Harold and Maude Guestbook Archive
This site has been attracting fan comments since 1997 -- the longest of any Harold and Maude fan site on the web. In fact, the guestbook got so long that it had to be "pruned". So here is a selection of comments from the guestbook from September 1997 to December 2000:

Name: Tiwanna Ellerbe
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/budcortfanclub
Hometown: New Jersey (Newark, originally)
Sent: 12.53 - 21/12

A while ago I mentioned in a thread that we fans of this film should mount a massive letter writing campaign to Paramount Studios and tell them that we want a new DVD produced of the film, a "Collector's Edition," featuring ALL the deleted scenes, as well as interviews with, and commentary from, Bud Cort and as many of the remaining cast and crew that can be found to discuss this WONDERFUL film!!

Well, here is their address: Paramount Studios, Home Entertainment Department, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90038. For those who want to telephone them, call (323) 956-5000. If enough of us do that, we could turn it all around and, eventually, get them to make amends for their GROSS oversight. We should let them know about just how we feel about this classic and beautiful, life-affirming film! There IS strength in numbers, you know.
Name: Renate
Homepage: http://www.kytoma.at.gs
Hometown: Austria/Niederösterreich/Mostviertel/Persenbeug ;o)
Sent: 09.41 - 8/12

Sorry,but I can't speak english.
Ich sah gerade das erste Mal "Harold und Maude".
Ich hab mir den Film eigentlich nur deswegen angesehen weil ich seit kurzem Fan von "Cat Stevens" bin.
Aber ich muss sagen:
Der Film ist echt sehenswert. Hätte ich nicht geglaubt nachdem ich gelesen habe dass er nicht so besonders sein soll. Alles Blödsinn!
Der Film ist echt toll und der Soundtrack natürlich auch.
Many Greetings from Austria
Renate
Name: Tiwanna Ellerbe
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com
Hometown: New Jersey
Sent: 12.03 - 5/12


I LOVE watching Bud Cort's acting in the film, as he uses his facial expressions, eyes, and body so well to show the development, mentally, emotionally AND physically, of Harold Chasen! It amazed me how, after several viewings of the film, I noticed how he was able to make himself act AND look even younger than the 22, or so, year old he was when he made the film. In his portrayal of Harold Chasen, in the beginning of the film, when he tries to shock his mother by hanging himself, he sulks, baby-like while hanging from his rope, and, not to gross-out anyone, notice that he was drooling as well, a portion of which broke off and fell onto his jacket, and the other part of it, he drew back into his mouth. Then, in the bloodied bathtub scene, he, childishly sticks out his tongue at his mother. When she sends him to visit with his Uncle Victor, he sits on his hands, and his body language AND look makes him look like a very little boy, as well as his and Maude's ploy of tricking Uncle Victor about putting Harold in the Army.

These, to me, seem like signs which state that Harold was in a state of arrested development, because of not being able to deal with the death of his father, his mother's lack of real love for him nor understanding of him, and her controlling ways. Even though she is a little free-spirited rascal, only when Maude enters his life, does Harold begin to grow into the adult individual he was meant to be, and see that there is more to life than just the trapings of an ivory-towered existence, and the sometimes, tortured confines of the walls of one's mind and spirit, freeing himself from his sometime self-imposed restraints as well.
Name: Spookyzo
Hometown: Towyn, North Wales UK
Sent: 16.27 - 21/11

H&M has always been a favorite film of mine since i stayed up one night as a child with my mum to watch it.
It has everything-social comment, subliminal messages to make you ponder, comic scenes to make you laugh, and heart rending moments that bring floods of tears.
This film has helped me through my Dad`s recent death-3 weeks ago, in that youve gotta live your life for the now, and that death shouldnt be sad.
At my dads funeral we gave sweets and had some rip roaring irish music- which he would have loved. The vicar said she never had seen so many people coming out of a funeral with smiles on their faces!
My dad played the banjo-and i may have now found the perfect excuse to take up the instrument too!
It would really help me to be able to send a note to Bud to thank him for this inspiration of hope at a most devestating point in my life-anyone got any ideas how i do this?
Long may this film prevail!
Name: Vanessa
Sent: 13.50 - 20/11


Like many other people, i'll have to start this off the same, Harold and Maude is my all time favorite Movie, and Bud Cort is my all time favorite actor + Most attractive man... ever. I, at first believed that he was only in H&M, but when i went to his fan club, i relized just how many movies he has been in. He starred in the movie Brewster McCloud, which was made before H&M.This movie displayed his excellent acting abillities, but also made me cry like a baby, just like Harold and Maude. Hes been in other various movies around the same era like "dont shoot the teacher", "the Strawberry statement", and "the secret diary on sigman froid." ( to name a few). I, may be obsessed, and i think my friends are sick of hearing my admiration toward Bud Cort, but hey i can't help it.
I'd say what my favorite scene is, but i like them all in Harold and Maude, I do exspecially love the scene where Harold is laying in bed with Maude blowing bubbles, Good God hes a good looking man. Anywho, Do what I did and watch some of Bud Cort's other movies, i think you'll be pleasently surprized.
Vanessa
P.S
Harold and Maude convinced
me to take up the Banjo
and be a Sunflower
Name: jw
Hometown: atlanta
Sent: 19.05 - 16/11

well, i have visited many harold and maude websites in my short but interesting life. and have learned many things i had never known before. i just wanted to say that H&M is definately a great movie and should be seen by everyone. we should all be a maude. oh yes and one other thing. i have shown many of my friends H&M and they are convinced that the final scene where harold drives his car over the cliff is his final suicide. i believe that it is, instead, a pact with himself to L-I-V-E LIVE! so that in the end he'll have something to talk about in the locker room. and everyone else should do the same. so get out there and play.
Name: Lisa
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Sent: 13.49 - 15/11

I'm 46--and a half--years old now, and I have quite a few things to talk about in the locker room. When I first saw this movie I was 15--and a half! (1971) I teach HS language arts these days, and have recently shown this film to my students. I have asked them to respond to several 'memorable quotes' by Maude. (Thanks to this and a couple of other websites on H&M--linked here, there are some cool ways to pass this on to young people today). I remember thinking at 15 and a half that I would very much like to evolve in my life to be like Maude (or Ruth Gordon, she was so cool). I, of course, was much more like Harold initially. At more than half-way to 80, I still wonder what I will be like at 80. (I think my prognosis is good.) A couple of trivia points, though, after reading through EVERYTHING on this site: Harold's mom (who incidentally AND integrally reminds me still to this day of my own mother) was MARVELOUS in this film. But trivia-wise: The reason she didn't have her hair done was because she was too busy, and she had plenty of wigs to wear (see dinner that night: "Harold, dear, eat up your beets.") What WAS Harold measuring in the library prior to his mother announcing that he should get married? I'm not sure, but I think he was setting up the shooting-himself-in-the-head incident that I love so dearly as Mother answers all the questions for him. That was the next 'suicide.' (He was cleverly and theatrically and technically setting these things up.) A Japanese fan wrote and asked why Maude was wearing a Kimono one night and Harold committed a Japanese ritual known as "Hari-Kari" with a knive. To that: we admire Japanese culture--all of us--and surely, Maude had encountered interesting things about all cultures in her long life, and wanted to share. Also, I looked at the film locations part of this web site. I don't have a desire to go to these places--even though I've seen this film over 100 times. What I would really like to see is Maude's train-carriage-home, and all the stuff in it (yeah, incidental not integral--sorta' like my household stuff). Still, I'd like to linger there! I THINK HAROLD (TRIED TO) PUT HIS HEAD THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE TACTILE PIECE IN ORDER TO GET UNBORN--which is a lot like unliving which is a lot like dying. Finally, I am so grateful for the Dreyfus/Emile Zola reference. I LOVE that, and would not have otherwise got it without that entry from someone on this site--even though I have studied French history and know of this well. Thank-you. Oh, and to Tom, who I was dating back in 1972--thanks for coming with me every weekend to see H&M--and also, for a year or two later when we were no longer dating, but you still asked me to see Cat Stevens at Masonic Auditorium. I will always remember, love and respect your sensitive soul!
Name: Tiwanna Ellerbe
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/budcortfanclub
Hometown: Elmwood Park, NJ
Sent: 09.26 - 3/11

Hi to ALL you "Harold and Maude" fans! If you're ever curious about Bud Cort after he made that International classic of screen cinema, stop on by to my web site. There you will find photos from the film, as well as articles on and interviews with Bud Cort, whereby he discusses his feelings about the film, and, sadly, the lack of cooperation with Paramount Pictures to do anything special for the anniversary of one of their continued best-sellers. We should mount a massive letter and email-writing campaign to Paramount and tell them that there ought to be a new DVD produced with interviews with Mr. Cort and as many of the remaining cast and crew that can be found to discuss this WONDERFUL film!! It would be a TRUE tragedy for them not to do this! What do you think?
Name: robert moody
Hometown: salt lake city, utah
Sent: 20.18 - 30/10

So back in 1991 i was a senior in high school, and my humanities teacher-becky lees @ brighton high school, slc,utah showed this fim to our class, WOW it had such an impact on my life, i have shown this movie to everyone that i've come in contact with over the past 11 years. this is a movie that everyone should see, because it helped me relize that if i wanted to sing out---i could...
Name: Maggie Bedford
Hometown: Cullompton, England
Sent: 16.09 - 30/10

Introduced to Harold and Maude by Andrew McGill today, - had heard so much about them I felt we were old friends, but was a bit anxious that, after all the build-up, I wouldn't get it! No need for concern - Maude is my new role model! Good to be reminded of what joy there can be in life, if you just grab it! I just hope Harold lived happily ever after (being a bit of a sucker for a happy ending!) - what do you think?
Name: Julia
Sent: 07.57 - 29/10

Als ich Harold und Maude gesehen habe, hat der Film echt was in mir ausgelöst. Maude ist mein großes Vorbild. Der Film ist einfach der beste den ich je gesehen habe!!!
Name: Andrew McGill
Hometown: Exeter, England
Sent: 13.03 - 28/10

Read John Foley's note in the Guestbook - it was nice to find a fan of the film from the UK - I too saw the film on TV in 1983 or thereabouts (I was 24 by then!) and it has haunted me ever since. I've since seen it once at an arty cinema in London and at a cinema club in Essen in Germany. I recently ordered the DVD from the States, only to find it last Saturday in a buy one get one free offer at HMV! I also picked up the video in German for 5,95 (euros) on a recent trip to Bremen! What is it about the film that makes it so timeless? Perhaps because we are all at some time(s) or another in our lives looking for meaning and purpose and direction, just like Harold. I just love the sheer optimism and joyfulness of the film. Anyway, greetings from rainy Devon!
Andrew in Exeter
Name: luis
Sent: 16.33 - 27/10

hola harold y maude es mi pelicula preferida,tiene ese humor tan especial que a mi me encanta y ese lado tan humano que muchas veces se hecha de menos en otras pelis...la vi hace un año y me quede encantado :-)

busco fans escribid en deutsch,castellano ciao luis.
Name: mark
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Sent: 11.40 - 6/9

I first saw H&M when I was in high school back in 1971. This was the first movie I ever *paid* to see twice (I think Star Wars was the next one). Any way it had a strong impression on me then and continues to be one of my all time favorite movies.
A couple points hit me as odd and/or interesting. One is the time frame of the movie. On their first meeting Maude mentions her birthday as being next Saturday, so the whole sequence takes place in less than a week. Another item that is amusing to me is the pictures of authority on the wall with the priest (the pope), the uncle (the president) and the shrink (Freud).

Another item I have never seen comments on is during the dating form. As Harold gets the gun out, his mother reads and answers the question about capital punishment. She says "yes", H then points the gun at her. Next she says "yes" to the question about afterlife and he points the gun back to himself.

This has been on my list of videos to get on DVD, so I am hoping to find it soon.
Name: Jeff K
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Sent: 10.40 - 6/9

What a delight it is finding this site! I was in junior high when H&M came out - I went back and saw it so many times I lost count. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be Harold or Maude - I remember I wanted to drive a hearse *and* live in a train car (I kind of still do.) I both had a crush on and wanted to be just like Harold, in that uniquely 13 year-old way - but I identified more with Maude, and was always on the lookout for yellow umbrellas and the like. What a wonderful, life-affirming gift that film was for an isolated, fruity kid! Oatstraw tea is still one of my favorites, btw - it smells like the river near where I grew up after the first rain of autumn. Never tried ginger pie, though...

I lived in LA for about ten years beginning in the late 70s - I had dinner with Colin Higgins at his house once, with a mutual friend. I was typically very stoned and shy, and neglected to grill him on H&M details - I didn't want to appear the fawning fan, which of course I was. Boy, do I kick myself for that lost opportunity!

One of my favorite posts on this site was the one about the BMW M coupe. Criticized though it is, I've always found it the most gorgeous car on the road, and I want one, want one, want one. Now I know why!
Name: Rick
Hometown: San Francisco
Sent: 16.29 - 15/8

There's one thing missing from this site. Maude's home was a railroad car known to be parked at Oyster Point. But where did the car come from and where is it now?

The car - Western Pacific lounge 653 - was leased from the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction in Solano County (about 60 miles east of San Francisco) and moved to its filming location. As a lounge car built in 1931, the car had seen years of service. When the studio painters arrived to install the fake fireplace shown in the film, they had the mean job of matching interior paint colors. "Jesus.", said the head painter, "This is years of nicotene on the paint. How am I going to match this crap!"

When filming was finished, the car returned to the Museum. And, yes, the fake fireplace still survives but is no longer mounted inside the car.
Name: Brian
Hometown: Illinois
Sent: 17.48 - 25/7

I originally saw the film in an art theater back in the 80s. My wife and I decided to rent it, and I told her it would be great, and it sure was. I spend my time studying philosophy and religion, and I must say that this is one of the most profound and anti-establishment films I've ever seen. I'm going to tell my students at university that, especially in the post-911 era with all the government surveillance, violence and paranoia in the air, it's so REFRESHING to see in Maude--and, ultimately, Harold, REAL INDIVIDUALS. I definitely know NO ONE who's that liberated. They impress me.
Name: Tiwanna Ellerbe
Hometown: Newark
Sent: 19.46 - 23/7

To Alan of Chicago: I, too, had the same curiosity about Bud Cort after a recent viewing of Harold and Maude from TV. I hadn't seen the film in many years, and was swept away by it!! It is a beautiful film, and has become one of my all-time favorites!! I've since bought the DVD, and I never tire of watching it over and over again!! I found that a good way to find out about the life and career of Bud Cort is through the www.Google.com search engine, which has some interesting links, and for recent photos, with film and TV listings of his career, check out www.IMDB.com. It seems that Harold and Maude is the jumping point which leads a lot of us to the strong curiosity of finding out what the talented and versatile Mr. Cort has been up to after all these years. As I can see, from my research, he is alive and well, and still acting, as you will find when you check out those websites.
Name: Lauramae
Hometown: Whittier CA
Sent: 01.27 - 27/5

I was thrilled to find this site! H&M has gotten me through some really tough times in my life. Since I've moved to N. Cal. I've wanted to visit some of the filming locations--I recognized Cabrillo Hwy in several of the shots; grabbed directions off your web site to go check out the rest. There's a really strong analogy between Maude & the crone of the triune Goddess in Wicca, with a little Buddhist existentialism thrown in for good measure. Maude can be my HP any day! Thanks for posting the novelization. My niece's friend found a copy at a used/rare bookseller. It was a special order. She and her friends have had H&M watching parties, so the torch is being passed on.

Maude's character was an anomaly for a 1971 movie--a fiercely independent woman who challenges her young self-absorbed friend to revisualize his life. Lighten up, take the risk of being foolish or hurt. This is really important philosophy presented in a gentle, loving fashion.

Thanks for the web site! Ciao for now!
Sent: 05.53 - 17/5 Private Entry:
Name: Andrea Billick
Hometown: Philadelphia
Sent: 10.06 - 13/5

I am a 27 year old teacher at Philadelphia Regional High School. I am making a course in film history/appreciation and would like to post future deconstructive papers on the web site and have other movie experts comment and evaluate the content of the works. I think this would be a very effective way to have students develop, prove, and defend a thesis. Let me know if this is possible and I will run it by the Principal to help justify the worth and broad scope of my course. I love the movie and remind myself that as an educator, I run the risk of the "curse of a government job." If anyone is interested in a partnership and in particular giving our papers a home, please e-mail me at nashion@yahoo.com.

