Deep Dive - Harold and Maude (Behind the Scenes)
About
Harold And Maude” is a dark coming-of-age comedy that features what might be one of the most unusual May-December romances of all time. Harold (Bud Cort) is an 18-year-old who stages elaborate fake suicides in a desperate bid for attention from his wealthy, neglectful single mother (Vivian Pickles). Maude (Ruth Gordon) is a 79-year-old free spirit who, unlike Harold, has taken a very casual view of death. They meet at a funeral for a stranger, one of many where their paths cross. Once Maude’s contagious enthusiasm breaks the ice, she proceeds to teach morose Harold how to live life to its fullest. As Harold’s mother forces him to meet successive pre-arranged dates (which he sabotages utilizing his theatrical knack for killing himself), he has instead fallen in love with Maude, whose rebellious view of the world has been informed by her concentration camp survival. The evolution of this unique friendship and ultimate romance delivers unexpected humor, sweetness and even invites a tear or two.
Midnight Mass Podcast
I did a lot of research about this film in preparation in being a guest on the Midnight Mass Podcast hosted by the amazing Peaches Christ and Michael Varrati. Check it out her and this episode will air around April .
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midnight-mass/id1571382053
Here are some tidbits I found to be of of Interest.
1. Cort improvised the fourth wall break into the camera as well as sticking his head through wood vagina to represent his
2. Ashby's father committed suicide and parents divorced by 6
3. Original cut of the film was 3 hours long
4. Judd Apatow is a huge fan and his daughter named Maude for the character
4. Tessa thompson production is called Viva Maude after the character
5. Ruth Gordon couldn’t drive
6. Bud Cort moved in with Groucho Marx after the film
7. Bud Cort lost father a few months after the film
7. It was Collins Higgins thesis film and meant to only be 20 min
8. Elton John, John Rubenstien, Richard Dryfus, and Bob Ballaban were also up for part, and Elton for the music and part (but this is debated)
9. The fist line Maude says to Harold is that shed be gone in a week
10. There is a Cameo of Hal Ashby -and in most of his other films because of his love Hitchcock
11. Emilio Estevez - tried to do a remake w Shelly Morrison of Will and Grace 13
12. The woman who played hippy girl Sunshine also acted a part in the musical as Maude, which only had 4 shows and closed but has been revised several times. The Rolling stones once played in that room that that scene takes place, and the Butler was the real Butler of the mansion.
14. Robert Evans - didn’t initially want Ruth, and complained about Buds paleness,.
15. The movie production from LA to San Fran for nature and getting away from studio heads
16. The Original Poster was just names as they couldn’t figure out how to add any image
17. There is a kissing scene that was part of sex scene but only kept in the original preview, not the film.
18. Tom Skerrit took over cop and used name of Hitlers secretary M. Borhman
19. Italian poster with the tagline “His hangups are hilarious,”
20. Ashby lost final edit (and he was an editor first) and Bud Cort refused to do any promo
21. Maude was an amalgam of three women from Higgins’ life: his grandmother; a bohemian woman from his youth in Australia; and an older woman he met when he settled in America who, despite being a concentration camp survivor, always maintained a sunny outlook.
22. Variety called the film “as much fun as a burning orphanage.”
23. How colors were used in the film. Harold got less pale as he gets happier, and Maude is represented with color.
26. Maude is considered a MANIC PIXIE GIRL DREAM
27. Tattoo of Maude was particular to Auschwitz
28. Actor Jason Schwartzman said, “It was the first time that movies made me feel inside the way records did.”
29. Cort Nearly drowned in pool scene
30. The guy who made the jaguar hearse also made the Batmobile
31. Robert Altman warned Cort not to do it and he'd get typecast
32. The guy hired to produce fireworks in one of the end scenes was named Boom Boom and was missing 4 fingers
Articles
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/behind-the-scenes_of_harold_and_maude
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/harold-and-maude-oral-history-flop-cult-classic-1235130303/
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210317-harold-and-maude-the-film-that-broke-several-taboos
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/harold-and-maude-oral-history-flop-cult-classic-1235130303/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/harold-and-maude-50th-anniversary-hal-ashby-comedy-1235054287/
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2337-harold-and-maude-life-and-how-to-live-it
https://lwlies.com/articles/harold-and-maude-holocaust-survivor-story/
harold-and-maude-50th-anniversary-hal-ashby-comedy-1235054287
https://film-cred.com/greatest-comedic-tragedy-harold-and-maude-redefined-holocaust-humor/
https://cinemontage.org/tail-pop-how-the-film-cult-classic-harold-and-maude-inspired-a-generation/
https://www.filminquiry.com/harold-and-maude-1971-review/
https://www.shalonvantine.com/secondasfarce/2021/1/12/revisiting-harold-and-maude
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Harold-and-Maude-is-more-than-a-typical-70s-2621577.php
