Random Harvest (1942)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Smithy
Want a random harvest fact? Pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica.
Want a Random Harvest fact? You're about to read all about it!
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Previews
What, if anything, did we know about this coming attraction before we watched it?
Ellen: This could be anything, but I saw the word “showgirl” in one synopsis, so I’m expecting some fun1!
Tyler: Even though I know it’s wrong, there’s something about the word “random” that feels quite modern and out of place in a movie from the early 40s. Maybe it’s the popularity of the more informal definition (“odd, unusual, or unexpected”), but it sure stands out. All of that to say, I’ve never heard of this movie.
Plots & Feelings
This one’s pretty self-explanatory.
Short Version (courtesy of IMDb): An amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-war life.
Long Version (modified from Wikipedia and formatted to fit your screen):
The grim voice of our short-lived narrator informs us that Melbridge County Asylum just added a Veterans Wing, and to put it lightly: it’s a bummer. Dr. Jonathan Benet2 seems to actually give a hoot about the men under his care, which feels like a rare find in 1918. One of his patients is a man dubbed John Smith, who was gassed in the trenches at Arras and has no memory. After an attempt to reunite his family that goes nowhere (turns out he wasn’t the son they were looking for), Smith is depressed. He takes a walk into the misty English evening3, and what do you know, the armistice has just been announced! In the chaos and celebration, Smith slips out of the asylum gates and into town.
Smith is immediately overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. He struggles to speak and appears confused, giving off very strong “tell me you escaped from the asylum without telling me”4 vibes. A young performer named Paula Ridgeway deduces that he’s not dangerous (despite his origin) and takes him under her wing, getting him a brandy from Biffer at the inn where her company is staying. They chat in her dressing room, bonding over the fact that neither Smith nor Paula are their real names. She puts on a rousing performance that Smith seems to enjoy before he collapses of exhaustion!
Tyler: Paula, who looks like a young Meryl Streep, puts on quite the show! I was shocked at how much leg she showed for a movie made in the 1940s and set in the 1910s, how scandalous!
Ellen: These are the showgirl vibes I was promised!
Back at the inn, Biffer is already prepared to throw hands if someone from the asylum comes to take Smith. He’s loyal quickly, our Biffer! Paula convinces her manager to let Smith work for their touring company, but a visit from officers at the asylum puts that plan on ice. Smith is gutted to have had the opportunity of having purpose again taken away. He’s so sad, in fact, that Paula talks herself out of the sensible option of allowing him to get the care he needs and instead absconds with him to the countryside! Not before Smithy accidentally pushes her manager down the stairs, however!
Ellen: Spoilers for the next bullet, but I really thought this potential manslaughter of the manager was going to, I don’t know… matter?
Tyler: Right? If anything it only emphasized what a horrible idea it is to just run off with someone who clearly needs some professional help. But as we learn soon (my turn for a spoiler for the next bullet), she helps him return to normalcy anyway with … love?
Tyler: I also didn’t quite understand her motivation for leaving behind her entire life to run off with this mentally unwell amnesiac she just met. Is she just getting swept up in the armistice? It’d be one thing if she seemed to hate performing and wanted to escape that, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The unlikely pair find their way to a secluded country inn in Devon. Any tension at what happened to the manager is immediately put to rest by a phone call to Biffer, who not only says the man is okay, but holds no grudges. Paula and “Smithy”, as she calls him (loudly and often), begin their little holiday together. As time passes5, Smith gets more assimilated and even starts writing newspaper articles to bring in money. Now that he has a way to support them, he declares that he’s in love with Paula and proposes! Paula accepts, the wedding happens, and before you know it, Smith is carrying his wife over the threshold of their newly rented cottage.
Tyler: We later deduce that about three years have passed, but was it really that difficult to have even a throwaway line to mention how much time has gone by? Their love just feels so jarring otherwise, with Smithy going from barely speaking to saying complete, coherent sentences and writing part-time for a newspaper in, like, two scenes. There’s a whole movie’s worth of character development that just gets glossed right over. If nothing else, this introduced a new sub-category of our age-old movie complaint of “They fell in love/got married way too quickly”: the couple who falls in love too quickly in the timeline of the moviegoing experience but not the timeline of the movie itself.
Ellen: Three years for their total relationship (including the time he was in the asylum), sure, but I’m also wondering how long they stayed at that hotel before getting engaged!
Tyler: I genuinely don’t know the last non-Christopher Nolan movie that made me think about time this much.
Time flies in Devon, as they say, and the couple welcomes a son! Smith’s literary talent has continued to blossom, and a newspaper gives him a job interview for a full-time position! It’s in Liverpool, and Paula, who in her former life traveled constantly, helps Smithy pack and even recommends a hotel. He gives Paula a necklace as a parting gift before setting off. Once in town, he crosses a busy street and is hit by a taxi! He insists to the police and various bystanders that he’s fine, but just needs to get home… to Random Hall?! The shock to his system reminds him that he’s Charles Rainier, son of a wealthy businessman. The three years he spent with Paula are forgotten, and his only clue to what he was doing is a small key in his coat pocket.