Name: REBECCA
Hometown: OREGON
Sent: 01.22 - 13/5

WELL HERE I AM 40 YEARS OLD, AND I JUST SAT DOWN WITH MY 13 14 AND 15 YEAR OLD TO PRESENT THEM WITH MY FAVORITE FILM OF ALL TIME.. THATS RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME,," MY FAVORITE FILM" IM PROUD TO SAY..WHEN I TOLD THE KIDS WHAT THE MOVIE WAS ABOUT, THEIR REPLY WAS
"GROSS MOM, WHAT PERVERTED THING ARE YOU GONNA MAKE US WATCH"" I GIGGLED IN REPLY, AND PROMISED BY THE END OF THE MOVIE THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BETTER, LIFE, LOVE, HAPPINESS, AND PERSERVERANCE.. AND BEHOLD, A NEW GENERATION GRASPED THE CONCEPT OF MY YOUTH, AND MY REASON FOR HAROLD AND MAUDE BEING AN ALL TIME FAVORTIE.. THANK GOD I JUST FOUND IT ON DVD, THE VHS TAPE WAS GETTIN THIN..THANKS FOR THE WEBSITE. MANY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED. AND OF COURSE BRAVO TO CAT STEVENS,, (CONTENTED SIGH)....
Name: Liz Janes
Hometown: San Francisco
Sent: 16.48 - 3/5

I was a female Harold until I saw Harold and Maude. Its spirit challenged every grain of rotten despair in my overfed American body. The last straw: "Harold... eat your beets!" Twenty-plus years later, suicide rarely crosses my mind, and when it does, out of habit more than likely, I remember Bud Cort's astounded eyeballs as Ruth Gordon disappears down a hole at Sutro Baths. And I remember my husband, ignorant of the resonance he was creating, asking me to marry him just a few feet away from that spot. Love to all of you Harold and Maude lovers out there, thanks Mike, and thanks especially to Hal Ashby and all of those involved in that film.
Name: Gabi
Sent: 19.15 - 2/5

H&M is one of the most inspiring films I've ever seen.
As I've got a theater group, I recently began to dramatize the novel of Higgins, I also invented totally new scenes, and we'll perform it in March 2003 near Stuttgart. If someone's interestet in the performance (or in the book / Regie) OR if someone has already made a similar work as we do - that is: performed H&M with a theater group (or seen it) - then mail to me! My English is not perfect, but...
I think we'll understand!
Name: Megan McClure
Homepage: http://www.psychopoet.com
Hometown: Calgary, Canada
Sent: 10.37 - 30/4

Here's an oddity I noticed in the film. In the Oat Straw Tea and Ginger Pie scene, the bear-shaped bottle of honey appears to change places on the table as they switch to a view behind Maude (where it doesn't look like she could have picked it up to move it). I think they may have spliced together different takes without noticing the discrepancy.
Name: Cameron J. Ireland
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Sent: 16.45 - 18/4

I'm so glad to see that I'm not alone in my love of this movie. After the 100th time or so, it never loses
it's magic. I invite anyone who shares my connection
with the messages and insightfulness of the H&M experience to sing out & send your thoughts along. That way, you'll always know where it is! By the way, I just saw the new Jag coming out this year (XK8 I believe). It looks like an updated duplicate of the car that didn't survive. My goal for 2003: I must have it, modified of course, to sit as close to Harold's vision as can be currently possible. And it will be a hell of a new experience! To me, lovers of H&M will always be glorious people. 'My door's always open..'
Name: Kurtis Michael Clausen
Hometown: Illinois
Sent: 05.56 - 24/3

Harold and Maud is my all-time favorite movie on the list of "had to watch it twice films." It ranks above Pulp Fiction and St. Elmo's Fire (even the beginning.) Each of these movies needed to be watched more than once for better understanding and appreciation. I stoped the film and had to rewind it on the beginning scene like I did for St. Elmo's Fire.
Thank you for this site.
-Illinoise
Name: Emmi
Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/callia343
Hometown: Salem, Massachusetts
Sent: 06.59 - 17/3

Hello fellow H&M fans!
I've got a desperate question for all you fellow fanatics...there's a bit of trivia I can't find anywhere and I'm just dying to know. At the very beginning of the film, right before Harold "hangs himself", he writes something on a small piece of paper and pins it to his lapel. What does he write on this slip of paper? My sister (a fellow die-hard H&M fan) and I can't figure this one out. If anyone knows, PLEASE e-mail me at Callia343@aol.com, I would really appreciate it. Thanks to all!
Name: jamison
Hometown: brooklyn
Sent: 09.49 - 8/3

wonderful site. i directed the stage version of h&m a number of years ago when i was still living in texas. you might devote some attention to the play on your website. it offers quite a bit of insight into the story as does the book.
Name: Gabrielle
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Sent: 19.12 - 21/2

"Harold and Maude" has been my favorite movie since I first saw it, when I was 17 and it was new in theatres. I saw it again with my boyfriend when I was 18 - he was a huge fan of Cat Stevens' music, and was very influential in my life. We broke up, but forever after, "Harold and Maude" reminded me of him, and the time we saw it, ran out the theatre when it was over, through some back exit we'd never taken before - everything was new, exciting, we were "singing out" and "being free". I must've seen "Harold and Maude" at least 30 times total, and I've since reunited with said boyfriend, the love of my life when I was 18 - we've changed, we're both in our 40s now, and we won't be getting together, even as friends. I was afraid this would tarnish my love of the film, and I find that it has indeed altered it, but I will always love it for its humor, its message, its purity of spirit, the wonderful casting and script, and Cat Stevens' glorious soundtrack. The best film ever, really.
Name: Simone
Hometown: Minneapolis
Sent: 04.12 - 14/2

I have a ton of files ready for an H&M website. I'm trying to figure out what the demand is like for all these downloads. I have a couple hundred beautiful screenshots of the movie, and a bunch more from the two trailers; also I have over a hundred sound files and several largish Quicktime movies. Should I put all this stuff up, guys, or is it overkill? Do you want this kind of thing? I'm asking, I guess, because I'd hate it if I threw an H&M download fest and nobody came...!

I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Please email me. Thanks.
Name: Penny Lane
Hometown: Oz
Sent: 05.55 - 13/2

I used to ignore the videa tape of harold and maude that sat on the shelf by my television for years. one day I finally found the will to watched it, after reading the book which i devoured in 2 hours. If i knew it was going to be as wonderful as it was i would have watched it sooner! It was sublime... the acting, the cinematography, the costumes, the music. as a media student i adored it, and as obssessive as it sounds, i watched it over and over for weeks on end. Presently it is my ultimate favourite film and touched me so much that after viewing it, the song "trouble" made me cry. Harold and Maude is more than a story, in reality it is fiction but in our hearts it so much more. just remember, that if you want to sing out sing out, and if you want to be free, be free. well, at least that's what the film told me. It really made me think, about so many things, and i love a film that does that. so if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and watch it right away. be prepared for the ultimate surprise! you will love it. I did!
Name: sheri stearman
Hometown: san francisco,ca
Sent: 00.05 - 4/2

The first time I saw this movie way back in the day I could not stop crying for like two hours. I had never experienced anything like it - it was so catharic and exquisite. One of the reasons, I realized the next day, was because it was so heartbreaking to me that Harold and Maude were not in fact real. It sounds ridiculous I know, even to me now, but I so wanted to live in their world too. Twenty years later, last December, I saw it for the fifth time and did the exact same thing for a different reason. It finally dawned on me that Harold and Maude are alive, and they live in everyone that has seen this movie and lived the way they really wanted to for the first time because of it, or listened very closely and discovered they had all the answers all along. They live in everyone who is unafraid to let their love be heard, even in the the most unlikely situation. They are in everyone, everywhere who can look at an entire field of daisies and see individuals or see a seagull and imagine a glorious bird. I have more examples than I possibly could list here and I am sure you have yours. Please feel free to contact me at sheristearman@yahoo.com.
Name: shy
Hometown: gaia
Sent: 10.24 - 3/2

What set me off on this site was looking for Harold & Maude on http://www.movie88.com, a $1 per view site with a great catalogue -- it's not there, but you get $5 credit to start with, and I wish it would be included in their archive.
I saw Harold & Maude when it came out -- I was eleven in a private girls' boarding school in Palo Alto (evidently Grace Slick went there as well, before my time), just at the cusp of the 70's -- the headmistress my first year was a proper little old lady (to me,although she would have been mid-fifties) who insisted the girls wore white gloves on Sundays and we had starched white dresser scarves on our chests of drawers in our dormitory. By my second year in the school, she announced she was leaving to join the Peace Corps, and school trips organised by the young teachers included going to a Stones' concert (I was too young to be allowed to go), and to Harold & Maude.

I adored the movie, listed to Cat Stevens endlessly afterwards, and had a huge crush on Bud Cort, partially because he looked so young, and I was young -- I didn't get into hairy hard-man types because they seemed scarey, like the drugged-out Santanta types popular at the time.

I have a few thoughts, having enjoyed this homepage so much. The first, that I think I've seen the movie only once, but I remember almost every screen vividly -- I wonder if our movie viewing is dulled by video, where you expect to have access to images on demand. The second, is that I'm a bit non-plussed to see H&M has been a model for my happiest relationship -- I'm nearly 43 now, and my partner of four years is 14 years younger than me, tall and thin, fine haired and young-looking. He's not exactly death-obsessed, but prior to our relationship he didn't have any antidote to the violence & porn in the world, and had a sort of horrified fascination -- I think he's watched The Shining 50+ times and surfs S&M sites when he's hating himself & wants to dull his emotions.

I really don't get into that stuff, and although I'm not Maude's age, or with her traumatic past, I find myself echoing her message in my life; loving plants & nature & kindess, feeling strong against the system, independent in my own ways, cherishing beauty in little things and my own spirituality, growing myself in my private relationship with my partner which my family all thought was out of line for our age difference. And my partner adores our life together, a life made up of innocent little things and cosy tender times; I think he's finding courage to live his life as he wants, and is less mesmerised by violence and cruelty.

I wonder if my life would have been different if I hadn't seen Harold & Maude at an age when I was exploring models for adult life. I wonder if I wouldn't have got together with my partner, and divorced my conventional husband. As it is, I feel blessed with beauty and joy, and the prospect of another whole life ahead of me -- another 43 years or more -- with someone loving me for who I am, wrinkly or not. It seems to me key that people have the confidence of Maude that they are loveable in themselves, even in age, and reach out to give the love they have to give. And I suppose the final message I get from remembering Maude is that we enjoy each moment for itself, without worrying about the future.

For all who read this, I hope you see the film, and enjoy.
Name: Simone
Hometown: Minneapolis
Sent: 21.00 - 23/1

I am in the process of rounding up multimedia files in preparation for putting up a H&M site, which will be purely in the nature of a download warehouse: screen caps, movies, and sounds. I decided to do it initially because, guys, you HAVE to see the two trailers, even if you can't get the DVD for yourself. They are chock full of bits of cut scenes.

Anyway, regarding the issue of "was Maude Jewish"... Having studied the Holocaust to some extent, I will say that it would have been damn near impossible for a Jewish woman in her 50s (as Maude would have been) to survive Auschwitz. (We know she was at Auschwitz because that is the only camp that tattooed people - although, to be honest, Colin Higgins may not have known that about the tattooing, because many people seem surprised when I tell them.) However, if she was a full-blooded "Aryan" woman in her 50s, Auschwitz would certainly not have been "easy" for her, but she could feasibly have survived; she would have had notably better living conditions. So, I think she has to have been a political prisoner.

Well, I'm off to make thumbnails.... :)

-Simone

Name: Kelly McGrath
Sent: 18.21 - 16/1

Harold and Maude is fabulous to own on DVD: zooming in on the concentration camp tatoo and street signs can be quite informative. This film is brilliantly filmed, with perfect camera shots and a soundtrack perfectly suiting each frame it fills, both lyrically and musically. I've recently decided that watching this movie a hundred more times would be more life influencing and beneficial than cramming for my semester finals would be (which I must continue doing, unfortunately). Such beautiful images and messages; I really would like to "sing out", right now. Anyone care to join me in a little cartwheel?
Name: Mary Watt
Hometown: Redwood City, CA
Sent: 21.41 - 14/1

Just rewatched this favorite movie of mine. I go way back with "Harold and Maude" - having stumbled across the filming in downtown Redwood City one day while growing up!

Anyhow - only thoughts I have to add right now is that I used to bank in the Wells Fargo Bank seen across the street from the Courthouse where Harold and Maude "liberate" the tree. Of possible note to some - those potted trees did not belong in front of the Courthouse (on the corner of Winslow and Marshall), but rather graced our main street downtown - Broadway. So, my first hint that something was up (as I didn't know the filming was taking place) was seeing the trees in front of the courthouse.....

I really enjoyed the list of locations on this site - all of these are my "stomping grounds" - and I'd never seen such a comprehensive list. Enjoyed "guessing" on some of the locations I wasn't sure of - and your list proved both my husband and I right on virtually all of them!


Name: Jen
Hometown: Marin, CA
Sent: 14.09 - 12/1

Terrific site, so nice to know this wonderful movie is loved by so many. It is particularly interesting to see how many people were moved by it on such a deep level. It does seem like the rare and exciting case where a person is invited to be really engaged in the movie, as a stand-alone piece of art and human archive. I watch it every so often and note how it strikes me at different places in my life, and I remember how I felt about it in prior times. I lived in Santa Cruz for a while and it was especially meaningful then. I was seeking 'Harold's and 'Maude's to meet and grow with, and always knew where I could at least find two. Its a wonderful thing that we can all watch it a zillion times and it still feeds all of us as we need to be fed.
-Jen
Name: Crystal S
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mzvelvet
Hometown: Folsom, CA
Sent: 20.10 - 11/1

I was watching H&M again, for about the 100th time, when I noticed some things: There was someone ho was commenting on weather or not Maude was Jewish, and that they would bet, judging by her philosiphies in the movies, that she was probably Buddhist. I also noticed some Pagan/Wiccan philosiphies. Like where she says "You die and return as something else." Or when she was out in the forest planting the tree, and she was talking about how she loved being surrounded by earth and living things. She even said "The Earth is my body, my head is in the Stars." I'm not saying I think she was a Pagan/Wiccan, I'm just saying I believe she had at least a broad knowledge of the philosiphies and agreed with them.

I also noticed that when Harold asked her about her umbrella on the wal, that's when the painfull memories came back for her. This lets us know that the umbrella was something she endeared and was surreal for her, but has moved on from, and has "put away." But, if you notice, when she was helping Harold get out of being "drafted" she had the umbrella with her...
Just little observations
Crystal
Name: Barbara L. C.
Hometown: Canton, MA
Sent: 22.03 - 10/1

I just saw Harold and Maude for the first time last week and I can't get it out of my head. I knew it was my favorite movie before it even ended. It's nice to know it has such a profound impact on so many people. Now I don't feel so weird about watching it over and over again. Bud Cort's acting is so subtle yet rich. His acting is so restrained but says so much with facial expressions and body language. Watching him is a cathartic experience, I can't take my eyes off of him. I can't believe I never heard of Bud Cort until I caught this movie on TV. I plan on seeing all of his movies.
Name: mimi
Sent: 23.53 - 9/1

I just saw H&M for the first time on AMC while my mom and I were putting up the Christmas tree on 12/01. I'd always heard of it, but never saw it. Well, I don't know how I missed this 30-year old gem, but It's going on my list of all-time favorites. My mom had never seen it either. She loves Ruth Gordon. Bud Cort was perfectly cast. A bit odd looking- but cute. I had never seen him in anything before (that I know of). I'm interested in seeing more of his work. We definitely need a "special edition" DVD with out-takes (like the one of Harold's mother talking to his dummy (thinking it's him) and telling him he needs sleep because he looks "pale". Go to the Paramount website and send an email to the home video department to request a new DVD edition with deleted scenes. Bye!
Name: Crystal S
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mzvelvet
Hometown: Folsom, CA
Sent: 21.28 - 9/1

Harold and Maude is definately one of my top 5 fave movies. I first saw it on TV...you know on a Saturday afternoon when they usually play those horrible movies....it made me laugh sooo much...and cry at the end. I have never seen two different people reach out in such a way...just goes to show love conquers all! I love Cat Stevens, and have been on a mission to find the soundtrack (because the songs are realy good!) but my mission ended when I discovered that there is no soundtrack, but spread out over 4 different albums! OH BOTHER! If you like Ruth Gordon (Maude) you can see another brilliant performance of hers in the movie "My Bodyguard" where she plays the Grandmother of a teenager who is the new kid on the block being picked on by a bulley (Mat Dillon) and befriends a loner whom everyone is afraid of, but is just misunderstood. I can't remember the name of the kid who plays the loner, but he has since gone on to be in big movies, like Independance Day, and in the final season of X Files. Another fabulous movie. Well, anyways...just wanted to give my 2 cents for posterity's sake...Crystal
Name: Susan Vaccaro
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Sent: 19.12 - 9/1

