Harold and Maude is a cult 1971 American black comedy directed by Hal Ashby. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral…
Harold Chasen is your typical disillusioned youth. His favorite passtime is tormenting his domineering mother with elaborate mock suicides and converting expensive Jaguars so they look like souped-up Hearses. Well, Harold's mother has decided that it is time he did something with his life and assumed some responsibility. His mother has decided it is time for Harold to get married.
Prospective dates come and prospective dates go, usually screaming out of the house. But when he least expects it Harold does meet his perfect someone in the form of Maude. Harold meets Maude at a funeral and in the process of getting to know each other, Maude teaches Harold what it means to live. So Harold has decided he wants to marry Maude. The only problem being is Maude turns 80 in a couple of days…
With music by Cat Stevens. Both lead actors were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances.
Harold & Maude Review
“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