As it happens, Charles arrives home just in time for his father’s funeral. The whole family is thus present to welcome their missing brother home! They’re concerned with who gets what in the will, but they’re mostly happy to see him, if a little nonplussed. This author expected more theatrics! The only person who’s super hyped is Charles’ new step-niece Kitty. She’s fifteen and infatuated, and he agrees to become her pen pal. Though he has ambitions of returning to college, the mismanaged family business needs him, so he buckles down to save the empire and restore the family fortune.
Years pass, and Charles has done a bang-up job, even being hailed by the papers as the “Industrial Prince of England.” What industry? None of your business, you damn yank! Anyway, Charles and Kitty, who is now in her early twenties, maintain their correspondence all through that time. They meet for lunch at the Savoy, and Kitty finally expresses her feelings outright, and to her shock, Charles does the same! They decide to get married and plan a yearlong honeymoon. Charles returns back to the office to tell his executive assistant the good news, and oh dang, Paula walks in!! Turns out, she saw his picture in the paper and has been working for him for two years under her real name: Margaret Hanson. He has no idea who she is. Under the advice of Dr. Benet, whom she contacted after Charles first failed to return home, she has no intention of revealing herself.
Kitty and Charles hop to wedding planning right away. While in the chapel selecting hymns, the organist suggests “O Perfect Love”6. Charles gets a faraway look in his eyes, some part of his brain registering that it was played in his wedding to Paula. Kitty sees it too, and because she’s not selfish enough to not care and too smart to pretend she couldn’t see he’s in love with someone else, she breaks off the engagement. Meanwhile, Paula does the work to have John Smith declared legally dead. In the course of doing so, we learn that their son died in infancy. She’s spent every penny she has trying to track down her Smithy, believing when Dr. Benet tells her that it’s most likely that he left because he no longer remembered her. Paula had hoped just seeing her would jog his memory, or showing him photos of Melbridge, but nothing works.
In light of his latest upheaval, Paula convinces Charles to go back to Liverpool to try to remember what happened, and they find his suitcase, which the hotel held for twelve years! Unfortunately, it means nothing to Charles, and he declares he’s putting the whole thing behind him. He gets elected to Parliament with Paula’s help, and he proposes a different kind of marriage: a merger based on sincere friendship. Dr. Benet advises Paula against it, and the fact that he’s also in love with her doesn’t stop him from being right. Naturally, Paula does it anyway! To the outside, they are the envy of all, the perfect union of a doting husband and gracious hostess wife.
On their three year anniversary, Paula and Charles host the Prime Minister at Random Hall to great accolades. After the party, Charles presents her with a gorgeous necklace, but after he leaves the room, she pulls out the cheap beaded one that Smithy gave her. She tells him she’s exhausted, and thus wants to take an extended solo vacation to South America - just my idea of relaxation! Charles sends her off, and he is soon summoned to Melbridge Cable Works to settle a strike. He manages to solve it on the workers terms, and as he walks through town amidst the celebrations, he starts to realize that this all feels extremely familiar! His memories begin to unfold, and Charles finds himself outside the cottage in Devon. The little key he’s carried around for over a decade works!
Paula also stops through Devon on the way to her ship, staying at that same little inn. She asks about the previous proprietor, and the woman at the desk says another man asked about the same person just this morning! Paula arrives at the cottage to see Charles standing there. She tentatively calls out “Smithy?” He turns and rushes to embrace her, calling her Paula!
Intermission
Even though ILTBTA is free, please indulge us further and enjoy this quick “advertisement.”
This installment of ILTBTA is brought to you by … the search for the next Paula Ridgeway!
We’ll level with you folks: Unspecified Performance Company has really been struggling after our star performer just… bounced? For no reason? With a man who “accidentally” assaulted our manager and didn’t even know his own name?
We’re absolutely gutted, but we must crack on! Unspecified Performance Company will be holding open auditions to find our next leading lady. Please prepare two song-and-dance numbers, and our drunk but skilled piano man will accompany you. Costumes encouraged but not required. Perks include room and board, travel expenses for touring, and never ever ever ever returning to Melbridge. Tell them ILTBTA sent you and you’ll get an automatic first callback!
Put on your dancing shoes, and show us what you’ve got!
Wiki-Wiki-Whaaat?
Love a good Wikipedia rabbit hole in search of some fun facts? Us too.
Random Harvest’s Wikipedia page has some interesting facts and anecdotes that we recommend you read through, but here are a few of our favorites:
Random Harvest is the film adaptation of the wildly popular (at the time) novel of the same name by writer James Hilton. In addition to Random Harvest, Hilton is best known for writing Lost Horizon (which was adapted for the screen and was also nominated for Best Picture) and his Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1942 war drama (and another future ILTBTA post) Mrs. Miniver.
For all of you Wicked-heads humming “Defying Gravity” out there, you (indirectly) have Random Harvest director Mervyn LeRoy to thank! Despite being a prolific director throughout the 1930s, LeRoy took a break in order to achieve his longtime dream of adapting L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (Pop down to Honorable Mentions below to see how that turned out.)