38 yrs old and had never seen this film... until this week. I'm completely blown away by the level of character and story development displayed here. Upon first viewing, I'm most touched by the character of Harold (although I'm sure this will fluctuate upon further viewings.) This boy, raised in an environment that could be described as privileged at best, and at worst, antiseptic. He can remember but one instance in his entire short life that his mother showed a real, heartfelt emotion towards him - that being the moment she was told of his death. It would be safe to say that all people have had the fantasy of attending their own funeral or being the proverbial "fly and the wall" when those we care about learn of our demise and we bear witness to their outpouting of grief. The old "they'll all be sorry when I'm gone" syndrome. At any rate, our hero Harold is actually placed in the enviable position of living out this fantasy, and he spends the next few years of his life trying to "recreate the magic" of that moment. Note that his suicide hoaxes generally involve trying to wrench some reaction out of his mother. He wants so badly to see her show that kind of feeling for him just one more time. His frustration with this whole situation is brought to light as he relates to Maude the story of the chemistry lab explosion and finally breaks down in tears. It brings heartwrenching poignancy to the supposedly "comic" side of the film, Harold's obsession with death. It also suddenly explains why he enjoys funerals... while he can't seem to get any emotion out of his mother anymore, he can go elsewhere to witness the expression of love that experienced that one time and craves again. Only the death of a loved one can bring about that kind of outpouring. God, I love that boy.
-Susan
Name: Gary
Hometown: Dallas
Sent: 11.24 - 9/1

I find it interesting that some people are trying so hard to find evidence that Maude was not raised jewish. It says more about them than it does about the movie. The Jews of Austria were integral parts of their society before Hitler. My jewish grandfather was a soldier for the Kaiser in WWI. My jewish grandmother married a soldier. I'm not arguing that Maude was jewish, I'm just pointing out that the arguments against it that are posted on your site are based on ignorance of the period and I don't see how the religion she was raised in has any bearing on her character or the story. The Maude that Harold meets has rejected formal religion for beliefs of her own.
Gary
Name: Rick R
Hometown: El Paso, TX
Sent: 15.41 - 8/1

I just ran across this site last night. It's great to see that there are so many Harold and Maude fans around. I've seen the movie about 30 times and I never hesitate to introduce new people to it. I own it in both VHS and DVD, and I can honestly say that much of my outlook on life has been affected by the interaction between Harold and Maude. My favorite part of the movie (if that is possible to identify) is something that most people miss, but it's one of the most beautiful images in the film. Right after Harold and Maude discuss what types of flowers they would be, and Maude delivers the unforgettable line about people who are this (a single daisy) yet allow themselves to be treated as that (one in a whole field of daisies), the scene goes from the field of daisies to a field of white tombstones on a vast expanse of green grass. That 5-second fade says more than most entire movies do. To anyone who might read this, I would recommend that you watch this movie over and over. You take away something new every time, not only because you will catch new things that you missed before, but because it will affect you differently at different times in your life, and at different levels of maturity. Thanks for putting up this site. It's nice to know I'm not alone in saying that Harold and Maude is by far my favorite movie of all time.
Name: STEVE
Hometown: MT.AIRY MD
Sent: 22.59 - 1/1

BACK IN '87 WHEN I WAS 27 I LIVED WITH A 60 SOMETHING GAL NAMED MARGE, WHO DID NOT DRIVE, ON AN ISLAND IN PUGET SOUND WASHINGTON. I HAD A GIGANTIC 60s STATION WAGON AND USED TO DRIVE HER WHEREVER SHE NEEDED TO GO. HER BEST FRIEND WOULD OFTEN STOP OVER AND VISIT AND WOULD ALWAYS CALL US THE "HAROLD AND MAUD" OF BAINBRIDGE ISLAND. I NEVER KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT TILL A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER WHEN I SAW THE MOVIE. LOOKING BACK I CONSIDER IT SO COOL NOW, AND I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T KNOW TO APPRECEATE IT THEN. WELL THERE ARE PLENTY OF OLD HEARSES FOR SALE AND I'D STILL LOOK PRETTY YOUNG NEXT TO A GAL EIGHTY SOMETHING! LONG LIVE HAROLD AND MAUDE!
Name: hope
Hometown: NJ
Sent: 13.00 - 29/12

Last night I saw Harold and Maude with my Husband on Bravo.
I really need to add that this was a very entertaining and heartfully done film. I think the poignancy in this film is not so much about their age difference,as it is about the brevity of life and how one must live it in a full, loving and meaningful way.
I couldn't help but get up and keep leaving the room as we saw the film, for it became at points too painful for me to watch.
Although I am in my late 30s now, and would not /have not tried suicide, I was not very much unlike these characters in my way of looking at life and people.
In school I was a very severe "radical'' with a very offbeat message about procliaming the "me ness of me" to all who would look/hear.
That seems to be very much the clarion-call of todays age.
The characters are crying out for an Eternal kind of Love, they can only see lasting in memories or in gifts passed into an everlasting body of water.
Surely, no one really walks around thinking day and night about their mortality,its just a nice idea for those who have had to face such a pivotal/painful point in their lives and those they love.
Still, the age old (no pun) message is clear..At 18 or 80, people are basically, generally looking for the same things:
to be appreciated for who they are; acceptance; humor; kindness; and love. They want to know that their feelings mean something and that their lives have meaning and purpose. They want to know that it will be "all right" and that they are not 'alone'.
And so, H&M speaks to this spiritual vacum in every viewer. Of course its all covered up with banal black humor and sarcasm and dry wit and kind of caustic barbs, which can only really be understood by those who feel alienated ,in this world, at some point (which by the way,is most human beings).
This is the short version of why I think this film was so big.
I still found myself walking away hurting after seeing it.
Since those "radical' days...when I was so very very much like these characters, I have become a Christian.
God has taken my free spirtedness and not removed it, but directed it to a better end. I do not feel lost, afraid (we all get afraid sometimes), confused or bandied about by every person and circumstance in this world. And living IS beautiful, but it CAN be hard, and there isn't always a "Harold" or "Maude" to be around to ease it.
They die..
I sought this platform, because I may be the only evangelical Christian who would speak about this film. Not because I think I'm "better" than anyone, but because I was really REALLY there. And it hurt then, and it hurts to see all the things and people others resort to numb/cope with the realities of life, and how they come about trying to find the answer, when there is only One.
There IS a way to find out. And a way to skip in the sun, in the end. It's through Christ alone.
I found that out at the same age as the young man in this film, what he was then.
There's so much more to say. Suffice, that, these sweet lovely loving lonely charcters, are looking for people to answer temporary and eternal questions which cannot be found in books, sex, drugs, food, hobbies, schooling, suicide, or the love of your life, or any other answer than Jesus Christ. As I said I honestly know, I was there!
With the current anti Christian climate, thanks for letting me share:)
God Bless You All
for further interesting reading on this perspective, please go to this, or similar web sites:
This one is interesting,its about fears.Why can we all relate to some of them or many of them?

:http://www.fear.gr/usa.htm
because we 're human.Not a Christian answer site, but interesting anyway.

And a search link for THE ANSWER, Christ :


Sent: 23.10 - 28/12 Private Entry:
Name: Barbara L. Baker
Homepage: http://www.cmsu.edu
Sent: 15.12 - 27/12

Wow, I can't believe I didn't find this site until now. You've done a wonderful job with this homepage. I've been a "Harold and Maude" fan since I first saw the film with my sister in 1972. I was a depressed, nearly suicidal college student, with my first marriage falling apart, and the film literally saved me. I know from experience that many had that reaction. I saw the film more than 100 times during the 1970s and early 1980s, first in its regular run, then at revival houses, and as a midnight movie. When my sister moved to San Francisco for awhile in the 1970s, we went looking for the movie locations. I owned every record Cat Stevens made (and now have the cds). I would have loved to have met anyone associated with the movie, but despite living in So Cal, and my interests in both theatre and film, I never did. I especially envy those who got to meet either Ruth Gordon or Bud Cort.

Later, in graduate school, I wrote two papers--one about Ruth Gordon and another about archetypes in the film, and was able to do research in various film library archives (well before the ease of the internet). I got married again, and took my new husband to a showing at the Rialto in South Pasadena, and he wound up just as big a fan. We then taped a video copy off of a tv broadcast when we lived in the L.A. area.

I wound up getting a Ph.D. from USC in rhetoric and film studies, and now teach at a state university in Missouri. Although my dissertation was on a different set of films, "Harold and Maude" remains my favorite film of all time, and I've written reviews on IMDB and Amazon.com. I've now got three pretty worn VHS copies, and recently bought the DVD. There is a revival theatre nearby in Kansas City, and it often shows "H & M", so we've seen it in a theatre recently. I've also shown it to a couple of my Film Appreciation classes (gen ed--large classes of 100 students each), and the students generally liked it; I also showed it to a class in comedy films, along with some other little known films of the 1960s/70s (for example, "The President's Analyst"). Again, the student response is usually positive. I just wish the DVD was based on a remastered copy (I understand it isn't), and that a soundtrack would get released.

I hope you continue to get good messages from your website. Despite my research and my multiple viewings, I learned things I didn't know.

Name: Emmi
Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/callia343
Hometown: Worcester/Salem, Massachusetts
Sent: 10.39 - 25/12

I read the play Harold and Maude a couple of years ago, looking for scenes to do for a Coffeehouse production my high school was doing. Well, I never ended up doing any scenes from the play, but it sparked my interest in the story, but this interest remained only a faintly burning ember in the back of my mind until this year. I'm in my first year of college and one of the great pastimes in the dorm is watching wonderful movies. I just saw the movie only a few days ago with my sister, and I can't wait to share it with my college friends and buy a copy of the video of my own. I dabble a bit in filmmaking, directing, acting, and theatre, and this movie/story intrigued me....it struck me as something I'd write and direct. The layers of symbolism, the innuendos...I am fascinated and in awe of the story. I just finished reading the novella, and it's almost impossible to find words to describe what it made me feel. Corny as it may sound, it made me laugh and cry...and feel and relate very deeply.

There's something about Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon both that keep drawing me back to the movie...they both have beautiful voices and are amazing actors. It's funny....I realized that in 50 years, I'm most likely going to turn into Maude...she and I are very similar. Then again, Harold and I are similar also....bah. It's just weird how almost everyone can relate to the movie even though everything seems so bizarre...

I did have one question for all you fanatics out there, however....at the beginning of the film, when Harold is hanging himself, he writes something on a piece of paper and pins it to his lapel, but I can never make out what he's written. If any of you know what he writes on that slip of paper, PLEASE e-mail me at Callia343@aol.com. Things like this tend to drive me ballistic :-P

Well, that's all my ramblings&rantings for now...e-mail me if you have any questions/random tidbits, I'd love to hear from you! :-) Peace and love to all, Emmi


Name: Elise
Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/amadeus533/jennycargo.html
Hometown: Topeka
Sent: 02.10 - 22/12

Tonight, I watched Harold and Maude for the first time. I have been hearing about it for quite some time, but it was only by pure luck that IFC was playing it this evening, and I happened upon it. What can I say now, but WOW!?! Carpe Diem. True Love. Morbid, yet a wonderful Affirmation of life. Excellent plot. Amazing acting. References to literature and philosophy. Interesting use of characterization. Cat Stevens. A good looking leading man with the sexiest voice I have ever heard. The list of reasons to love this movie goes on and on. Most importantly, however, is the profound emotional effect that it has. It is intense. I couldn't look away. Completely stunned.

I was so intrigued that I had to do some searching on the internet to find out more about it. I want to think about it and create some sort of analytical interpretation of it, because I see so much happening with it. But I fear if I do that, I will become jaded to the amazing emotional message.

In any case, I am now a die hard Bud Cort fan (am I the only one who totally digs his voice?), and will cherish this movie forever. If only I had found it sooner!
Great site! This guestbook itself is a gem. It speaks to me more perhaps than reviews and articles. What a life changing film.
Thank you for the work you put into the research about this movie so that I didn't have to!
Name: greg dann
Hometown: Rockport, MA
Sent: 21.59 - 19/12

As with most of the folks writing in this guest book, H&M is also my all time, life altering movie love. I'd like to relay what I feel is a rather touching story. I met my dear friend christine over three years ago as a drummer for hire. She was an aspiring and gifted pianist/songwriter and amazing singer. We played and created together for nearly two years until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her career came to a screeching halt and the months that followed were occupied with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and darkness. When we first met and as we got to know each other I told her about the movie - all the things that any H&M head wouuld say. She always agreed that it must be good, but she never seemed to truly connect with my enthusiasm. As a result of her experiences there has been something missing - perhaps that something that gives her that special satisfaction. Something has held her back from reconnecting with life ... until last week when we finally saw the movie together. She called me a few days later with an excitement in her voice I hadn't heard in a long time. She barely could get the words out through her audible smile. She said she finally felt like she had in her happiest time. She was back. And to think that a movie could do that. I'll never stop precribing it.
Name: Matthew
Sent: 05.26 - 16/12

What can I add that has not already been said so beautifully by everyone here? I will try my best though. I have a theory on why some people love this film and others find it sad and sick. The people who love the film are outsiders or outcasts in some way, and maybe only in spirit. Harold and Maude is about two people whom the rest of society consider useless : a depressed, suicidal young man and an elderly, senile woman. Their loneliness and isolation is their strongest bond. People who have never known these feelings can't begin to understand them. So they mock us outsiders and call us "sad and sick". Those of us who have known great loneliness in our lives, months of depression and solitude, quiet reflection, and thoughts of death relate to Harold and Maude overwhelmingly. So a great number of viewers will never get what we get from this film. We are deeper and we understand why Harold is devastated by Maude's death. To return to our loneliness after experiencing love and joy is a hell beyond comprehension. But we know that our Harold will never be alone again. He has found the key to a happy life and Maude has given it to him...and to us all! Peace :)
Name: Aubri
Sent: 23.34 - 15/12

I got into Harold and Maude at ten years old when my older cousin was obsessed with it. Even being too young to understand the full extent of it, i instantly fell in love, and recieved my very own copy for my 14th birthday. It is still my favorite movie, and the best love story (between people and with life) of all time. Now I'm 21, and about a month ago i had friends over for our regular movie night that has taken place now for well over a year. My best friend has been bringing her boyfriend for about 6 months. The previous week i had shown boys don't cry; when I whipped out harold and maude, she looked at me and said "don't you think you've scarred my boyfriend enough?" We ignored her, watched it anyway.. and I am happy to say after a post movie discussion getting him past the age difference.... he has converted. He even borrowed the movie from me to watch it again.
One more thing.... I think it rocks 30 years later there is a well organized web site, and forum for people who love this movie!
Name: Amanda Kruel
Homepage: http://darkaberrant.com
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Sent: 19.49 - 7/12

I very much hope that I am not the only H & M fan of my age (A pathetic 16 years), because I very much feel that this is an excellent film. Suprisingly, it was reccommended to me by my mother, who I have always considered to have absolutely no taste in films. She hadn't seen the movie since it was realeased, and so we rented it last summer. I enjoyed it, but for some reason she said that she didn't like it much anymore. Ahh, well, people change.

Also: My drama teacher has the script of H&M in his "classroom"(I don't really think any drama teachers teach in classrooms). I know he has a film class and he may show the movie to them as part of the curriculum, but I am not sure. I will have to ask him.
Love the site, good job!
Name: Michael Kinsella
Homepage: http://historyoftheworld.com
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California
Sent: 23.29 - 6/12

Just something for your trivia.. most of the joggers in the first seen of the hearse pulling into the mansion are of a few members of the Soquel High School Cross-Country team getting ready to run a race. My older brother, John is one of them!
Name: Dersu
Hometown: SLH
Sent: 15.03 - 28/11

Today is Monday. I first saw "Harold and Maude" on Wednesday. I have watched it every day since Wednes at least twice. I wish I was watching it right now! It is the most incredible thing ever produced, without a doubt. My older sister had seen it at college about a week and a half ago, and she instantly knew I would love it (we both are very into the style, ideas, and everything this movie embodies--and just a few weeks prior I had gotten her hooked on Cat Stevens. I had his albums for years, but no one else in my house cared for him. Can you imagine?) I had never seen a perfect movie before this one; there was always something wrong. Now I nearly cry just thinking about it! Right after I saw it for the first time, I noticed how few plants there were in my house, so I ran out to the garden store and bought the little plants and planted them in the little clay pots I made over the summer, and to me these little houseplants are Harold and Maude in living form on my windowsill. And every time I listen to Cat's song "Trouble" I start to cry because I think of the expression on Harold's face in the hospital, but right after I always put "If you Want to Sing Out..." on and start to laugh, because I can see Harold dancing off screen with his banjo. I tried to show it to my little sister, but she just thought I was nuts. Thank you all for loving Harold and Maude as much as I do. I hope to meet you all someday, so we can laugh and cry over the beauty of this movie in person. Merry Christmas.
Name: brigitte McCormack
Hometown: Norfolk, Va.
Sent: 17.08 - 25/11

My mother had errands to run and needed to leave my grandmother and I someplace safe while she handled her tasks. She dropped us at TheNaro, an old art deco theater. The movie was Harold and Maude. I was six years old and my grandmother was just learning English, so it was a bewildering experience for us both. The first time Harold fakes a suicide, I cried out "Why did he do that, why, why?" Grandma said "no worry, tesora, is no really"
her way of saying it's only a movie. Asit turned out it really was "no really." even withing the realm of the movie.I thought about that movie over and over again during my growing up years. I couldn't remember the name of it, but the words and scenes were indelibly engraved upon my brain. I had this inexplicable love of sunflowers, seagulls, banjos, tea pots, and trees. I finally saw the movie again as an adult and my mother was with me. She said, " so that's where the sunflowers come from." and "so that's where the banjo comes from." Maude came to me in my formative years and became a part of me. Her spirit of living life fully has often sustained me and inspired me.Most of all I love the daisies. Harold said they were all the same, but Maude pointed out their individual aspects. I don't want to be just like Maude. But because of her, I want to be me, 100%!
Name: Barb McVay
Hometown: San Jose, California
Sent: 15.24 - 21/11

Thank you for such a great website for Bud Cort and for Harold and Maude. I have been a fan of this movie since its release in 1970, in fact, I was 16 years old and used to sneak off to the movies by myself and I'd stay and watch it twice! When I found out that there wasa going to be a home video system where people could actually own movies, I was thrilled. At that time (the late 70's), it was rumored that one could actually own a movie for $100.00. After buying a VCR and the movie Harold & Maude, and a few years later building a video library, I requested that upon my demise, I wanted to be burried with the movie "Harold and Maude" and The Cars' "Heartbeat City" video album. This is still true today. I would like to commend the person who wrote the nice description of all the areas where the movie was filmed. I was raised in South San Francisco and clearly remember when Maude's traincar was at Oyster Point. I'd like to provide an answer as the the location of the greenhouse where Harold and Maude were (the "I like to watch things grow..." It's the old Rod McClellan Orchid Farm on El Camino Real in So. San Francisco; I don't know if it's still there as I heard a few years ago that they were closing. Over the years, it has been a pleasure to go around and visit the various sites where the movie was filmed. The hardest one to find is the Rose Mansion in Hillsborough. For years, my husband and I drove around in Hillsborough and couldn't find it. Then one day when we weren't looking for it, I recognized the wrought iron gates and noticed that you can only see one side of the house from the road. It was very exciting. Another site for the movie was when H&M were standing on a balcony of a white building watching a crane with a wrecking ball. The building they were watching being demolished is the old City of Paris building on Second Avenue in San Mateo, near Mills Hospital. A First Interstate Bank was built on that site and now some other bank is there. I even visited the swimming pools, or what is left of them, at Sutro's near the Cliff House in San Francisco. I tried to find the square hole that Maude disappeared into, but it was covered up. Most of the other recognizable things are still there, though. I feel so lucky that this movie was filmed all around my old stomping ground.

