Random Harvest

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Random Harvest

Released Dec 17, 1942

2h 4m

Drama

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82%

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11 Reviews

89%

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2,500+ Ratings

A veteran of World War I, Charles Rainier (Ronald Colman) has lost all memory of his life before the war. Left to wander, Rainier meets a showgirl, Paula (Greer Garson), with whom he falls in love. Rainier and Paula are soon happily married, but when Rainier travels out of town, a car hits him -- erasing the memories of his life with Paula, but restoring those of his life before the war. While he returns to his previous life, Paula tries to find a way to be reunited with her husband.

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 5/5

Nov 12, 2004

Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

Everything about Random Harvest, from the score to the art direction, feels like it was put in place to make voters feel like they couldn’t not include it on their ballots.

Feb 9, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Boasts a deviously heart-wrenching plot, dripping with sentimentality and efficaciously tear-jerking romance, even though it was altered notably from the source material.

Rated: 10/10

Aug 14, 2020

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

LeRoy's schmaltzy and literary romantic melodrama, about a WWI vet who suffers from amnesia, was a huge commercial hit due to Greer Garson and Ronald Colman's acting and the fact that it was released in the midst of WWII.

Rated: B-

Mar 1, 2008

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Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Dated, but still moving '40s classic with Garson and Colman.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 16, 2006

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Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies

Parts of it are tender and beautiful, but other parts are overplayed, maudlin, and about as subtle as a clunk on the head or a taxi across the sternum.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 17, 2005

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Susan G

One of my absolute favorites. Colman and Greer were fabulous. (Greer should have won the Oscar for this one, not for Mrs. Miniver.) The first 5 minutes and the last were worth watching over and over. The book is good but the movie, rewritten, is better.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/20/24

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Audience Member

Everyone should see this film!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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steve d

It still works because of its stars.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Are you kidding me? What woman in their right mind would'nt reveal the truth? Pure torture...

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Audience Member

Please give this movie a try. Coleman is superb , as was Garson. Excellent

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

The major plot inconsistencies wreck this movie the second time around. The first time, I was enthralled. But the second time: a 51 year old soldier boy coming home from the Great War? He is supposed to be 18. Colman is 51 and it just doesn't work. At first you think Garson is his mother but then you realize he is her son. No? It doesn't work. No returning soldier boy looks like this. Nor is this how amnesia works. You can't look past these monstrosities. An 18 year old actor, or anyone close, could have worked. But this was not Colman's part. Random Harvest is a mockery of what it could have been.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Mervyn LeRoy

Director

Ronald Colman

Charles Rainier

Greer Garson

Paula Ridgeway

Philip Dorn

Dr. Jonathan Benet

Susan Peters

Kitty Chilcet

Reginald Owen

Biffer

Mrs. Miniver

93%

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Synopsis

A veteran of World War I, Charles Rainier (Ronald Colman) has lost all memory of his life before the war. Left to wander, Rainier meets a showgirl, Paula (Greer Garson), with whom he falls in love. Rainier and Paula are soon happily married, but when Rainier travels out of town, a car hits him -- erasing the memories of his life with Paula, but restoring those of his life before the war. While he returns to his previous life, Paula tries to find a way to be reunited with her husband.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Producer: Sidney Franklin
Screenwriter: Claudine West, George Froeschel, Arthur Wimperis, James Hilton
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 17, 1942, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2016
Runtime: 2h 4m

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