harold-and-maude-best-rom-com-subversion
harold-and-maude-at-50-a-love-story-unlike-any-other
https://thequietus.com/articles/30351-film-harold-and-maude-50-anniversary
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/01/harold-and-maude-50-years-on-hal-ashbys-box-office-bomb-is-a-black-comedy-classic
http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2021/12/23/50th-anniversary-harold-and-maude-is-as-necessary-as-ever.html
https://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/11551-REVIEW-HAL-ASHBYS-HAROLD-AND-MAUDE-1971-STARRING-RUTH-GORDON-AND-BUD-CORT;-PARAMOUNT-PRESENTS-BLU-RAY-SPECIAL-EDITION.html
fourteen-interesting-facts-about-harold-and-maude-9ae5c928290d
https://www.moviesinfocus.com/uncovering-curiosities-hal-ashbys-harold-and-maude/
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2347-a-boy-of-twenty-and-a-woman-of-eighty
https://tombrogan.medium.com/fourteen-interesting-facts-about-harold-and-maude-9ae5c928290dReviews
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harold-and-maude-1972
https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/harold-and-maude/
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2021/12/blu-ray-review-harold-and-maude-1971/
https://geekvibesnation.com/paramount-presents-harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review-hal-ashby-crafts-one-of-the-great-dark-dramedies-of-the-70s/
Cat Stevens
https://www.culturesonar.com/harold-and-maude-and-cat-stevens/
https://www.yahoo.com/now/harold-maude-yusuf-cat-stevens-044534072.html
https://catstevens.com/harold-maude-50th-anniversary-edition/
https://www.yahoo.com/now/yusuf-looks-back-on-harold-maudes-music-and-message-i-dont-think-anything-like-that-can-be-done-today-203352431.html
Bud Cort
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/10/burt-cort-harold-and-maude-blessing-and-curse
https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2012/10/15/bud-cort-interview/
https://chrisjjgarcia.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/interview-bud-cort/
https://rushmoreacademy.com/2007/01/15/
https://chud.com/8483/exclusive-interview-bud-cort/
Hal Ashby
https://nypost.com/2018/09/06/meet-the-hippie-director-behind-harold-and-maude/
Ruth Gordon
https://scriptmag.com/history/ruth-gordon-with-her-husband-garson-kanin-truly-the-marrying-kind
Vintage Annals Archive Video Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4zYKaPKme6_7QPh5KipJZ4aVEcLtZJi
Books
https://a.co/d/bleBcFj
https://www.anvilpress.com/books/glorious-birds-a-celebratory-homage-to-harold-and-maude
https://archive.org/details/haroldmaude00higg/page/n2/mode/1up
Filming Locations
Harold-And-Maude.php
Webpage
http://haroldandmaudehomepage.com/harold.htm
Harold And Maude” is a dark coming-of-age comedy that features what might be one of the most unusual May-December romances of all time. Harold (Bud Cort) is an 18-year-old who stages elaborate fake suicides in a desperate bid for attention from his wealthy, neglectful single mother (Vivian Pickles). Maude (Ruth Gordon) is a 79-year-old free spirit who, unlike Harold, has taken a very casual view of death. They meet at a funeral for a stranger, one of many where their paths cross. Once Maude’s contagious enthusiasm breaks the ice, she proceeds to teach morose Harold how to live life to its fullest. As Harold’s mother forces him to meet successive pre-arranged dates (which he sabotages utilizing his theatrical knack for killing himself), he has instead fallen in love with Maude, whose rebellious view of the world has been informed by her concentration camp survival. The evolution of this unique friendship and ultimate romance delivers unexpected humor, sweetness and even invites a tear or two.
Midnight Mass Podcast
I did a lot of research about this film in preparation in being a guest on the Midnight Mass Podcast hosted by the amazing Peaches Christ and Michael Varrati. Check it out her and this episode will air around April .
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midnight-mass/id1571382053
Here are some tidbits I found to be of of Interest.
1. Cort improvised the fourth wall break into the camera as well as sticking his head through wood vagina to represent his
2. Ashby's father committed suicide and parents divorced by 6
3. Original cut of the film was 3 hours long
4. Judd Apatow is a huge fan and his daughter named Maude for the character
4. Tessa thompson production is called Viva Maude after the character
5. Ruth Gordon couldn’t drive
6. Bud Cort moved in with Groucho Marx after the film
7. Bud Cort lost father a few months after the film
7. It was Collins Higgins thesis film and meant to only be 20 min
8. Elton John, John Rubenstien, Richard Dryfus, and Bob Ballaban were also up for part, and Elton for the music and part (but this is debated)
9. The fist line Maude says to Harold is that shed be gone in a week
10. There is a Cameo of Hal Ashby -and in most of his other films because of his love Hitchcock
11. Emilio Estevez - tried to do a remake w Shelly Morrison of Will and Grace 13
12. The woman who played hippy girl Sunshine also acted a part in the musical as Maude, which only had 4 shows and closed but has been revised several times. The Rolling stones once played in that room that that scene takes place, and the Butler was the real Butler of the mansion.