Best regards to fellow H&M Fans, take care,

Barb
Name: Dorota
Hometown: Llandrindod Wells, Wales
Sent: 08.37 - 15/11

I am absolutely gobsmacked! I have never thought I will ever find anyone else who would be mad about Harold and Maude (except my friend Szymon).I saw it in 1991 for the first time (I was 17 then) and thought "YES, THAT'T IT! THAT'S THE WAY!". That and the following year I saw the movie about 20 times. There was a period that every time I saw it I cried for the rest of the day. One day, somewhere in the middle of the woods in Slovenia in 1994 I met a person who started telling me about the movie (he had helped me to the shot of vodka beforehand), and we discovered that we are soul mates. Well the story is going on; in 1999 I was fished out from the crowd (in Hawerfordwest, Wales) by a woman who turned out to be the merge of Calamity Jane and Maulde (YES! SHE IS ALIVE!). She - Pam - is 68 and her enthusiasm, perception and the general passion for life + wisdom is very Mauldlike. Events in my life have always been sardonic in nature, the more that I can associate with Harold and Maulde.
Drop me a line if you feel the same...
Name: Dennis Holly
Hometown: Hoboken, NJ
Sent: 10.02 - 30/10

When "Harold and Maude" was first released in late 1971, I went to see the film 31 times. I took as many people as I could as often as possible. I'm sure I was relating to Harold's dilemma of not really being understood by his preoccupied mother since I was 18 or 19 at the time -- even though I did not come from anywhere near such an affluent upbringing.

I loved the Cat Stevens' score and knew the lines and editing choices by heart. The film remains one of my all-time favorite pieces of original cinema.
Name: eric
Homepage: http://velvetmelody.com
Hometown: oshkosh, wi
Sent: 15.13 - 22/10

I first saw this movie in December of 1984 at the University of Wisconsin. It was my freshman year, and I remember I'd never heard of "Harold and Maude" before, but there seemed to be this cult thing going on with it, so one night I went to a local lecture hall by myself to watch it. Among the crowd were students who had obviously seen the film many times before, and by the end of the movie everyone was in tears...including myself. And I walked out of the lecture hall and the most beautiful snow was falling through the night sky, and I walked back to my dorm with such a smile on my face, the kind of smile that you only get after watching "Harold and Maude".
Name: Jewel
Hometown: San Francisco
Sent: 14.06 - 19/10

I first saw Harold and Maude in the late '70s when I worked at an art theater in Sacramento, CA called the J Street Cinema. They would show cult films like Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Monty Python (anything), Harold & Maude and Rocky Horror Picture Show. I especially likes H&M and still watch it over and over again. I now live in the SF Bay Area and have often visited locations in the film, and find myself being just as attracted to the semi-gothic mind-set and sub-culture now as I was when I first saw the film.

One of the cool things I find is that I rarely saw Bud Cort in films after H&M, and liked to think that he was too unique to fit very many parts. Too special for common movie roles. But he was good in MASH and recently I saw him do a small part (but a good one) in Dogma by Kevin Smith.

Here is a question for the fans of Bud Cort and H&M: have you ever seen a horror movie called The Haunting of Hill House? It features Roddy MacDowall and a young actress who plays a psychic/medium. She is the spitting image of Bud Cort as a girl. I swear. Check it out - I thought surely they must be related! But not. Anyway, just a tidbit.
Name: Dan Acland
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Sent: 15.26 - 18/10

I've been in love with this movie since I was a boy. I can quote almost every line of dialogue. And it makes me cry a river every time. Reading the list of filming locations make my spine tingle. I intend to make a day trip out of visiting all the locations. Thank you for that gift.
Name: brian c w
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia
Sent: 07.42 - 26/9

This is nice to see, this site here, and all you folks adding your thoughts. I first watched Harold and Maude my first year in college due to a friend's suggestion. I, too, was, and still am, a big Cat Stevens fan. The whole feel of that movie works so well. The music, the scene flows, the set up of the shots.
My buddy said whenever he heard "Trouble", he always pictured Harold driving the Jaguar-Herse in the rain with the wipers on. A couple of my favorite shots are when Harold's in the Herse going through the car wash, drinking his pop. The other is when Maude finds out that the Herse she is driving is Harold's; in the distant shot you see him get out of the passenger side door, walk around the back of the car, and as he begins to open the driver's side door, the shot switches to him opening the other door for Maude when they get to her place. A little thing, I know, but so many of these little things are packed into the movie.
One last comment regarding Sunshine. At first, I also thought that she had killed herself accidently. However, I'm convinced now that she was only doing her act. You see her test the spring in the knife on her palm before thrusting it to her chest. It's interesting, because I also wonder if this is the point in Harold's "mentorship of appreciating life" he's recieving from Maude that helps him lose his obsession with dying. Perhaps him seeing someone else act out a death helps him to see it's aburdity. Just a thought.
One more thing (sorry this is so long). Was there ever a book made of this story?
Name: Debbie Alvarez
Hometown: Sylmar CA
Sent: 18.06 - 15/8

Hello....I just want to say that I have loved Harold and Maude since 73 or 74....my mom and I went to see Paper Moon and it was the movie playing with it. Since then we've been hooked. We would go and see the movie at what ever theater is was playing at, in the Valley or a drive to LA. I now have the video....and so does my mom. I also have always loved Cat Stevens...so even before I saw the movie I already had some of the albums that contain the music from the movie. I now have found the CD that has.."Trouble" and "if you want to sing out sing out"....now I made my own little...Harold and Maude" tape to enjoy where ever I go. My nickname is Sunflower...because of the flowers that Maude loved. I also put up any Sunflower picture or card that I find or recieve on my bedroom wall. Now I even have my 14 year old daughter hooked on the movie....we are always quoting it. Any time I'm feeling down I can watch that movie and it gives me such a good and happy feeling about life.

bye bye from DEB
Name: alf
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Sent: 23.50 - 9/8

Whoa. Have I hit the motherlode of Harold & Maude fans or what?
I'm pretty darned pleased that there are so many of us out there.
I first saw H&M 25 years ago when I was ten and living in New Zealand. It was a late night TV movie. It totally blew me away. Years later, when video players came out, I found it on the shelves of the local hire place. I dubbed myself a copy. It was the most incredible love story I'd ever seen.
I always get a warm feeling when even the name of the film is mentioned, like when Cameron Diaz talks about it in 'Something About Mary.'

One thing I did want to ask about involves Sunshine and her suicide scene. It always nagged at me about how they would've had to dispose of her body, but that we never see what happens next.

Every girlfriend I've ever had, I've shown them H&M. Sort of a little test, you might say.

Which reminds me of something that always comes up when I show it to my friends in regards to the end. The E-type explodes... boom. Then Harold is seen walking away picking at his banjo. I say he jumped clear. My friends say he perished and that what we see is actually his spirit, now freed.
Any comments, panel?

alf

Name: jt
Homepage: http://www.famulous.com
Hometown: northern california
Sent: 09.40 - 9/8

I've seen H&M possibly 20 times and always love it. After becoming a 'veteran' of multiple viewings, the best is to share it with someone who's never seen it and revel in their discovery with them. I too think the movie is 'important' on a couple of levels. The message need not be verbalized. Maude says everything that needs to be said. Another reason for its importance is that it got made at all. As someone recently said, if anyone approached a producer today and "pitched" this movie, it wouldn't be made! I've gained an appreciation of Hal Ashby which has lead to his other fine movies. Cheers all!
Name: Georgia
Hometown: West Coast
Sent: 18.00 - 24/7

Harold and Maude was my father's favorite movie, and I was about 7 years old (in 1979) the first time that I saw it. I cannot describe the profound influence H&M has had on me, mainly because I grew up so closely with the movie that I have no idea what my personality would have been like without it. I guess I don't need to explain to any of you how deeply important this movie is to me, and it's wonderful to be in the company of people who understand how delicious Bud Court is, how breathtakingly beautiful Ruth Gordon was, and why I always aim above morality! Oh, and by the by, does anyone have a really good recipe for ginger pie?
Name: Lisa Elaine
Hometown: Redwood City, CA
Sent: 23.53 - 13/6

I am so happy I found this site. Reading all the posts brings back so many memories for me. My all time greatest Bud Cort meeting was at the Premier in SF of "Why Shoot The Teacher". I have some treasured pictures from that evening. I was enchanted w/ H&M from the 1st time I saw it in the 70's. I snuck a note to Bud via Sally Kellerman, it's true, and got the sweetest card back from him which to this day I keep in a 'special' box. Oh what memeories
Lisa Elaine
Name: Rachel
Sent: 22.41 - 22/5

I watched Harold and Maude for the 6th time today and realized how much I love this movie again for so many new reasons. Before I saw the film I actively disliked Cat Stevens. That was 4 months ago and since then I have fallen in love with his music. Someone previously on this guestbook mentioned her fascination with the photographic images in the film and I have to agree; that struck me again tonight with new force. In fact, if anyone has any idea how I can go about finding still images from the movie, I'd love to hear from you. I had this idea to make myself a really nice poster of Harold and Maude dancing through the field right after Harold does somersaults.

Peace and sunflowers -
rachel
Name: Joel
Hometown: Seattle WA
Sent: 17.15 - 21/5

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is one of the major basises of my life's phiosophy along with Auntie Mame's "Life's a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death!" If life is a banquet I have made quite a pig of myself! And "Harold and Maude" has always been one of the tastiest bits! Old friends to be visited again and again! This movie has been part of many of the major highlights of my life-i.e.I viewed it as I was preparing to take a long trip to be at my mother's deathbed. As for those of you who are speculating on Maude's pre-war(s) life you may remember that she introduces herself to Harold as Dame Marjorie Chardam-she is obviously some sort of aristocrat-and I suspect that Frederike was her husband who probably "dissappeared", like so many millions of others during the Holocost. To paraphrase Sophie in "Sophie's Choice" the intelligant and educated were the first to go. Many Holocost survivors and indeed survivors of any traumatic event are often suicidal, wondering why they and not the other members of their families survived. We all miss Ruth Gorden but fortunatly she made one of the best films of all time before being taken from us. And now, for all of you-"...Go and love some more!"
Name: trekgrrl
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/star_trekker1
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Sent: 18.39 - 11/5

Thanks Mike for this wonderful page! All I could hope for is some more publicity shots from the movie. I have tried to find pics of 70's Bud Cort (damn but he was fine) and have not been too successful. Anyway, I rented the movie for the first time this past week and watched it more than 10 times before I brought it back. Once I returned it to Blockbuster, I went out and bought the DVD! I also remembered that about 10 years ago, a good friend begged me to rent it and I never did... wish I would have listened to her then... I would have had some more viewings under my belt. Anyone ever send anything to Bud Cort to have autographed, by the way?
Name: nicholas kane
Hometown: london england
Sent: 07.53 - 30/3

And if you were wondering who DID win in 71:
Best Actor: Gene Hackman - The French Connection. Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Klute.
Name: Mike Sullivan
Hometown: San Francisco
Sent: 23.13 - 15/2

Hi, it's your host, Mike. Some great news: the site in Pacifica, California (Mori Point, just a few miles south of San Francisco) where the final scene of Harold and Maude was filmed was bought by the Trust for Public Land on September 21, 2000. This is great news for Harold and Maude fans -- it means that the site, which was in danger of development, will now be preserved as open space! It will probably be added eventually to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (a federal park in the San Francisco Bay Area). Mike
Dan Berkman - 12/27/00 22:44:40
My Email:Ludog84@aol.com
Your city: Place

Hey all you fans. you may think I am lying but I am the nephew of Bud Cort, pretty cool huh?. Just thought i would let you know
stephen - 12/07/00 07:06:23
My Email:stevlandambrose@hotmail.com
Your city: Nelson, B.C.

My first girlfriend was named Julie-Maude. Appropriatley, she introduced me to Harold and Maude, and to a lot of other fine cultural activities like cheese and wine, travel, wonderful sex. You gotta love the french. Anyways, looking back, the movie and my lover both played a very significant role in my life. Many years have past, and I still can't seem to hold a job; but the older I get, the more I'm enjoying my childhood. Julie-Maude, this is my tribute to you, where ever you are, I wish you the best!!!
Brandie - 11/08/00 12:02:59
My URL:hthttp://hometown.aol.com/zenmstr101/tp://
My Email:Zenmstr101@aol.com
Your city: Santa Monica

Great to find someone as passionate about this film as I am. I have so many great memories that flood into my mind when I come back to this film, my youth, the 70's, Cat Stevens, YOUNG Bud Cort...(OMG!!!) I have a wonderful signed photo from Ruth and my Mother's friend, Kathy Blondell, was the hairdresser on the film...

Justin L. Atkin - 11/07/00 00:57:01
My URL:www.atkin-family.com
My Email:justin@batnet.com
Your city: Fremont, CA

I rented the DVD of H&M, and it includes 2 original theatreical previews. In both previews there is a signifigant amount of footage not used in the film, most notably the shot of Harold and Maude sucking face and collapsing onto a bed! One gets the impression the film was originally much more shocking than the version we've come to know and love. Directors cut, anyone?

Derrick Vargason - 10/25/00 23:47:01
My Email:dvargas1@ic3.ithaca.edu

Just a comment on Maude's philosophy... you stated that you thought that Maude was a buddhist on your page, but i would disagree. I think it is clear that Maude is an Existentialist. Her philosophies are in line with the first roots of Existentialism, especially Friedrich Nietzsche. He argued the importance of "dying at the right time," which Maude is clearly set to do from the beginning of the movie. He also says in death, you should have a goal and an heir.. both of which Maude has in Harold. It’s all about living life the best you can live it, and celebrating your role on earth, and passing that on when you die.
David Blatner - 10/19/00 01:59:00
My URL:http://www.moo.com
My Email:david@moo.com
Your city: Seattle

I wonder if anyone else met the woman who was the original inspiration for Maude. I met her back about 10 or 15 years ago. She was (is, if she's still alive, I suppose) the director at the Manhattan Playhouse in Palo Alto (right on Hwy 101 and University Ave. exit). My understanding is that Mr. Higgins worked there for a while... this woman was Maude all over, though with a much stronger russian accent.
Mike Sullivan - 09/25/00 23:44:33
My Email:sulliva1@ix.netcom.com
Your city: San Francisco

Hi, it's your host, Mike. Some great news: the site in Pacifica, California (Mori Point, just a few miles south of San Francisco) where the final scene of Harold and Maude was filmed was bought by the Trust for Public Land on September 21, 2000. This is great news for Harold and Maude fans -- it means that the site, which was in danger of development, will now be preserved as open space! It will probably be added eventually to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (a federal park in the San Francisco Bay Area). Mike
Hughes - 09/10/00 22:06:45
My URL:http://www.hugheshall.com
Your city: L.A.

