Amazon.com essential video: 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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Harold and Maude
"Harold and Maude" is a romantic, darkly comic fantasy about two eccentric souls who briefly find in each other love and companionship. Young Harold is obsessed with death, attending funerals and staging suicide-themed vignettes starring none other than himself. Mother tries to cure him of his eccentricities by finding a computer date for him; Uncle feels the military will shape him up. A Freudian psychiatrist offers counsel as does a lecherous priest. All to no avail. Harold, pale and a little creased around the mouth, is a lonely young misfit.
Rating: - "....otherwise, you got nothin' to talk about in the locker room"
I first saw this movie when I was about 14 years old (1979), back in the days when movie channels would play the same 2-3 movies over and over. I fell in love with it then and have been in love with it ever since. I even won a free ice cream cone at the Ben an Jerry's in Ithaca, NY when (in 2002) I was able to tell them the significance of Maude's tatoo. I have always told my friends that Harold and Maude is my favorite movie and that I think the best movie ever made was Life is Beautiful, by Roberto Bergnini. If you think about it, there are many parallels
Rating: - I can't believe I like it...I really like it.
I have no idea why I like this film. A part of me wants a shower after viewing this and the other part of me is such a sucker for romance...a BIG sucker. There is a teacher/student quality that's adorable and I'm not quite sure I'm feeling the ending...but I guess anything is better than the alternative. This film is definitely an acquired taste.
Rating: - The greatest cult classic of all time
I love this movie. It's in my top 5 ever. The sound track is great, and so are all the performances.
Rating: - I laughed, I cried and I learned. This movie is perfect!
A friend of mine told me that this is one of those movies that everyone should see. After watching it for the first time last night, I have to agree. Even if you end up not liking it, you'll respect it I think. Great movie! Get it!
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