![]() One day, while dining with Kitty in a London restaurant, Charles hears the voice of Melbridge psychiatrist Dr. He has been loyally served for two years by his private secretary, Margaret Hanson, whom Charles does not recognize as Paula. By 1932, Charles has become known as "the industrial prince of England" for vastly increasing his family's fortunes, but is haunted by the missing past that is tied to a latchkey he found in his vest pocket after the accident. He also meets Kitty, the teenaged daughter of his sister's new husband. Although confused, Charles returns home, where he finds that his father has died and his siblings are anticipating their inheritance. When he comes to, he has no memory of the past three years and recalls only his life as aristocrat Charles Rainier. After checking into his hotel, Smithy walks toward the Mercury office but is hit by a car and knocked unconscious. Because Paula is still recovering from a difficult birth, he reluctantly travels alone, planning to return the following night. A few days later, Smithy receives a telegram from the Mercury asking him to come to Liverpoool to discuss a permanent position on the paper. After their marriage they move into a small cottage, and in November 1920, Paula gives birth to a baby boy. When he sells his first article to the Liverpool Mercury, Smithy tells Paula that he loves her and proposes. They stay at a local inn, and soon she gets a job as a typist, while a thriving Smithy begins to write. When an asylum caretaker reveals that they are still looking for a missing inmate, though, Paula runs away with Smithy and takes him to a small town in Devon. Smithy thrives under Paula's care and she obtains a job for him with her troupe. Because "Smithy," as Paula calls him, has come down with the influenza, she and her friend, barkeep "Biffer," take him in and nurse him back to health. Paula invites him to her show and gently draws him out. In a tobacconist's shop, Smith's hesitating speech alerts the owner that he is from the asylum, but a kindly entertainer, known as Paula Ridgeway, whispers that he should leave, then takes him to a local pub. Mervyn LeRoy, the James Hilton story and that wonderful company of actors can't be bested.On, "Smith," an amnesiac, shell-shocked officer, who has lived in a county asylum in Melbridge, England for many months, wanders into town for the first time, attracted by the sounds of celebration at the end of World War I. Sydney Pollack was right in abandoning his long-held plans to remake "Random Harvest." It simply couldn't be done again. This movie (and "Valley of Decision") made me a fan of hers, plus we have the same birthday. He was by turns dashing, heroic, dignified, playful and romantic. ![]() And who knew Greer could sing and dance like Marlene Dietrich! Colman was so versatile one of the few actors who was just as successful in talkies as he had been in silents. It's never overly sentimental, it's wistful and suspenseful at times, and buoyed by supreme performances from Ronald Colman and Greer Garson. I had long heard of "Random Harvest," primarily from relatives who saw it on first release, but never had the chance to see it for myself until this year. Thank heaven Sydney Pollack did not have amnesia when choosing this year's Essentials for TCM. ![]()
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