Back in the 80's I worked with a guy who was one of the prop guys on H&M, and he described to me how every evening after the days shooting they would convene to a rented theater in Redwood City to view the previous days rushes. Somebody would be stationed by the door with a shoebox full of joints to be handed out to the people in the crew who needed to be there! I think that's an interesting insight into the tone of the era in which this film was produced.
Christine - 08/26/00 08:13:22
My Email:imhandled@yahoo.com
Your city: Eugene OR

To the legions of fans--I just wanna squish you all in the happiest group hug ever and send Kundalini dancing shivers of joy through your warm hearts! My lust for life is fortified knowing I have at least 27,746 (current site visitor count)friends who'd dig a ride on my humble velour couch, a tin of Jiffy Pop and Harold and Maude on the tube...I will be randomly smiling at a lot more strangers.
Beth - 08/23/00 21:56:54
My Email:fawneyedgirl1@hotmail.com
Your city: Los Angeles

Hi. Back in the 80s when my sisters and I first saw Harold & Maude - we loved it soooo much that we decided to meet Bud Cort. He was just so much more interesting than any of the "teen idols" that were around then. Anyway, we did lots of research to find Mr. Cort and finally, it happened!! First, his agent called us and then we got Bud himself on the phone. We had sorta portrayed ourselves as reporters for a magazine and that we wanted an interview. Well, half of that was true...we did want an interview but we hadn't figured out how to put together a magazine. Hey, one thing at a time, right? Well, we ended up meeting Bud at a really obscure restaurant in Hollywood. He sat with us for a couple of hours -- we were honest about not really being reporters. I think he appreciated the fact that we just wanted to meet him and that we did it. He was SOOOOOO nice to us. A few years after that, he did some show at the Roxy Theatre and we, of course, were there and got to meet him again. He asked about the magazine in a joking sort of way. I still adore him so much.
stewart furini - 08/03/00 19:17:47
My Email:stewart_furini@yahoo.co.uk
Your city: Brighton, UK

I'd like to echo the many comments I have just looked through - Harold and Maude is the greatest film ever. Yes, it too changed my life when I saw it first. It's the most profound and loving film ever made. I show it to children that I teach hoping that they will be able to take as much from it as I did. Thank you for providing this forum for H and M fans worldwide.
stephen - 07/20/00 05:41:03
My Email:stefan76@aol.com
Your city: North Carolina

It is so nice to find this wonderful website, and read all the comments from the people that love this movie. As well as a beautiful movie about life and love, Harold and Maude is the best, most loving movie i have seen about an older woman/younger man relationship..A few years ago, I had a relationship when i was 20, with a woman who was 80, and it was so similar to the movie..I have never met or talked to anyone who thinks that this is beautiful and loving like i believe… I am curious to hear from the harolds and maudes out there who have experienced what i have.....
Addie Campbell - 07/16/00 22:45:31
My Email:ASoleil17@aol.com
Your city: Cleveland, TN

This movie makes my heart happy.
Don - 07/03/00 04:05:47
Your city:  La Quinta, CA

Harold and Maude is my #1 movie. Have the novel, and have seen the film many, many times. One of my regrets is sitting behind Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon on a plane from DFW to LAX, and I never told her how much I liked her perfromance. I didn't want to bother her. But I once did get to talk to Bud Cort on the phone, let him know how great I thought the film was. You have a wonderful web site, and it brought back fond memories.
David Walton - 07/11/00 16:11:37
My Email:david_walton@adg.ardemgaz.com
Your city: Little Rock, Arkansas

Really enjoyed going through your web site and reading all the things about Harold and Maude. This has to be my favorite movie. Really enjoyed the trivia section. My friends and I toured Europe in the summer of 1975 and on our last night before returning home we went to see Harold and Maude in a theater in Luxembourg. It had German subtitles. It was very strange. My friends and I were laughing at the film while looking at the confused faces of the others in the theater. I can only imagine how the dialogue came across in German.
David Blatner - 07/07/00 13:32:10
My URL:http://www.moo.com
My Email:david@moo.com
Your city: Seattle, WA

Very nice site. Harold & Maude was very influential for me. I believe the original hearse was owned by someone in Palo Alto (where I grew up)... down near Waverly. Haven't seen it since about 1983, though.
Don - 07/03/00 04:05:47
Your city:
La Quinta, CA

Harold and Maude is my #1 movie. Have the novel, and have seen the film many, many times. One of my regrets is sitting behind Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon on a plane from DFW to LAX, and I never told her how much I liked her perfromance. I didn't want to other her. But I once did get to talk to Bud Cort on the phone, let him know how great I thought the film was. You have a wonderful web site, and it brought back fond memories
Tony ( PSYCH NURSE)psych NURSE) - 07/02/00 12:09:23
My Email:boyda@net-tech.com.au
Your city: Wodonga Australia

MOST AMAZING MOVIE I HAVE SEEN.I AM PLANNING TO HAVE A HOLIDAY TO THE USA NEXT YEAR AND HOPEFULLY TAKE IN SOME OF THE FILM SITES. BUD CORT AND RUTH GORDON DISPLAYED A REAL BRILLIANCE IN THE MOVIE THAT LEFT AN INDELABLE MARK ON MY ATTITUDE TO LIFE. ON A MORE SOBERING NOTE I SPEND MY DAYS AS A REGISTERED PSYCHIATRIC NURSE WORKING WITH THE POTENTIALLY SUICIDAL PATIENT WITHIN AN ACUTE PSYCH UNIT SO HOPEFULLY MY EXUBERANCE FOR LIFE AND CLINICAL SKILLS CAN MAKE A DIFFERANCE. IF THE MOVIE MOVED YOU TOO, KINDLY EMAIL US FOR A CHAT. BYE FOR NOW
Patricia - 07/02/00 04:41:29
My Email:ticker514@msn.com
Your city: Ft. Washington, MD

Harold and Maude is one of my all time favorite movies. I was excited to see that so many other people felt the same way. 79 year old Maude showed Harold that life is for the living. It was touching and at the same time so funny. This website has inspired me to buy the movie and see it again! Hello to all my soul mates who can find the unusual fun.
Paul - 07/01/00 22:07:52
My Email:cybrat01@aol.com
Your city: Hinsdale, IL

Great site dedicated to one of the finest movies ever made. This film permanantly changed the way I look at life, as I'm sure it has for everybody that has viewed it with an open mind and open heart.
Dave Dill - 07/01/00 19:42:23
My Email:misterlrge@aol.com
Your city: Oakland

I saw this movie as a teenager at the .75 cent movie house Cine 7 in oakland. I sat through it twice and returned several more times that run to see it again, and again. The soundtrack, even today, is invigorating, and the story enchanting. Sick...yes. Funny...hilarious. Sad, well, without a doubt. But, despite its age, it still holds up very well. Amongst the classic Cult movies of its time, or any time. King of Hearts and Kelly's Heroes fall into that catagory as well. Has there ever been a better scene in Hollywood than the breathspray and meat cleaver to the wrist? Maybe the Dennis Hopper death scene in True Romance?
Amelinda - 06/18/00 12:10:03
My Email:Lin_84@yahoo.com
Your city: Chicago

Hello, I am 17 years old, and just started looking into movies made in the 1970's. I just wanted to say this is not only the best movie I have seen in that catagory, but this is the best movie I have ever seen. This movie had a great effect on me. In act, I just got done watching it for the 3rd time and it is 6:00a.m. in the morning and I had to find out more about the movie and the killer sound track. So if you would like to talk about the movie or just about life, email me at Lin_84@yahoo.com. Thank you, Amelinda
Ran - 06/17/00 05:54:32
My Email:haydnout@swbell.net
Your city: Houston

According to Amazon.com, the DVD is to be released 27 June2000. YEA! Wide Screen, Dolby 5.1. Can't wait..I haven't seen this in widescreen since the 70s. "Go and love some more."
Donna - 06/14/00 03:56:13
My Email:Mariadon@aol.com
Your city: Cincinnati

When I was 19 I saw Harold and Maude for the first time with my best friend. We hadn't a clue what we were in store for but often times aver the past 26 years since we remember and laugh over that evening. We had taken a break in the middle of the week from Nursing School and went to Mt. Adams in Cincinnati and saw the movie in a tiny theater. I have always said since then that Harold and Maude was my favorite movie. I bought the movie last week and watched it with my teenage kids last night. They loved it too.
Gayle - 06/13/00 02:53:39
My Email:tiabmaps@aol.com
Your city: Portland

I am informed that Cat Stevens'album "Footsteps in the Dark" is missing "Tea for the Tillerman," "I Wish I Knew," and "I Think I See The Light," so it cannot be considered an H&M soundtrack album. That's what I get for listening to my sister, who has the album -- it's all her fault, she told me it had all the H&M songs on it. But FITD does contain "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out," available nowhere else, plus the liner notes contain Cat Stevens' only public mention, to my knowledge, of Harold & Maude.
Laura T. - 06/11/00 22:35:28
My Email:LKHT75@hotmail.com
Your city: I move a bit..

Harold and Maude has been my fave movie since I first saw it around 1981, my friends and I have incorporated lines from it into our vernacular, we don't even realise we do it now. When I was a film student in the mid/late 80's, I saw it with a more theoretical eye, and damn if it wasn't even better on all those other levels. I could gush for quite a while on the movie. But I won't. Hope to move to the Bay Area and do a location tour - that'd be really dandy. It's nice to read this web page. -L.
Gayle - 06/11/00 17:19:40
My Email:tiabmaps@aol.com
Your city: Portland, Oregon

Followup to my last post about the Harold & Maude soundtrack album, "Footsteps In The Dark" -- I checked Amazon.com and it is not listed. Which probably means that it is out of print, or, rather, has not come out on CD yet (and probably is no longer man factured as an LP). This is the fate of a lot of classic LPs. In fact, most of Cat Stevens' albums after "Teaser" seem to be unavailable on CD as well -- it may be just a matter of time. But it may well be a good idea, if people want the soundtrack to arold & Maude, to contact A&M records and ask them to issue "Footsteps In The Dark" as a CD. I think that due to copyright /ownership problems, they not only could not use Harold&Maude in the title, nor stills from the movie, but also could not promote it as a soundtrack album. That is why so few people are aware that a Harold & Maude soundtrack album exists -- or did exist. However, if Paramount were to cooperate, when "Footsteps In The Dark" is issued as a CD it could be labeled and promoted as a soundtrack album, and undoubtedly would sell much better than it did before. Yes, it does contain "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out" as well as the songs that were already on the Mona Bone Jakon and Tillerman albums; plus liner notes with Cat Stevens' own brief comments (first public comments I am aware of) on Harold & Maude. As mentioned before, he said that he kept those two songs from release in order to make more people (his fans) go see Harold & Maude.
Gayle - 06/11/00 16:10:57
My Email:tiabmaps@aol.com
Your city: Portland, Oregon

Harold & Maude DOES have a soundtrack album. The reason that not many people know about it is that H&M is not mentioned in the title of the album. It is called "Footsteps In The Dark" or something very close to that. (It is possible that the reason that H&M is not mentioned in the title has to do with copyright legalities -- there are no pictures either, nothing that Paramount owns.) In the liner notes, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) says that the reason that he waited so long (ten years or so) to put out a oundtrack album was so that his fans would have to go see H&M in order to hear two of his songs that were available nowhere else.
jer fairall - 06/08/00 04:11:31
My Email:j_fairall@yahoo.com
Your city: windsor, ontario

It's kinda stupid that in this age of cross-marketing, where EVERY film that come out has a corresponding soundtrack, whether music was integral to the film or not (see "The Blair Witch Project") that "Harold and Maude" still doesn't have one. Yes, you could buy the two or three Cat Stevens albums that the songs are scattered on and piece a soundtrack together yourself, but I'm sure that if a soundtrack for it was released, even today, it would be very popular. Maybe one could be released for the films 30th anniversary next year (and why not include Ruth Gordon's rendition of "If You Want To Sing Out..."). So, who do we write/email/call to make this happen?
negabard - 06/07/00 09:13:27
My Email:negabard@yahoo.com

Great site. I remember watching this movie for the first time on Christmas Eve, the art house was letting out around the same time Midnight Mass was getting out from the Cathedral across the street... It was a wonderful, and moving experience. The integra ion of the songs is especially sublime. Can someone tell me the proper order of the songs as they appear in the movie? I have searched and found the list from the japanese released soundtrack at catstevens.com (the last 2 songs are not on this album) Thanks in advance. 1-Morning has broken 2-Wild world 3-I think I see the light 4-I wish, I wish 5-Trouble 6-Father and Son 7-Miles from nowhere 8-Lilywhite 9-Where do the children play 10-On the road to findout 11-Lady D'Arbanville 12-Tea for the tillerman *13-Don't be shy *14-If you want to sing out
Rusty Scalf - 05/29/00 18:27:18
My Email:rscalf@jps.net
Your city: Berkeley, CA

Life might be best lived with a certain attitude. Perhaps this movie offers a clue.
Daffodil - 05/29/00 00:34:08
My Email:Pajamarama@Hotmail.com
Your city: America is my country, but Paris is my hometown.

Emily from Portland? How long have you been impersonating me? I thought I was the only one who dedicated my life to Bud Cort, H&M, black lic and chocolate chip mint ice cream. Well, you can't forget Cat Stevens. Wow, well, all of you, never ever stop worshipping H&M. It is the best movie in the world. Like Maude recognized Harold as a kindred spirit, one can always recognize a kindred because they have that life that Maude carries so energetically and proudly. One who can change the whole expression of his face without moving a muscle, just by changing the glint in his eye from innocent to malicious. I'm going to marry Harold, and in the meantime, eat lots of ice cream and licorice, greet the dawn with a breath of fire, drink Old Straw tea, and spend my day happily wallowing in the peace of mind I am given from watching Harold fall in love with Maude over and over again, while Maude goes through a transition from life to death, and Harold goes through the opposite. If I could do so without being an obscene, corrupt malicious dictator, I would make everyone watch Harold and Maude, and make everyone get it. Although it would defeat the whole purpose of the movie, and be extremely hypocritical, I think the world would be the better for it.
Patty - 05/28/00 05:30:50
My Email:Patty@hostworks.com
Your city: Denver, Colorado

I am so glad to see this site. I had a H&M webpage up in '96 but took down the site when I split up with my business partner (who had the server). I had intended the site to be a shrine like this one has become! I am thrilled to see so many other H&M believers. I watch the movie every few months just to keep my outlook where it needs to be. The greatest compliment I've ever received was when my 11 yr. old daughter told me that she was sure I'd be just like Maude as I aged. Long live H&M!
karen - 05/24/00 14:32:52
My Email:supaginger@hotmail.com
Your city: Durban South Africa

Well of all the guests and greatest H&M groupies signed in here the primal one had to be my mum ..winnie....b.rust@lineone.net Well mum yes you gave me the gift of many things one was H&M and i thank you. Even now many years later we still watch it together, some things never change *treasured memories are the best* no-one can take it away! thanx for a great site love the pic of maude throwing the medallion keepsake... *doesnt it say it all!!! If you want to be free be free.......
Keta - 05/20/00 02:37:34
My Email:tketa@earthlink.net
Your city: Los Angeles

How beautiful is this Internet thing -- to find so many lovers of Harold and Maude in one place! Turns out I'm a slacker in comparison to some of you. Thank you, Mike, for creating this lovely little site. I first saw H&M in 1973. I lost track of how many times I saw it but it was well over 30. That's nothing, you may say, but remember that this was pre-VCRs and I had to go to a movie theatre to see it and it didn't play endlessly. One week, after almost tw years of not seeing it I went three days in a row. For many of you this wouldn't seem odd but for people in my circle it was downright weird. Oddly, for one who enjoys watching the same films on video numerous times, I've only rented Harold and Maude a few times. I rented it again the other night (which led me to IMDB, which led me here) and realized why I don't enjoy the video: I miss too much of the good bits: Mrs. Chasen's eyes rolling as she swims past Harold, Sunshine's first wink, Maude's Nazi Concentration Camp tatoo. Incredibly, there was something completely new this time around. When the priest is chasing down Maude as she and Harold are about to drive away in his hearse he asks her if she was the one who painted the St. Christopher medal on the dashboard. When Maud asks how he liked it and he says, "I didn't" she reposits: "For the sake of aesthetic appreciation, always a little time." Now I can't remember what I thought she was saying but I do know that it's the first time I clearly heard that line. It struck me t at it will be a good long time before we have films with a vocabulary like the one in H&M. I will risk shunning here by revealing that I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with this film. Sometimes I adore every frame and other times I am truly troubled by Maude's choice. Even so.....it remains far and away my favorite film. "Harold, that was your last date!"
Lise - 05/12/00 13:40:14
My Email:robinlise@hotmail.com
Your city: Tours (France)