14. Robert Evans - didn’t initially want Ruth, and complained about Buds paleness,.
15. The movie production from LA to San Fran for nature and getting away from studio heads
16. The Original Poster was just names as they couldn’t figure out how to add any image
17. There is a kissing scene that was part of sex scene but only kept in the original preview, not the film.
18. Tom Skerrit took over cop and used name of Hitlers secretary M. Borhman
19. Italian poster with the tagline “His hangups are hilarious,”
20. Ashby lost final edit (and he was an editor first) and Bud Cort refused to do any promo
21. Maude was an amalgam of three women from Higgins’ life: his grandmother; a bohemian woman from his youth in Australia; and an older woman he met when he settled in America who, despite being a concentration camp survivor, always maintained a sunny outlook.
22. Variety called the film “as much fun as a burning orphanage.”
23. How colors were used in the film. Harold got less pale as he gets happier, and Maude is represented with color.
26. Maude is considered a MANIC PIXIE GIRL DREAM
27. Tattoo of Maude was particular to Auschwitz
28. Actor Jason Schwartzman said, “It was the first time that movies made me feel inside the way records did.”
29. Cort Nearly drowned in pool scene
30. The guy who made the jaguar hearse also made the Batmobile
31. Robert Altman warned Cort not to do it and he'd get typecast
32. The guy hired to produce fireworks in one of the end scenes was named Boom Boom and was missing 4 fingers
Articles
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/behind-the-scenes_of_harold_and_maude
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/harold-and-maude-oral-history-flop-cult-classic-1235130303/
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210317-harold-and-maude-the-film-that-broke-several-taboos
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/harold-and-maude-oral-history-flop-cult-classic-1235130303/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/harold-and-maude-50th-anniversary-hal-ashby-comedy-1235054287/
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2337-harold-and-maude-life-and-how-to-live-it
https://lwlies.com/articles/harold-and-maude-holocaust-survivor-story/
harold-and-maude-50th-anniversary-hal-ashby-comedy-1235054287
https://film-cred.com/greatest-comedic-tragedy-harold-and-maude-redefined-holocaust-humor/
https://cinemontage.org/tail-pop-how-the-film-cult-classic-harold-and-maude-inspired-a-generation/
https://www.filminquiry.com/harold-and-maude-1971-review/
https://www.shalonvantine.com/secondasfarce/2021/1/12/revisiting-harold-and-maude
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Harold-and-Maude-is-more-than-a-typical-70s-2621577.php
harold-and-maude-best-rom-com-subversion
harold-and-maude-at-50-a-love-story-unlike-any-other
https://thequietus.com/articles/30351-film-harold-and-maude-50-anniversary
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/01/harold-and-maude-50-years-on-hal-ashbys-box-office-bomb-is-a-black-comedy-classic
http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2021/12/23/50th-anniversary-harold-and-maude-is-as-necessary-as-ever.html
https://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/11551-REVIEW-HAL-ASHBYS-HAROLD-AND-MAUDE-1971-STARRING-RUTH-GORDON-AND-BUD-CORT;-PARAMOUNT-PRESENTS-BLU-RAY-SPECIAL-EDITION.html
fourteen-interesting-facts-about-harold-and-maude-9ae5c928290d
https://www.moviesinfocus.com/uncovering-curiosities-hal-ashbys-harold-and-maude/
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2347-a-boy-of-twenty-and-a-woman-of-eighty
https://tombrogan.medium.com/fourteen-interesting-facts-about-harold-and-maude-9ae5c928290dReviews
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harold-and-maude-1972
https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/harold-and-maude/
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2021/12/blu-ray-review-harold-and-maude-1971/
https://geekvibesnation.com/paramount-presents-harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review-hal-ashby-crafts-one-of-the-great-dark-dramedies-of-the-70s/
Cat Stevens
https://www.culturesonar.com/harold-and-maude-and-cat-stevens/
https://www.yahoo.com/now/harold-maude-yusuf-cat-stevens-044534072.html
https://catstevens.com/harold-maude-50th-anniversary-edition/
https://www.yahoo.com/now/yusuf-looks-back-on-harold-maudes-music-and-message-i-dont-think-anything-like-that-can-be-done-today-203352431.html
Bud Cort
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/10/burt-cort-harold-and-maude-blessing-and-curse
https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2012/10/15/bud-cort-interview/
https://chrisjjgarcia.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/interview-bud-cort/
https://rushmoreacademy.com/2007/01/15/
https://chud.com/8483/exclusive-interview-bud-cort/
Hal Ashby
https://nypost.com/2018/09/06/meet-the-hippie-director-behind-harold-and-maude/
Ruth Gordon
https://scriptmag.com/history/ruth-gordon-with-her-husband-garson-kanin-truly-the-marrying-kind
Vintage Annals Archive Video Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4zYKaPKme6_7QPh5KipJZ4aVEcLtZJi
Books
https://a.co/d/bleBcFj
https://www.anvilpress.com/books/glorious-birds-a-celebratory-homage-to-harold-and-maude
https://archive.org/details/haroldmaude00higg/page/n2/mode/1up
Filming Locations
Harold-And-Maude.php
Webpage
http://haroldandmaudehomepage.com/harold.htm