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| Director: Mervyn Leroy
Actors: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters, Henry Travers
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $3.93
You Save: $16.05 (80%)
New (5) Used (25) Collectible (7) from $3.93
Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 3661
Format: Black & White, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6301978536
UPC: 027616096135
EAN: 9786301978538
ASIN: 6301978536
Release Date: June 30, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 72
 Enthralling tale for the romantic. July 20, 2005
R. Christenson (Pine, CO USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Random Harvest is the classic double-amnesia yarn, quite effective due to the immense talents of Ronald Colman and Greer Garson. Colman is one of my favorite actors from the olden days, one who could play anything from a rugged hero to an intellectual professor convincingly. It's a shame he's not known to modern audiences; in my book he's right up there with Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Jimmy Stewart. The few of his movies available today include Talk Of The Town, Lost Horizon, Champagne for Caesar, and Random Harvest.
Here Colman plays an English World War One veteran who escapes from an asylum with a severe case of amnesia. Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver, Madame Curie) is Paula, an entertainer who takes him in and calls him Smithy. She decides he's better off not returning to the asylum, and takes him to the country, where they start a new life together, fall in love, marry, and start a family.
After three years Smithy goes to Liverpool to answer a job offer, where he's struck by a truck in the street. The shock brings back the memory of his identity, at the cost of that of his new life, wife and all. He returns home an heir of substantial wealth and responsibility, and as years pass he takes over the family business, and eventually becomes engaged. But his three year memory gap haunts him and he breaks off the engagement, suspecting his life can never be complete, failing at every attempt to bring back memories of his lost time.
During the second half of the film the plot takes a new turn as Paula, having discovered his real identity, takes a job as his secretary. On the advice of his former doctor, played by Philip Dorn (the Papa in I Remember Mama), she can't reveal her true identity to Smithy. This becomes really engrossing. If you let yourself in on this - if you're a romantic, and let yourself be absorbed by the well-performed story - you're in for a heart-wrenching experience, an allegory for any lost love experience, as she attempts to live with him unrecognized as his former wife. But I think you will find it well worth while at the end.
The supporting cast also includes a favorite character actor, Henry Travers (It's A Wonderful Life, Ball of Fire, On Borrowed Time, etc. etc.), Susan Peters, Reginald Owen, Melville Cooper, Alan Napier, Peter Lawford and Arthur Shields (who was Barry Fitzgerald's brother).
Classic tearjerker September 11, 2005
Douglas M
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
"Random Harvest", a novel by James Hilton, was an enormous hit when it appeared in the late thirties. The story of a war veteran who suffers amnesia and marries the same girl twice, however contrived, tore at the heart strings.
MGM purchased the rights and the film broke box office records in 1942. Filmed in typical MGM style, which means a syrupy score, artificial sets and soft focus camerawork, it is beautifully mounted and therefore completely unrealistic but it doesn't matter. A cynical view is easy to adopt but ultimately irrelevent. When I showed the film to a friend recently, she was riveted to the twists and turns of the plot and reduced to tears by the end. After 60 years it still works.
This is possibly Greer Garson's best performance. In contrast to Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and so many MGM stars, Garson was a trained actress and in the right circumstances, she could transcend the artificial settings and really create a character. In this film, she does just that and Ronald Colman, who is much too old for his part, matches her. His underacting, handsome face, modesty and overwhelming magnetism and charm win you over and together they make a memorable team. Garson was on record that this was her favourite film and that she loved making it. It shows. The rapport of the leads added so much to the onscreen relationship. She also performs a song and dance, an imitation of Harry Lauder which she carries off very well. Special mention too of the tragic Susan Peters who superbly plays the girl Colman almost marries. By the way, LISTEN to the film. You may never hear the English language spoken so beautifully. The leads' voices are a large part of the magic.
The DVD print is good and the package contains a few extras which are of marginal interest. The Lux Radio version is irrelevant when you can view the original and the Garson film trailers are really a marketing exercise. The 2 shorts are of historical interest.
 Too Little, Too Late... November 13, 2004
Paul Moriak (Sunny California)
11 out of 37 found this review helpful
I just received my pre-release notice for "Random Harvest" and I am greatly disappointed. Why did WB delay the release of such a long-awaited DVD until almost three weeks AFTER Christmas (Jan 11, 2005)? And provide no technical info about the DVD's format or content. What are they thinking over there at Warner Home Theater? Do they want to sell any of these discs? With a little intelligent scheduling this release would have made an excellent 2004 Christmas gift! Releasing it in January almost guarantees it to have mediocre sale figures. Once again, Warner Bros. has shot itself in the foot.