Hello, moi je suis française et j'ai adoré votre site. Ca fait plaisir de voir que beaucoup ont aimé cet exeptionnel film..... Thanks a lot -- Lise from France
Winnie Fisher - 05/11/00 22:20:56
My Email:b.rust@lineone.net
Your city: Abergle. N. Wales UK

I first saw Harold and Maude when I was living in South Africa way back in 1971. The run was extended again and again. Friends and I went back for more - we couldn't get enough. What a movie! there will never be another like it. It is a unique film in that every character is significant, from the brilliant Vivian Pickles and Ruth Gordon to Uncle Harold and the police officer. Superb casting. My daughter who was only 12 at the time became an instant devotee. She still lives in SA and all her e-mails start with a memorable line from the film. My most memorable line: "I suppose you think thats very funny, Harold"! Thanks a million for the amazing web pages and greetings to all your H&M fans everywhere. Winnie.
amy - 05/09/00 05:37:46
My Email:ajdamitz@juno.com
Your city: nashville

As a 16 year old girl, i fell in love with harold and maude- the film, as well as the characters themselves. it is absolutely my favorite movie of all time. i have completely wore out my video, with repeted weekly viewings for the past five years. Pretty much no one is allowed in my house without watching harold and maude first. june 20th is going to be like christmas for me(dvd!!) and i plan too have a harold and maude viewing party(ive never seen it in widescreen) to celebrate- cant wait!!! its so exciting to see so many fans of such a great film. thanks for making such a cool site!! -question- does anyone else out there havee a vhs copy thats missing part of the scene when harold chops off his hand? the first time i ever saw it, his facial expression made me laugh so hard that i rewound the rental copy probably 5 times, but the copy that i bought imediately the next day is missing a couple seconds of it. everytime i show it to someone, i have to pause it and demonstrate the missing facial expression. wasnt sure if i was the only one..
Aaron - 05/09/00 02:33:32
My Email:aaronangello@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for a wonderful site. I wanted to leave a message for all of the world's Harold and Maude fans. There is an important H&M event about to take place. On July 8, 2000, there is to be a major production of the stage play which Colin Higgins based on his screenplay, in Los Angeles. Maude is to be played by Ellen Geer, who played Sunshine (the actress date) in the film. To my knowledge, it is the first major production of the play. Check out www.theatricum.com for more info.
Aaron - 05/09/00 02:32:44
My Email:aaronangello@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for a wonderful site. I wanted to leave a message for all of the worlds Harold and Maude fans. There is an important H&M event about to take place. On July 8, 2000, there is to be a major production of the stage play which Colin Higgins based on his screenplay, in Los Angeles. Maude is to be played by Ellen Geer, who played Sunshine (the actress date) in the film. To my knowledge, it is the first major production of the play. Check out www.theatricum.com for more info.
Juli - 05/05/00 01:17:16
My Email:jbelian@prodigy.net
Your city: San Francisco

Just moved here, realized about the Sutro Baths -- my God, I can't believe you've hunted down all the sites. When I lived in Texas (most of my life), I thought I was doing well to notice the California state flag carried by the band after the funeral! Thank you for a wonderful site.
daniella zipkin - 05/04/00 14:03:41
My Email:daniella.zipkin@med.nyu.edu
Your city: NY

I'm from the Bay Area, and I actually went to junior high school with the Stacey for whom Stacey court is named. She lived in that house, her family still does I believe. Glad to see so many faithfuls -- H&M is clearly the best movie ever made.
molly stewart - 04/27/00 04:14:30
My Email:littlesthobo3@cs.com
Your city: san jose

My family watches this movie every year on Christmas day. I shall forever associate Maude being chased by a shrunken head and the birth of Jesus Christ
Peter Goers - 04/11/00 10:49:02
My Email:melgeorge00@go.com
Your city: Adelaide

Give us an L. Give us an I. Give us a V. Give us an E... L-I-V-E. Otherwise you've got nothing to talk about in the locker room!! I first saw Harold and Maude on a visit to America in 1983 and it was like going to church with the whole audience mumbling the dialogue along with the actors. It has since become my favourite film and I have seen it 29 times. I saw it again the other night for the first time in some years and find it as fresh and beautiful as ever. It is an affirming black comedy and I adore Ruth Gordon. When she died, I wrote to her husband, Garson Kanin, and he kindly sent me a clipping of Miss Gordon's last personal appearance which happened to be at a screening of H&M at Martha's Vineyard where they lived. Alas Mr Kanin has since died. Some years ago I supervised a stage production of the play which delighted audiences here in Adelaide, South Australia. Unfortunately video copies of the film are extremely rare in Australia and it has not been re-released since the mid '80's, and it should be. So long as there is cinema, there will always be an audience for this true, cult, this, ribbon of dreams.
Brian Koerperich - 04/06/00 03:57:43
My Email:man5devil6god7@hotmail.com
Your city: Davenport,Ia

I signed the questbook back in November of 1997! Can you believe how fast 2 and a half years went by? Drop of a hat. Anyway. It's been close to that since I've seen Harold and Maude. It's timeless though. I still hear Maude's voice. I'm now older than Harold was in the movie. That's a wierd feeling. I was scared that my name would get erased from the list. I just feel like I need to be a part of it. It makes my heart glad to know there are people like me. I love everyone on the list, and I try to love everyone else. See everyone in a couple years?
Christine - 03/30/00 08:57:35
My Email:chaostoorder@hotmail.com
Your city: Sydney Australia

I've just turned my daughter on to H&M - it is my favourite movie, and now its hers. She first saw it about 3 months before she turned 13 - now she tries to show it to everyone - so far, no friends "get" it. Poor littlee people - maybe late - I hope. I've een it about 50 times now - the last 10-15 with my little one. I'm an older Mum, so I saw it when it first came out in the 70's. It was the first video I rented when I got a machine!
Andrew - 03/28/00 06:28:01
My URL:http://www.geocities.com/gonzoriffic
My Email:gonzoriffic@yahoo.com
Your city: Athens, GA

HAROLD AND MAUDE stands today as one of the best films ever made. I never get tired of seeing it, and I am moved each time. I feel this is going to be one of those timeless classics, that future generations will appreciate, thus elevating it from "cult" status. Why is there no soundtrack available? The nine Cat Stevens songs are wonderful, and it'd be nice to have them all on one record.
Jennie Webb - 03/20/00 23:05:21
My Email:jenniewebb@earthlink.net
Your city: Los Angeles

Hello - a plea for help to any and all "Harold and Maude" fans: As an intro, I'm working with a major theatre company in the LA area called the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. It was started in the early 50s by Will Geer before he was Grandpa on "The Waltons" as a theatre for blacklisted artists (Geer was himself a victim of McCarthyism). Since his death in 1978 it's been run by his daughter, Ellen Geer. She (you probably know) was in the film "Harold and Maude," as Sunshine. Anyhow, the theatre's including "Harold and Maude" in its Summer Rep Series. I wasn't even aware that it's a play, but Higgins wrote the stage version in (maybe) the mid or late 70s. Does anyone know anything about the theatrical production history?? I found info on tours in the US (and Europe?) starring the likes of Glynis Johns and French actress Madeleine Renaud, and that it bombed on Broadway in 80/81 under the direction of Bobby Lewis. Any and all comments or insights would be most appreciated! Also, if anyone's interested there's an interview with Ellen Geer(with some comments on the film) on a theatre website, http://TheaterMania.com. Hope to hear from someone, and thanks for your help! Jennie Webb jenniewebb@earthlink.net
Cathy - 03/16/00 05:12:00
My Email:snakes_n_dogs@yahoo.com
Your city: Alameda

I too have used H&M to test suitors. This last one checked out! He never saw it before (poor dear), I sat him down in front of the VCR on our second date (why wait?). He loved it. Needless to say, he turned out to be a real keeper! It's been about a year since I signed this guestbook. My how its grown!
Rebecca - 03/09/00 01:37:35
My Email:babrflavr@aol.com
Your city: Charlottesville

I just wanted to let the makers of this site and the people who contributed to it know how happy you all have made me today. I watched Harold and Maude for the first time last night and I fell in love with it. This site has gotten me even more interested in it, and I look forward to watching it several more times to see what I missed on the first viewing. It is refreshing to see how many people truly loved such an uncynical, beautiful, and positive movie as much as I did.
Stargazyrr - 03/08/00 04:13:21
My URL:http://members.aol.com/stargazyrr/home.html
My Email:Stargazyrr@aol.com
Your city: Los Angeles

Your website is awesome, for lack of a better word. Just so you know, I'm planning on road-tripping sometime in the near future using your shooting locations list as a guideline to pay homage to this marvelous film. Thanks!
Margie - 03/08/00 00:30:27
My Email:but2fly@usa.net
Your city: Long Beach

Wow, I can't believe it took me so long to look for a H&M web site! H&M has been my most favorite film since I was around 14 years old. I'm such a H&M dork that my dog is named Maude and my cat is named Harold...I know, I know. The comment I read about using H&M as a way to test possible suitors was great, I've done that with all of my friends, just to see how they would react..I must say, the one's who liked it have turned out to be long term friends, the one's who said "Geez, that movie was sad" I made sure first to explain why it is everything BUT sad and then if they still didn't get it, well you know. I will now be dedicated to this page and I thank everyone out there who "gets it". ;)
Summer - 03/06/00 19:57:24
My Email:summerd@alloymail.com
Your city: Berkley

At the risk of sounding redundant, H&M is the best film ever made and unfortunately underestimated. I, too, show it to prospective suitors...in fact, one so disheartened me during the scene where the doctors talked to Harold about Maude's death, all he noticed (instead of the utter sadness) was that in the reflection of the hospital window you could see someone open and close their car door three times. Needless to say, that was our first and last date. But, hey, does anyone else think that Topher Grace on "That 70's Show" would make an awesome Harold? He looks so much like him!
paul - 02/18/00 18:04:43
My Email:pablo@vicarageroad.freeserve.co.uk
Your city: bristol, england

I signed this book back in July, but since then I've seen H&M countless times and it gets better every time. I ordered Colin Higgins' novel from Amazon and although its out of print they found me a copy. It's very similar to the script. In the church where they first meet Maude borrows Harold's pen and draws a smile on some dour portraits of the Madonna and saints. '"An unhappy saint is a contradiction in terms", she explained.' There's more on Glaucus as well, whose dream is to carve Venus, but he keeps falling asleep. '"Each morning I am delivered a new block of ice. Each evening my eyes grow weary, my hands hang heavy, and I am swept down Lethe to slumber -while my godess, half born, drips away - unseen, unsung, and unknown."' I was delighted to find out that Maude does Tai Chi too. I'm going to get a tatoo done - simply Harold Loves Maude.
evamarie - 02/12/00 00:56:17
My Email:evamarie9@hotmail.com
Your city: east coast

I was so pleased to visit this site and find others who love this film as much as I. To me , the most poignant moment of the film is when Harold is driving his car in the rain, towards the cliff, right after learning that Maude died. The look on his face...we can all identify with it, the helpless frantic moments of knowing the person we love is gone, the feeling of intense, aching sadness and pain. I feel that Harold and Maude portrays the best kind of love story...loving someone for who they are inside.
NIKKI - 02/08/00 17:44:18
My Email:nnparker74@hotmail.com
Your city: LA

IN COLLEGE, I WOULD SHOW HAROLD AND MAUDE TO PROSPECTIVE BOYFRIENDS AS A TEST. IF THEY LIKED IT, GREAT. IF THEY DIDN'T, WELL YOU KNOW...
Amanda Blace - 02/01/00 05:40:52
My Email:blissiznow@gurlmail.com
Your city: harrisburg pa

what a wonderful site....finally someone who knows more about harold and maude other than a 80 yr old woman having sex with a 19 yr old boy. i took a journalism class this last sem and in an article the prof had us read it stated harold was gay....an insight?
Shawn Green - 01/25/00 00:20:31
My Email:beaarthur@hotmail.com
Your city: Harrisburg

This is a great companion piece for anyone who loves this movie. I saw the film for the first time 3 years ago, and have seen it close to 50 times since (I never kept count). It still has the same effect on me. I love it. I love Maude. May the film and sites like this keep her spirit alive--even if she is fiction.
Mary Kralicke - 01/19/00 05:58:35
My Email:mlektex@yahoo.com
Your city: Irving, Texas

I am a Drama/English high school teacher. One of my classes is Novel/Film, where we read original works and then view the movie. We have seen the usual--classics such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and others, but recently my students asked me to choose my favorite film--one that I loved when I was their age--18. I realized, after a few minutes of contemplation, it had to be Harold and Maude. So I rented it, watched it again for the first time in twentysomething years and it all came back--Cat Stevens, Bud Cort (with whom I once shared a joint at a terrible party in LA) the beautiful Ruth Gordon. I realized, H&M wasn't just my favorite movie as an 18 year old,it is one of my favorite movies of all time. I've just been too busy with life to give much thought to this fact, but then, I think that's just what Maude would've wanted. I can't wait to show it to my students. Think they'll like it? We'll see.
Kristine - 01/18/00 06:27:22

Saw this movie with my 1st love 20 yrs ago... saw it with my 11 yr old daughter last night. This is the only religion I really feel strongly enough about to give her...the ideas expressed in the movie sum it up for me. I'm glad she loved it- I was afraid the music might be too dated but the next day I heard her humming "if you want to sing out, sing out". I also showed her "My Bodygaurd" a 1979ish movie, also with Ruth Gordon that many should see! Thank you for this great site!
Ray - 01/18/00 05:43:25
My Email:FraconBegs@aol.com
Your city: New York

Harold and Maude saved my life. This is a beautiful and original film that should be required viewing for anyone desiring to lead a sincere and amazing life. Cat Stevens is God. Bud Cort is rock and roll. Maude is Neal Cassidy. Goodnight.
John Rogers - 01/13/00 08:11:28
My Email:jprogers@netvigator.com
Your city: Hong Kong

It seems the guest book got too big - needed a trim? In reply to the earlier comment: I thought it said "Permaseal" (i.e. not "Samsonite") on the coffin and was making an ironic coment on what people are shopping for in hereafter accessories. I like to keep logging in to find out what new trivia or conections have popped up; the actual hearse´s paperwork, Tyner´s cousin, Ruth on Nantucket - and the missing location of Maude´s train coach! Well done Mr.Sullivan, keep it up. Must go, Candy was just telling me SUCH an amusing story about Walter Cronkite..............:-) PS any Japanese fans out there?
Bill - 12/30/99 02:47:51
My Email:whksoul@yahoo.com
Your city: Boston Ma

Friends, My family has a summer place on Nantucket and Ruth Gordon was a family friend when I was growing up. I never gave her much thought as a kid. But when I was 15 [in 1980] my girlfriend at the time took me to see Harold and Maud at the Harvard Square Theater. Back in those days before the advent of video machines the Harvard Square Theater was a vintage movie house and was one of those huge theaters from Victorian Times. It was great! I thought the film was fantastic and Debbie came with me to Nantucket to see Ruth a few months after that. Ruth was in fine spirits that day. When I knew her she was reflective. She loved doing Harold and Maud especially because she had been writing and producing and was getting back into acting after many years when she did that film. When Debbie and I went to see her in 1980 she had just finished "My Bodyguard" and said it was sort of like Harold and Maude. In any case I still enjoy this film. Ruth would have enjoyed this web site as she loved fans and loved to discuss her films. Well done!!!
Megan Brunner - 12/19/99 03:59:11
My Email:BlacDahlia

In H&M Uncle Victor is played by Charles Tyner. He is my second cousin. (Yes, he is still alive.) Check out the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) and search for him, it will give you his filmography. If any one has any questions or comments feel free to email me. Meg
John - 12/03/99 21:31:09
My Email:jtm57@aol.com
Your city: New Hope PA

I am visitor 10419 to this site. What can I say about Harold and Maude. It sums up my philosophy of life. You can only appreciate life when you see its reflection in your opposite. One who despairs of what his life has to hold and one who rejoices in what life has brought. Like any classic, the layers of meaning become more apparent everytime I watch it.
Sharon Reddy - 12/02/99 00:37:17
My Email:sharon.reddy@lmco.com
Your city: Phoenix, AZ

This was a thread on the new Cat Stevens website, http://www.catstevens.co.uk/ I think you'll find it interesting. Also, I just wanted to say that I read the "Reviews" here and after reading Ruth Gordon's thoughts, I was getting choked up. You are right, you can tell a lot about a person by their favori e movie. Harold and Maude is mine: Vivian: For over a week now, we have all been trying to decide what was Cat's best song. We have come up with one conclusion: EVERY SINGLE ONE Something we all can agree on, I think, is our favorite movie: Harold & Maude. So I have an Idea. Why not have fun discussing which part of the movie is our favorite: if it ever possible; let's give it try. For me 2 moments seem to stick in my mind. Like others I've heard mention seeing the tattoo on Maude's arm; being jewish myself that touched me since I actually have distant reletives who are survivors of Hitler's concentration camps. The other is when Harold helped Maude steal the tree and replant it in the forrest and went on to liberate canaries from a pet shop. If you read my profile you'll know why that moment meant a lot to me. But all in all the whole film is FANTASTIC!!! I wrote back: Hi Viv! One scene that sticks out for me is when Harold visits Maude and she's got only a towel around her. She tells him she's been posing for an artist who wanted to paint "a real" woman for a change! Of course the ending is absolutely wonderful....I read that at the time the studio wanted an ending where Harold dies in the car over the cliff but CS insisted on an uplifing ending. He was so right!!!! A sad ending would have missed the whole point. I've always said that Maude is my ideal. My goal is to be like her as I age--viewing the world with such sparkling eyes and so full of spiritual grace!!! I just found out about this website. Thanks
Mitchell Freedman - 11/23/99 21:32:45
My Email:freedman87@aol.com
Your city: Newbury Park

