a pair of bullseyes with the casting of this quirky little story. Bud Cort plays Harold and you almost forget how good of a job he does with his part because Ruth Gordon has the part of her life as Maude. Rediscovered in her Oscar winning Supporting Actress role in "Rosemary's Baby," Gordon certainly was not going to find a lot of plumb roles for somebody her age--then along came this script because sometimes good things happen to good people. You are guaranteed that you will never forget this movie.
Maude's Words of Wisdom: (1) "Vice, virtue, it's best not to be too moral--you cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality." (2) "Harold, everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You can't let the world judge you too much." (3) "A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they're not dead, really, they're just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt, even! Play as well as you can. Go team! GO! Give me an L! Give me an I! Give me a V! Give me an E! L-I-V-E! LIVE! ...Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room."
If you enjoy "Harold and Maude," then check out these other films on the AFI's list: This is a hard one. I am thinking #17 "Moonstruck," because of the age difference between the two main characters, and #52 "The Graduate," because of the folk music soundtrack. But there is really nothing truly compatible on the AFI list if you stop at #100.
Summary of Harold and Maude
Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to "reach out" and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal--she's a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with--and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold's outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who's grown immune to her strange son's antics. Gradually, however, the film's clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won't appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you're on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you've ever seen. --Jeff Shannon![Harvey [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy] (Universal's 100th Anniversary) Image](/images/Harvey-Blu-ray-DVD-Digital-Copy-Universal-100th-Anniversary-B006TTC5JK-X.jpg)
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