Classical Romance September 12, 2004
Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
I had noticed this movie because it showed up strong in the 1942 Oscar nominees although I don't believe it won anything. I finally got a chance to see it on Turner Classic Movies and was very impressed with the emotional impact of this movie. This a Romance movie for the ages. It is the story of a amnesiac who falls in love. This allows for many possibilities and the story uses a lot of them and others that you'd never have imagined. It takes us on an emotional roller coaster that eventually leaves everyone with a warmer feeling than they expected. Although it is the story that is the strength of the movie, the acting supurbly helps to bring it to life. Two of the best talents of their day; Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson, give outstanding perfromances. There is a scene early in the movie in which Coleman's character is presented to an elderly couple as possibly their son who was missing in action. He isn't and as we hear their disappointment, we watch the very subtle display of similar disappointment on the part of Coleman. His excellent protrayal of a man bewildered by not knowing who he is makes the first part of the movie that much better. I can't reveal the rest of the story because the twists and truns of the plot are more enjoyable without a road map.
This movie has its' faults. Part of it comes from my overly practical nature. After about the first seventh of the movie, the situation changes somewhat and I found myself wondering whose income is paying for everything. It may have been over-reaching on my part but, on the other hand, having a maid in a household with no apparent income was an error on someone in the production staff. There is another serious flaw in how the movie dealt with the loss of a third member of the household. This is dealt with in such a passing matter that it really bothered me. After all, we become emotionally involved with these people and their lives so we come to expect some respect for our own emotions. Given how the movie handled this matter, I wonder why this character was introduced to us in the first place. I'm sure that you'll know what I mean when you see the movie.
The movie challenges our concepts of the nature of love and relationships; is it circumstantial, happenstancial, or will the right two people always fall in love with each other as long as they have the opportunity to meet? I found myself disagreeing with the premise of the story on this subject as it took yet another twist. However, I appreciated the way the movie made me consider the question.
I don't normally list several objections to any book or movie that I give a 5 star rating to. I am more than happy to overlook my criticisms because of "Random Harvest"'s remarkable ability to touch our emotions so deeply. This is a movie I saw by myself the first time. When I had the chance to see it again, I made sure my wife watched it with me. It is a very special movie that is best watched with the one you love.
BITTERSWEET TEAR-JERKER IN GLORIOUS TRANSFER January 22, 2005
Nix Pix (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
One of the all time great four hanky tearjerkers, "Random Harvest" (1942) is a bittersweet tale of love and sacrifice, set against that mythical backdrop of jolly ol' Britain that never was. It stars Ronald Colman as Charles Rainier, a war veteran who is suffering from amnesia. Paula Ridgway (Greer Garson) is the unfortunate dance-hall hostess who falls in love and marries Charles - renamed John Smith. But true love never runs a straight course and John and Paula's brief chance at divine happiness is overturned when a car accident jogs John's memory. He returns to the life he once knew, oblivious that his new and fragile world with Paula ever existed.
Colman's gentlemanly congeniality, as always, astounds with genuine canter and frank grace and maturity - qualities soarly lacking from the leading men of today's cinema. Garson is charming; blowing in as a summer's breeze and just as passionate, divine and charming as Colman. Director Mervyn LeRoy modulates each plot point and circumstance with subtle panache and quiet rectitude for his subject matter. There's never a point at which the melodrama becomes cheap, exploitive or overwrought. Ah, but the years may pass and memories fade, but "Random Harvest" has proven to be that rarest of eternal cinematic treasures - genuine and outstanding in every way.
Warner Home Video delivers a marvelous DVD transfer. The gray scale has been impeccably rendered with fine tonality and attention to fine detail. The picture is generally sharp and pleasing on the eyes. Blacks are very rich, deep and solid. Whites are on the whole clean. Occasionally one will detect a note of edge enhancement and the odd age related artifact, but these are bare quibbling on an otherwise flawless presentation. The audio is mono and very nicely balanced. A hint of background hiss is detected in quiescent scenes, but again, for a film element that is pushing 70 plus years, there's really nothing to complain about here. Two vintage short subjects, a trailer gallery and audio only broadcast of the film round out the extras. A very nicely put together trip down memory lane from the good people over at Warner Brothers. Top marks and highly recommended!
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