Your H&M site is fabulous! In New Jersey, where I grew up, a movie house in Linden, NJ would play H&M with Annie Hall, or Blazing Saddles, or with Where's Poppa. That last film seems more "sick" today, incidently, but H&M grows in its beauty and gentleness. I would take dates to see H&M and if they didn't get it, I was not interested. My wife--obviously and therefore--loves H&M as much as I do! I was also glad, when I linked to the Cat Stevens site, that he is finally coming to peace with himself. His songs were and remain wonderful. He created the best soundtrack for any movie with the soundtrack for H&M.
Debra Durham - 11/22/99 19:38:11
My Email:O2Bminerva@aol.com
Your city: Jacksonville

What a wonderful site! I have really enjoyed reading all of the observations and theories submitted by "kindred spirits" of this great film. Although I have seen the movie at least 50 times, I never fail to notice some minute detail that I didn't catch before. Colin Higgins is a true artist, and the cast is perfect. Cat Stevens' musical score reaches into the soul and draws one's emotions out to the surface. It is beyond me how anyone who sees this film isn't, in some way, transformed and uplifted. In conclusion, H&M is the greatest film of the millinnium...it RULES!
Bob - 11/16/99 19:25:39
My Email:ppackch1@hotmail.com
Your city: Paupack, PA

Dear friends, > I saw Harold and Maude for the first time in 1972, on the double > bill with some forgettable Paramount Feature that was supposed to be the > bee's knees. Anyway, this movie comes on and Cat Stevens music begins > to play and the whole thing begins to live. I've taken my parents, > family, girlfriends to see it and every person has been moved by it > (except for one.) I was responsilble formy college's film program, > 1974-1977, and it was shown there. It is a great film that I watched > again last night. > I noticed something very unusual after having seen this film at > least 150 times. I know what the film credits say about who the > motorcycle cop is, however, the gut is a dead ringer for Tom Skerrit, > who had finished M*A*S*H not long before this was filmed. It even > sounds like him. What do you think? > ppackch1@hotmail.com
Jurgen - 11/16/99 18:36:05
My Email:jurgenmallQhotmail.com
Your city: Bremen, Germany

It's a marvellous page, and expresses quite well what I have been thinking about this movie since I was 8 years old. Some people were discussing Maude's Origin on the Trivia page. She is not Jewish, but the Original script (as I know it) made her an Austrian countess, who grew up in Vienna's prewar aristocracy. It is not clear why exactly she ended up in a Concentration camp, but taking her fighting spirit against all sorts of tyranny, one can imagine. People wondering why there has been no official soundtrack for the movie: Cat Stevens did not agree to publish the two songs written especially for the movie (Don't be shy / If you want to sing out, sing out) so that everybody who wanted to listen to the songs HAD to watch the movie as well. The two songs were only released on his Best-Of-Album in the mid-eighties. By the way, any more HM-Fans around in Germany? Been searching for one for years ...
Vivian Kenudson - 11/14/99 17:34:19
My URL:http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/5862/harold.htm
My Email:hepbuske@mail.mia.bellsouth.net
Your city: Hallandale,Florida

In the early 1970's when I was a young teenager, I had a huge crush on Cat Stevens. I knew the film, "Harald & Maude exsisted but was never able to find it. I stumbled across it by accident in the mid 1990's and bought it instantly. Great movie: So fu l of inspiration. If you want to Sing out, Sing out is one of my favorite songs. By the way, for those of you wanting to know what Bud Cort has done since Harald & Maude, I do know of one movie; called Die Laughing in which he plays the part of a mad scientist. It also stars Robby Benson who stars as a cab driver turned rock musician. Benson's biggest musical inspiration was, by the way, Cat Stevens.
Annie Oberstar - 11/13/99 01:40:57
My Email:elektragrrl@hotmail.com
Your city: Washington, DC

For a world that rarely acknowledges or takes time to consider the horror and the beauty found in the life/death cycle, I have always thought that "Harold and Maude" expresses quite simply and profoundly one of the greatest of human experiences. Having experienced loss at a young age, I can say that the movie touches me deeply and reminds me of what life still has yet to offer. Maude is my favorite character and reminds me of the person I lost a long time ago! Thanks for your great website. A friend introduced me to it and I was glad for the reminder of a fantastic and touching film! Ben- Now I remember the "birds"! -Annie
Cullen McCormick - 11/12/99 07:28:05
My Email:kriya7@yahoo.com
Your city: Menlo Park

H&M is the sunlight reflecting off the surface of our deepwater souls, it is a warm place in the caverns of the heart. To call it a movie is almost a crime. It's really an experience that re-introduces us to our own humanity and opens up the possibilities for true, honest living. It has and will always give me hope and courage. I'm THRILLED to see there are so many of you out there who adore H&M. Be well!!!!
Jim Skrydlak - 10/20/99 21:29:26
My Email:jim.skrydlak@stanfordalumni.org
Your city: Mountain View, California

First saw Harold and Maude pretty much by accident when a law school classmate dragged me out of the library one Sunday evening to watch the Sunday flicks at Stanford. I loved it then, and I love it now. I've seen it approximately twenty times now, and pick up something new every time. Gotta go eat my beets now.
Chris - 09/13/99 05:14:02
Your city: Baltimore

I first saw H&M when I still lived in Germany, more than 10 years ago, now. I've enjoyed the movie since the first time my sister rented it and have seen it many times since. I love Cat Steven's music and believe that his "deep" lyrics add a lot to the wo derful story line. This movie, especially Maude's positive attitude inspires me over and over again. Although I was only 16 years old when I first saw this movie, it still affects me the same way now, as a 26-year-old psychologist. I've gone so far as to ecommend this movie to some of my patients (choosing carefully, mind you, how my patient's might react to Harold's constant suicides). I have had very positive feedback from those who have seen the movie. So in a very positive way, I have been able to use this movie not just to remind myself about the positive life has within itself, but also to discuss this with my patients. Maude's attitude is something that has had a great influence on my own life, as well as others', and in a very positive and upliftin way. All I can do is thank those people who made this movie, a classic indeed, possible.
Adatiel - 09/11/99 02:29:47
My Email:Deardenj@tiac.net
Your city: Fitzwilliam N.H

King of Hearts, Death in Venice, Meet Joe Black, and a few others, but none "pang" the nostalgia chords like Harold and Maude.
Dragon Green - 09/09/99 05:16:15
My URL:http://www.sirius.com/~ratbat67
My Email:ratbat67@sirius.com
Your city: San Francisco

I just wanted to thank you for putting this site together. I was reading through the trivia and it brought the movie to life for me again. It is such a beautiful work of art. It has moved me so deeply, over and over again. Thanks again.
Chris B. Mock - 08/26/99 22:49:16
Your city: Oklahoma City, Ok.

I saw "Harold and Maude" on a double bill with "The Elephant Man" when I was eleven back in 1980. They are both two of my favorite films today, but "H&M" will always be the first to mind when someone asks me what is my favorite film of all time. For a long time I wanted to BE Harold. I even recreated bloody suicide scenes in the bathtub for my mother - who was used to my fascination with splatter movies so it didn't really surprise her. I rode my bike to attend a couple of stranger's funerals, I took my first girlfriend for a picknick in the cemetery, and when I was fifteen I just knew I wanted a hearse for my first car. My parents clearer heads prevailed on that one ("Think about the parking hassles!").
jim foreman - 08/26/99 21:39:51
My Email:jwforemanjforeman@msn.com
Your city: los angeles

i was talking with bud's agent today and began waxing nostalgically when i found your website.i have seen H&M 176 times! i must admit that the first 154 viewings were due to my employment in the early 70's at the victoria opera house in dayton ohio where we ran the movie for over 20 weeks (it was suppose to be a 2 wk run). the additional 22 viewings have been for friends that weren't familiar with the film. i am probably in need of a new copy.it has ranked as my favorite film ever since the 1st time i saw it. the song "trouble" still brings a tear to my eye and i mourned ruths passing as if she were a family member. glad to see that i was not alone in my admiration of this masterpiece. we should all get together in l.a. or s.f. and watch it on the big screen at least once a year. those of us who related to the characters in the 70's are well past the angst but the tenderness that envelopes this movie will live on in our hearts until we hit the big 8 0 . sing out!
Stan - 08/13/99 22:21:50
My Email:rsctv@webtv.net
Your city: Norman, OK

Collin Higgins, who wrote the book is a genius! I've seen Harold and Maude about 20 times in the theater and I can't say how many times I've watched the video at home. It's always nostalgic to watch the movie since I grew up in San Mateo County in California where most of the movie was shot. I've seen every site they used in the film...some of them are now gone, but many still remain. The most profound line in the movie for me is when Harold described how he enjoyed being dead. Maude tell him, "Reach out; take a chance; get hurt even, but play as well as you can." Pretty good advice I'd say!
jess w. - 07/28/99 03:48:33
My Email:river611@hotmail.com
Your city: Emeryville, CA

i've been taking a harold and maude tour around the bay area these last two weeks. it's pretty cool. i went out to pacifica yesterday after accidentally passing the golden gate nat'l cemetary and driving through that, and i went up to where the last scene was filmed. man... i gotta say, what a hike! but what a gorgeous place! i forgot the directions off your page, all i remembered was the moose lounge and i turned on some random street and there it was! anyway, yeah. so far i've hit the church, both cemetaries, the bridge, the mudflats, and pacifica. so if any one lives in the bay area... make it out to these places, at least pacifica.
jess
Jeanne - 07/22/99 20:36:20
My Email:jeannew@usc.edu
Your city: Burbank

This is a wonderful web page devoted to H&M. It wasn't that long ago that a friend introduced me to the movie, and now it is my favorite. The movie touches on so many deep things in my--and as I can tell from this web site, many others'--solar plexus. Som of it is very hard to put into words. But I can say that I am wholly grateful for this wonderful movie.
paul - 07/19/99 23:38:05
My Email:pablo@vicarageroad.freeserve.co.uk
Your city: Bristol, U.K.

so excited to find this website and then all of you like-minded people who were as moved as i was by H&M. After watching it for the first time, feeling on the high that it lifted me to, i just had to rewind it and watch it again. I couldn't believe that a film could make me laugh so hard, cry, and raise so many BIG questions about the nature of our existence. I love Harold and I feel that I'm like him - still lots to learn, finding life difficult sometimes. I love Maude and I know that I want to be like her - finding life a breeze, and so in control of her life that she can even orchestrate her death (or re-birth). Totally inspirational. So sad to hear that Colin Higgis died of an AIDS related illness. He must have been a beautiful person.
Harald - 07/04/99 11:59:14
My Email:haraldkolaas@hotmail.com
Your city: Oslo

I saw this film the first and only time 10 tears ago. Its difficult to describe the feeling this folm gave me, a feeling i have been sitting with ever since. Magic. This film is FILM. Ewerithing about it: script, actors, acters, director is just Magic. Bu I have a problem. I have realy tried to get a copy who fits the european market, PAL, it is very difficult. Even the company with the filmrights, Esselte video, couldn´t help me. I called them, spoke to a lady which said it was her favorite movie above all movies, but the film "just vanished 10 years ago". She sent me the cover to the video, and wished me luck. The wishing has so far not been any help. If any H&M soulmate out there could help with a copy, I will be ever thankful. I meen, I realy need his film now. Its like crack, you now. Once you felt that magic feeling, you will never see the world wth the same eyes. You are hooked. With love to you all, Harold.
Dr. Zeyd Merenkov - 06/18/99 12:02:53
My Email:drzeyd@myworldmail.com
Your city: Muscat, OMAN, Persian Gulf

I first saw Harold and Maude in 1971 as a college student. About 15 years later, I purchased a VHS copy while still living in the United States. All my friends who saw it with me in college still remembered it and could quote scenes from it. I left the United States almost ten years ago but I still keep that copy of Harold and Maude. It has captured the spirit of the 60s, the essence of rebellion from the staid ways of the 50s--to open oneself to new possibilities and get down to the true priorities of life. I have shown this film to my daughters to let them flavor that turbulent but sweet time. The 60s are gone forever, at least we have Harold and Maude to remind us of the past and let us not forget the lessons that epoch taught us.
Patrick - 06/18/99 08:48:54
My Email:Patrick_Burke @dccnet.com
Your city: Vancouver,B.C.

I was at the local videodrone tonite looking for a movie to watch with my 9 year old son. My eye caught Harold and Maude. I haven't seen it in years but it touched me in a special way like so many others. I started to think about what movies kids have now to make sense of their universe and felt rather sad. Somehow I do not think that many kids will be able to look back 28 years from now and think how "Spawn" reached out and touched their heart. Anyway I resisted the urge to tell my son what the movie was about or what I thought about it. I wanted to see if it could still "sing out". Tonite my son was tired and he fell asleep after about 10 minutes but the beauty of a 28 year old movie is a seven day rental! That just about the the right time for Harold and Maude to work it magic. I have no expectations about what my son will think of the movie but I would certainly find it life affirming if the magic chords of Harold and Maude are not lost.
Lawrence Jeziak - 06/17/99 13:44:36
My URL:http://member.aol.com/ljeziak
My Email:LJeziak@aol.com
Your city: Detroit

I, too, consider Harold and Maude one of the great movies -- certainly of the 70s if not all-time. I have seen this movie more than 100 times (even before it was available on video tape), wrote an Honor's Essay about the film in getting my bachelor's degre in English, and now show the film to my Intro to Film to define "cult" films and expand the "screwball comedy" genre. This is a wonderful web site.
Joel Hardin - 06/16/99 15:53:27
My URL:http://members.tripod.com/JoelHardin/mainpage.index
My Email:joelwh@lcc.net
Your city: Nacogdoches, Texas

Harold and Maude is by far my favorite film. I was introduced to the film by an eccentric teacher of mine in high school. The first time I watched it was at a party and I did not get the full effect. I borrowed it from him and watched it alone. At the end as Maude dies and "Trouble" is playing I actually wept. I have never wept during a movie before. I try to watch the film at least once a year, and to share it with someone whenever possible. I must say, when watching the film for the first time, I recommend watching it alone. This is a wonderful site and I am pleased to find others who enjoy this film as much as I. You have my humble appreciation.
superstar - 05/23/99 23:08:09
Your city: Detroit

I just saw the flick yesterday for the 1st time, and it was amazing!! This is a great website, too
The Duck - 05/20/99 02:18:27
My Email:QuackedUp1@aol.com
Your city: Ca

Greetings fellow Harold and Maude devotees~ I was looking at one of Harold's faux suicide scenes, the one in the bathroom where he has sliced himself up. It looks like he is holding out a red rose in one hand. Does anyone else have any ideas as to what is in his hand? A fun after viewing game is the Harold and Maude pop quiz. *What are the names of Harold's 3 dates? *Give Harolds uncle's full name. *What is Maude's full name? *What philosopher has the same last name as Maude and similiar outlooks on life? (Colin Higgins probably had a philosophy class at UCLA) *What is the best movie in the world, made in 1971 in the Bay Area, written by Colin Higgins as his Master Thesis, has the wonderful actresses Ruth Gordon and Vivian Pickles showcased, and is not only funny but thought provoking? (easy one) Wishing you all good things ~ The Duck; Quack, quack
Rob - 05/02/99 05:45:45
My Email:rvdalton@yahoo.com
Your city: Sterling

I love this movie, and find it inspirational every time I watch it. I believe it to be timeless, even though it obviously has its origins in the sixties. I would love to have a DVD version, with some good annotation added (with some of the facts and trivia from this site for example). It's good to see that I'm not alone in my feelings about Harold and Maude, so I really enjoyed your site. Thanks. Harold and Maude is mentioned several times in "Something about Mary", and others love of H&M was a gauge Mary used to measure and find kindred spirits. Has anyone ever discovered a more powerfull (almost dark side) impact when H&M is viewed by certain people for the first time. Since I love the movie, I'm always showing it or loaning it to others. One person was deeply disturbed by it because he saw himself as Harold. Another dismissed it as dated and from the sixties, although I suspect the reason may be deeper.
Kelly Peeples - 05/01/99 17:13:09
My URL:The Daydream Believer Home Page:http://www.sirius.com/~purples
My Email:curlypurples@pobox.com
Your city: San Francisco

