Over the weekend, I spent time rewatching (twice) one of my favorite stories ... RANDOM HARVEST (1942). It has been a favorite of mine since I first saw the film (very early on in my lifelong classic film lover's life) and made a deep impression on me instantly soon thereafter when I read the book from which the film was based, RANDOM HARVEST by James Hilton, ever since. So much so, it didn't necessarily lessen my love for the film ... let's just say, I love the book that much more. The setting, the characters, the story, the struggles, the life and love, the ups and downs, and the moments in between that create every page turned, every word written, and every characteristic developed.
This is always a book I recommend to anyone without being asked and have mentioned so many times to my own group of friends, it's delightful to hear the title come back to me if they say they have finally read the book, even if they haven't seen the film. For me, you don't have to see the film to love the book. In fact, for me, the book places you so deep within the text, it's as if you've been dropped off into the story yourself as a character as if every word is happening to you or happening to the person right in front of you. And for a devoted film fan and a classic film fanatic, to encourage you to read a book even if you never watch the film is almost criminal to suggest, but ... here we are. Though, I would hope reading the book would make you just a little curious to watch the film afterward.
Saying all this to say that after revisiting RANDOM HARVEST this weekend, I was reminded how much I used to talk RANDOM HARVEST out loud to others and a conversation I had with friends at the time about the book, which brought to mind an old write-up I wrote in the ol' TCM UNION days when it used to be the social media site of its time for Classic Film Fans. I found the blog post I wrote back then in one of my old TCM UNION folder files. Rereading it, it made me smile a little to see that my enthusiasm for the book remains just as vital now as it did then. So ... sharing that original post from my TCM UNION days as-is here for anyone interested, with updated links provided now that I have a Twitter account to co-sign my quotation shoutouts! But be mindful ... SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!
Best and love.
XOXO
This is always a book I recommend to anyone without being asked and have mentioned so many times to my own group of friends, it's delightful to hear the title come back to me if they say they have finally read the book, even if they haven't seen the film. For me, you don't have to see the film to love the book. In fact, for me, the book places you so deep within the text, it's as if you've been dropped off into the story yourself as a character as if every word is happening to you or happening to the person right in front of you. And for a devoted film fan and a classic film fanatic, to encourage you to read a book even if you never watch the film is almost criminal to suggest, but ... here we are. Though, I would hope reading the book would make you just a little curious to watch the film afterward.
Saying all this to say that after revisiting RANDOM HARVEST this weekend, I was reminded how much I used to talk RANDOM HARVEST out loud to others and a conversation I had with friends at the time about the book, which brought to mind an old write-up I wrote in the ol' TCM UNION days when it used to be the social media site of its time for Classic Film Fans. I found the blog post I wrote back then in one of my old TCM UNION folder files. Rereading it, it made me smile a little to see that my enthusiasm for the book remains just as vital now as it did then. So ... sharing that original post from my TCM UNION days as-is here for anyone interested, with updated links provided now that I have a Twitter account to co-sign my quotation shoutouts! But be mindful ... SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!
Best and love.
XOXO
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So, not too recently, within the past two years or so, I finally picked up RANDOM HARVEST in the library and thought ... "It's time ... why not ??", checked it out, and took it home with me for the next three weeks.
Being a fan of the 1942 film with Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson "I'd rather lose my spurs than lose my Daisy!" it never occurred to me to read the book (don't ask me why!!). The only reason I can possibly come up with was that I thought the movie was so terrifically wonderful and perfect, I didn't want to change that. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes ... sometimes, I find that when you read the book first or visa-versa, your views are a bit "one-sided," almost when you see and fall in love with "the original" and then "the remake" comes along and you can't enjoy it because, if you're anything like me, you make a tally of everything that's wrong or "not how it should be done", not necessarily because it's so, but because the original holds such a place in your heart (not that I condone a lot of these remakes, I am very particular about that subject ... But as Joel McCrea says, "That's a different plot entirely.").
Be that as it may, and needless to say, I opened RANDOM HARVEST, I read it, I LOVED IT. When I came upon on the ending, never mind what the movie said or did, what were Charles and Paula going to do here, now, in this book, in this story?! The last word of the last page came upon me, and I sat there in silence, taking in what just happened, what I just read, and was moved by this story which became my life every moment of the way. Every time I opened that book, I was living, for the moment, in the life and time of Charles Rainier. I fell spellbound by this book and its characters. So much so, I forgot completely about the movie once the pages hooked me. What page or what chapter, I'm not sure, but all of a sudden, I was wrapped up in the pages of this man who walked around still, now, without knowing those few moments in life.
I'm not sure how many of you have read it, but if you haven't, please do yourself a favor and don't let the movie be the reason to hold you back from this beautiful story. I admit, there was a sad sort of happiness that came over me when I finished this book, there is no other way or words I can think of at present to describe otherwise the way I felt. I don't know if I am or was the only person who came away from the book feeling that way, but I just knew it was a book I instantly wanted to talk to someone about the moment "I came to" and was instantly envious of anyone who had yet to read it because they get to read and enjoy it for the first time all over again!
Looking back at RANDOM HARVEST (1942) vs the book, they are almost two different stories, including the casting (as much of a champion I am of my beloved Greer Garson ("Orson, really!") and Ronald Coleman), which is a little off in comparison to the book. I remember after I finished reading it, I began to reflect back on how many times I’d seen the film, and thought, the casting is off when keeping in tune with the novel. I tried and tried to recreate who could’ve played the part during that period in Hollywood, someone young enough, that could still age on screen (i.e. GOODBYE MR. CHIPS). I thought of Peter Lawford, but during that time, I don’t think the factory (as you often hear it labeled), known as the studio, would have taken such a gamble.
I also loved that you didn’t know that his wife was Paula until the veeeeery last moment. Even already knowing this detail from the film didn't ruin that revelation in the novel for me. And I think the most interesting part of the book that wasn’t in the film was the whole storyline between Charles and Kitty! It all made better sense after reading the book. I even got emotional when we find out that she, Kitty, died. For some reason, I never quite warmed up to her character in the film, but in the novel, I connected to her and felt deeply sorry for her. It also made more sense that there wasn’t an age gap between the two as in the film and made sense why Charles went back to college as opposed to the film when Ronald Coleman instead returns. Not that there’s an age limit on going back to school, but in this case, that always struck me as a bit “off” yet in the book, I remember thinking, "oooooh, now I get it."
I have to say I will always love the film for what it is, but I love the book more! After talking about it, I’m remembering it all over again.
It just ... alters your universe for a minute. In a reflective way.
Good night, everybody!