Less enthusiastically (for us, at least), LeRoy also finished directing Mister Roberts after original director John Ford had difficulties with star Henry Fonda (aka he punched him) and a gallbladder issue.
Ellen: Ford v Fonda, coming to a pay-per-view near you!
Ronald Colman, who played Charles Rainier/Smithy, was nominated for Best Actor by The Academy three times, though the first nomination was for his work on two different movies. He also earned a nomination for Random Harvest and eventually won in 1947 for his role as an actor playing Othello in A Double Life. Colman’s Oscar statuette was sold at an auction in 2002 for $174,5007.
Not to be outdone on obscurely impressive Oscars trivia, Colman’s Random Harvest co-star Greer Garson was nominated for a record five consecutive Best Actress Oscars between 1941-1945 (including Random Harvest), winning for her role in the aforementioned Mrs. Miniver. The Guinness Book of World Records credits Garson with the longest ever Oscar acceptance speech (clocking in at five-and-a-half minutes), causing The Academy to later institute a time limit.
Coming full circle with Wiki-Wiki-Whaaat?, Garson’s first film role (for which she was nominated for Best Actress, which should come as no surprise by now) was in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, the film adaptation of the novella of the same name by Random Harvest author James Hilton.
Honorable Mentions
What other movies should you be watching?
The Wizard of Oz is a movie that needs no introduction (and not only because we can’t think of one at the moment). You know the characters, you know the plot, you know the quotes, you know the songs … heck, some of you even know the prequel!
It’s not only a classic, it’s also actually a good movie! It frequently ranks high on pretty much every list of the best movies of all time, and is held in very high regard by your favorite movie newsletter writers. If you’ve never seen The Wizard of Oz, do yourself a favor and watch it for free with a Max or Hulu subscription or rent it elsewhere.
Oscar NomNomNomz
Since we all know a movie is nothing without the food and drink it incorporates.
It’s now time to award the Oscar for Best Snacktor in a Supporting Role8. And the nomnomnominees are:
“Proper old pea soup” in honor of the thick fog outside the asylum, not spooky at all nope not a bit
A free brandy and soda from the Melbridge Inn
An expansive English breakfast as part of an impromptu welcome home party/wake
Celebratory tea and cakes after a parliamentary election win
And the Oscar goes to … the proper old pea soup! Unfortunately, it got lost in the fog on the way up to the stage, so we will accept this award on its behalf.
Fill In The Blank
How did we really feel about The Academy nominating this?
Ellen: I’d like to return The Academy to a surprisingly-caring asylum so they can get the treatment they need. And if that doesn’t seem great, well, neither was this movie. I think the idea of it is interesting, and it genuinely surprised me a few times (primarily in how long a period of time it covered), but nothing about it was exceptional. Despite the acting nomination, I didn’t think Ronald Colman’s performance really stood out all that much. Maybe the movie was trading off the popularity of the book, or the whole story translates better in literary form, but this being nominated for best picture is like, so random.
Tyler: I’d like to watch as The Academy steps out in front of a taxi in hopes that it shakes up their brain fog a bit. As Ellen alluded to, this movie has big “The book was better” vibes, where there are just certain things that either didn’t seem to translate well to the screen or had to be adjusted for it to have any sort of impact. You can see how the broad strokes of the story are interesting enough to understand why it was a popular9 book, but the execution of it as a movie just felt … off. (I admit it feels weird to write that having never even read the book, but I did read the Wikipedia plot synopsis.) The beating heart of the story is the Smithy/Charles-Paula/Margaret love story, but when I don’t particularly buy that from the get-go, it makes for a tedious watch that really limits the impact. I think the only time I actually felt what it was trying to make me feel was the gut punch of when Paula/Margaret revealed that their infant son had died. Colman and Greer did fine acting jobs, but there’s only so much you can do if the story itself is iffy.
Let The Credits Roll
Thanks for reading! Some quick housekeeping as you exit the theatre:
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Post-Credits Scene
Get a sneak peek at the next ILTBTA installment.
Since it’s the holidays and we’re feeling generous, we’ve decided to give movies starring Ronald Colman based on a James Hilton book another chance. So the subject of our next post, which will be ready for you to read on New Year’s Eve, will be the aforementioned 1937 adventure drama fantasy Lost Horizon. Plot twist: this is one we’ve actually seen before!
Lost Horizon is available for free on Tubi or for a fee from your preferred tech giant masquerading as a streaming service.
Until then, don’t randomly forget us!
It would not, dear reader, be fun.
Not to be confused with Jonathan Bennett, host of Hallmark’s Finding Mr. Christmas.
Tyler: The fog is described as thick as “proper old pea soup” which is just about the most British thing I’ve ever heard.
Sounds like my ex-wife!
How much time? Who can say, but it is absolutely none of our business.
Ellen: A least favorite of mine.
That’s over $300,00 in today’s Oscar statuettes!
Results tabulated and certified by the accountants at Ernst & Yum™.
Wicked, you have ruined that word for me.