Thank you for such a lovely site! Yes, I am the daughter of James and Deborah (both previous posters) and it would be impossible to convey my deep sense of attachment to this film. It was the first real film I ever remember seeing and having grown up in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, it's practically a memoir of my early childhood. Harold and Maude definitely shaped the way I look at film, and the way I look at life--several times a day, I'll ask myself, "What would Maude do?" I couldn't have asked for a better role model. Thanks, mom & dad! "Here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things now!"
Graham Ringer - 04/25/99 17:01:08
My Email:fleabag@net1.nw.com.au
Your city: Perth, Australia

Thanks for such a great site. Our Anthropology lecturer at uni highly recommended this movie to us 17 years ago. I don't know how many others in the class bothered to chase it up but I'm glad I did. It is a beautiful piece of film-making with each scene, I think, being a gem unto itself. And I can't think of any other film, except perhaps with the exception of "Dr Strangelove" that delivers such a serious and life affirming message with SO MANY LAUGHS
Glorious Birdgirl - 04/19/99 02:38:06
My Email:parabola26@hotmail.com
Your city: Bangor, ME

First, "Hello" to Anke, whom I met for the first time visiting this lovely site, and who is studying hard in Germany at this moment. This is my second time visiting; just wanted to thank and sign this time, and find someone as well: JUDE!!!!!! (formerly of Ford Lane) It's NinaTinaSelina-- a.k.a. "siras"--...are you still in Maine? I'm sure you'll find this site eventually. Thanks for making me watch H&M oh so long ago. Contact me--or I'll be forced to call you "Monique" and say "ooookay" to you in a Miss Ryan voice. Love You! Siras
Arlaine Rockey - 04/05/99 08:27:24
My URL:http://members.xoom.com/OceanCourt/main.htm
My Email:OceanCourt@aol.com
Your city: Charlotte, North Carolina

I just wanted to thank you for doing this site! I love H&M! It's my favorite movie of all time. I can't recall how many times I've seen it or how many times I've introduced it to an H&M virgin. The first time I saw it was shortly after my best friend was killed when I was a teenager. It touched my soul. I think I know the entire film by heart. Besides watching it when I need an H&M fix, I also have a tradition of watching it shortly after someone I dearly loves dies ... something that reminds me of the great circle of life." ... a tradition I incorporated into my first novel, Ocean Court. I have a website under construction (that will eventually be reachable under arlaine.com), & I linked this site to it. Thank you for also for your info on the filming locations. I cannot tell you how many times I've wondered where those scenes were shot. Now, I can't wait until my next trip to San Francisco! Thanks! & remember, "L-I-V-E, Live! Otherwise ... you got nothing to talk about in the locker room!" Mau e, of course!
Iris - 04/01/99 09:03:51
My Email:iris@airmail.net
Your city: Dallas, TX

I could go on and on about how Harold and Maude has affected me for almost 20 years now, but other people have already said most of what I would want to write - except for one thing: Am I the only person who always feels like a car wash is an incomplete experience without Cat Stevens to accompany the suds? I first saw this film when I was about 8, and throughout my whole life, whenever I've been in a carwash I always sing the song in my head that is playing in the movie when Harold takes the hearse for a bath... Wow. I'm in heaven. After exhausting the links within this site, I just spent more than 2 hours reading every post in this guestbook and I really felt like I am among, well, "my species!" Thank you for taking the time to put together this wonderful website, and thus bringing together all of the people who have signed this guestbook! I have not spent this much time exploring a website in a long time. It was time well spent, and I have a new bookmark! I intended to keep this short, but I guess I lied. With that in mind, I'll carry on. It is so nice to have finally found an internet home for fans of this brilliant and touching film. Harolds and Maudes alike are welcome to email me. We'll have some virtual oatstraw tea and ginger pie! "Try something new each day. After all, we're given life to figure it out, it doesn't last forever." Iris
James Peeples - 03/19/99 23:25:41
My Email:jpeeples@mindless.com
Your city: Redwood City, CA

Harold and Maude has been my favorite film since I first saw it the year it came out. Having lived in the Bay Area since 1960, I immediately recognized almost all of the locations in the film; especially the scenes filmed in Redwood City, where my wife and I were living at the time, not to mention other peninsula locations where we grew up, met and fell in love. We both still consider Harold & Maude to be the best film ever made, and now our daugther loves it as much as we do, and is on her way to becoming a filmmaker, all because of Harold & Maude. A great site. "Is this your hearse, Harold?" Yearse!!!"
Amy Mitchell - 03/04/99 16:27:52
My Email:amitchel@museum.state.il.us
Your city: Jacksonville, IL

To all of you who were wondering if the motorcycle cop is Tom Skerritt: The Internet Movie Database site (www.us.imbd.com) says it IS! They claim that Skerritt is sometimes credited as M. Borman, which is what you see in the H&M credits. How about that?
Jenny Cherniack - 02/18/99 04:25:32
My Email:stubbs_2@hotmail.com
Your city: Wpg, Mb, Can

I recently viewed the masterpeice Harold and Maude for the first time. What a wonderful movie!!! Most people in my generation have yet to even hear about this movie...I will spread the word!
Stacy - 02/13/99 19:44:25
My Email:sc25@bellsouth.net
Your city: Athens

To me, the mansion is in and of itself a "character" all its own, much in the same way as the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining." The sense of gross emptiness, a feeling that Bud is the only one who "gets" that it is a complete waste of space. One of my favorite scenes is when his mother is taking him to see the new car, and en route he suddenly stops and looks around, as if he is in utter disbelief of his surroundings, and has to remind himself constantly that this is "home." And there is nothing warm about the house in all its pompousness. A multimillion dollar heartless, cold building.
Chelsea - 02/05/99 22:19:08
My URL:http://i.am/modpixie
My Email:tugboat@channel1.com
Your city: the people's republic of lumps in my oatmeal

Two things: 1. There's an auction over on eBay for H&M lobby cards. Three of them have "alternate takes" of shots in the movie, and the fourth is a shot that doesn't appear in the film AT ALL -- Maude standing in front of a picture of the Virgin Mary, pen in hand. This last one is particularly curious to me, since there's no reference to the line about "are you the one that painted the saint?" Being that I'm really into the film, I'm curious to see the scene with Maude drawing on the VM -- is there any place I could find this scene (like on the laserdisc/impending DVD release)? I'm also looking for a copy of the trailer, if such an animal exists... 2. Are there any H&M fans who have heard of a more recent movie called _Trust_? It's another one of my all-time faves, and it reminds me a lot of H&M. I would love to talk to people who are fans of both!
John - 01/09/99 21:05:04
My Email:admiral@cyberhighway.net
Your city: Boise

Hello H&M fans. I was in the Sunnyvale High Martching Band who performed out side the church in Red Wood City. I've got alot of personal Photo's that I took while hanging out with some of the cast and crew. What a trip!
Laura - 01/07/99 06:34:47
My Email:bassethound1@uswest.net
Your city: Denver

Let me just say that I think this is a beautiful thing we have going here. I mean, hundreds of people from around the world feeling that same joy and inspiration that will lead them (us) to lead more fulfilling lives and help others. Thanx Maude and Colin and Harold and all! This movie is so wonderful because it conveys a simple message about life and beauty and death and relationships and psychosis, while also creating characters to analyze in accord with the plot, and the transition from scene to scene reads like a book or poetry! It's a work of art! I love Harold and Maude! You know how it feels! My favorite scene: Maude just falls down the hole, cuts to harold and Maude lying in the beautiful sun on the picnic blanket. Harold: "maude, do you pray?" Maude: "Pray? No, I communicate." "With God?" "With LIFE!" (And of course there's the great call of the wild which cuts into "if you want to sing out!" GENIUS! Thank you for listening to me ramble. Have a great year.
John Martone - 12/30/98 18:35:08
Your city: Bratislava

I dont really think that it matters why she ended up in a camp. That's not the point at all. It is not for us to know why. The power of this element of the film comes from the fact that we will never know why. And even if we did we wouldn't "know" more about her. I think that the reason that we are shown the tattoo at all is to let us understand that Maude's joy is rooted in a tragedy that is deeper than we can ever know. So if we are tempted to doubt her being, this doubt comes from our inability to see life from where she sees it or even to see the place that she is. That probably doesn't make much sense but I can't really put it any differently. - I am writing from Bratislava in the Slovak Republic and in my time here I have met two camp survivors and seen the works of many others. I know one lady who survived three years in Auschwitz- three years- When I met her, the first thing I thought of was Maude.- John Martone
Carol - 12/29/98 19:25:51
My Email:snider5556@aol.com
Your city: Near Seattle, Wa.

I took my pre-teen and teenage kids to Borders to get CDs to play on their new CD players. They bought things like Backstreet Boys, U2 and Bare Naked Ladies. Feeling very old and very out-of-it, I decided to look for the music I loves when I was their age, and was shocked and thrilled to find an album (ooops, I mean CD) called "Footsteps in the Dark" which contains many of Cat Stevens' greatest songs. I played it (with the kids' music blaring behind their closed doors!), and decided to play a few songs for my 14-year-old daughter, emphasizing that I was 14 in 1970, when many of Cat Stevens' songs came out. "Too slow, Mom! BORING!" were the responses I got. Bummer! But then I told her about the movie "Harold and Maude," and her face lit up. "Cool! Awesome! Let's go rent it!" So we did, and the entire family (all six of us) loved it! It was nostalgic for my husband and me, and the kids -- especially my 14-year-old -- LOVED it! What a message! Every time Ruth Gordon would say something profound ("Pray? I live!"), I'd repeat it! (To choruses of, "Mom! Stop it! Shhhh!" of course!) I love the Internet, where I can mull all my musings publically and in good company! Otherwise, I'd just wonder if anyone else loves that movie as much as I do. Glad to know people do.
Asher Row - 12/28/98 03:12:12
My Email:cinenapoleon@yahoo.com
Your city: Titicaca

I can't stand it! Now I know how hard it will be- to constantly fall in love with the contrived. I realize now I've been in love a thousand times- every time I pick up The Fountainhead and now every time I watch Harold & Maude. I can't bear it! Love is interactive, but the kind I fall in love with are strictly, strictly, projective. I've no way to deal with reality because my standards are no longer based in it. I'm doomed, I think- never to be fulfilled unless the VCR is playing. God help me- LIFE help me. I LOVE HAROLD & MAUDE!
Chelsea the Mod Pixie - 12/17/98 23:16:27
My URL:http://i.am/modpixie
My Email:tugboat@channel1.com
Your city: people's republic of lumps in my oatmeal

Hey -- after emailing Mike the webmaster I was encouraged to post here about my recent H&M find. One of the things that made me want to see the movie was finding a copy of the novelization when I was a twelve-year-old Cat Stevens fanatic -- unfortunately, because it was required reading for the grade above me, I wasn't able to read it when I did find it, and it took me until now to see the film. After seeing the movie and becoming utterly fascinated with it, I finally found a copy of the novel and was able to peruse it. Since Colin Higgins (the scenarist) wrote it, it's very faithful to the book, although there are some changes in the text. Both Glaucus and Harold's psychiatrist have more time in the book than they do in the movie, and Maude has a friend and next-door neighbor. None of the songs are actually made reference to in the book, not even the ones that have to do with the plot -- Harold playing Chopin as he hangs himseelf, and "Sing Out" becomes "Red Red Robin". Most notably, the book looks as if it was either released independently of the movie, or that this was the perception of reviewers -- the blurbs on the cover make reference to "the strangest, most poignant romance I have ever *read*" (emphasis mine).
poptart - 12/04/98 17:35:09
My Email:adumbration@excite.com
Your city: don't even ask, ny

it's so touching to know that so many other people feel this way about this movie! i used to work in a video store where we were only allowed to watch PG movies all day long...needless to say this movie went on a lot...to the point that my co-workers took a vote to limit me to 1 viewing a week...i think my favorite scene in the movie is the one where harold is driving down the road in his hearse (the original, not the porsche) and the song "on the road to find out" is playing in the background...and harold just has such a whimsical, joyous look on his face...i melt everytime i see that scene...oh, for those people looking for a soundtrack--i don't believe that there is one available, however if you purchase cat stevens "footsteps in the dark: greatest hits ol.2" there are a lot of songs from the movie on there, along with some of the ones that were previously unreleased...whenever i take a road trip that cd is essential listening material!
Katy - 11/16/98 06:13:16
Your city: California

Recently, I met a wonderful man, and indeed, we are kindred spirits. We have so many things in common, it's almost uncanny. One evening, the subject of "Being There" and the idea of walking on water came up. I mentioned that this is one of my favorite movies. He said, "This is my second favorite movie. My first favorite of all time is 'Harold and Maude'. I was so blown away! For this too is my favorite movie. The next evening we had a date, so I surprised him by bringing a copy of H and M for viewing. Needless to say, he loved the surprise. The reasons why this movie is so well liked have been listed numerous times, but all I can say is that H and M has touched me on so many levels and has made a huge impression on me. It's brilliant in a simple way.
Lauren - 10/15/98 02:39:24
My Email:lcelder@earthlink.net
Your city: San Diego

The list of filming locations was so detailed and helpful. When in SF recently, I took a self-guided tour of those sites -- very fun. I managed to visit them most of them (alone, sadly). I found the (gorgeous) cliff spot easily and tromped around there for an hour with no one else around. I also persevered in Hillsborough (also gorgeous) sans map until I found the house. I recommend the trip to anyone who finds himself up there--but bring map(s). Another indirect pleasure of H&M is that of introducing it to receptive people. I turned a good friend onto it; she's naive and squeamish, and was dubious about the 'suicides', but by the time he met Maude, we were both glad she kept with it. My advice to other 'proselytizers' is don't let people give up on it without a fight! I'm glad, but also jealous, to hear that others find B.C. as hot as I do. He was so beautiful. I love his slightly hairy chest. And when he looks tenderly, blissfully at Maude on her birthday--! It makes me melt and squeal. I wish I had a sweet, romantic boyfriend like that. He's also v. sexy in Brewster McCloud (dig bed-mate Shelley Duvall's eyelashes).
Elizabeth Frohlich - 10/11/98 21:11:30
My Email:eafroh@mail.wm.edu
Your city: Williamsburg

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Pearl Rhein - 10/10/98 18:08:37
My Email:horrorshow_harpie@yahoo.com

Thank you for such a comprehensive, wonderful site on what is without a doubt one of the great American movies. Has anyone ever tried to define H&M? One laughs more while watching it then at most comedies; yet it is the only film I know of that brings me to tears at every viewing. An art film, of course; also a religious testimony (what is more religious then the circle of life and death?). A dramatised philosophy in itself. One can subscribe to the philosophy of Harold and Maude just as to that of Buddhism, Taoism, etc. Pearl Rhein PS I am at the moment developing a recipe for ginger pie and will let the operator of this page know when it is perfected.
- 09/13/98 00:02:56
My Email:Secours@aol.com

Thanks for the great web site! I have the book and wanted to post some quotes about certain points that have come up in discussion. THE TATTOO NUMBER: D-726350 THE DAISIES: Maude looked at Harold. "That's very true," she murmured. "Still, I believe that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who know they are this" - she held the daisy in her hand- "yet lett themselves be treated as that." She blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes and looked out over the thousands and thousands of daisies waving gently in the afternoon sun. FREDERICK: They drove home in the late afternoon, taking the same roads as they took before. Maude drove at her usual pace and talked happily to Harold about children's games and how she had taught Frederick to play marbles when they were in hiding after the Anschluss. "What happened to your husband?" asked Harold. "He was captured," she said, "and shot. Trying to escape. At least that's what they told me later. I guess I will never know the real story." MAUDE'S NAME/TITLE: "How do you do?" She smiled. "I am the Countess Mathilda Chardin, but you may call me Maude." (In the movie I believe she says 'Dame' instead of 'Countess'.)
John Gaspard - 09/10/98 13:16:57
My Email:jgaspard@aol.com
Your city: Minneapolis

Harold & Maude played here for two years! I was lucky enough to have dinner with Bud Cort and spend a little time with Ruth Gordon. Great people, great film.
Ramon Fernandez - 08/28/98 20:38:13
My Email:fernanra@mcgraw-hill.com
Your city: New York

By far the best love story ever made!. A movie that if pitched today to Hollywood execs (yes, it is a studio film!) would never receive financial backing. From the editing, to the sound track to the acting, perfection absolute. My favorite scene is the "pool' scene, where Pickles swims right by Court's floating body. I think that it is the one that most aptly describes the mother/son relationship. You may think this is a little weird, but whenever a new female spends the night in my apartment, I always make her watch H&M the next day. Sort of like a test. So far they've all become devout converts of this magnificent piece of work. I'm glad you got a website dedicated to it, and let's hope Hollywood never makes the dreadfull mistake of remaking it. (Just imagine: "Leonardo DiCaprio starrs in the remake of..."). Just the thought makes me cringe.
Henry's fan - 08/03/98 20:31:18
Your city: Princeton NJ

I wanted to leave a tribute to a good friend of mine who turned me on to things like H & M, and the Little Prince. He was always there for me until recently when he was killed in a car accident on his way to a new job. We sometimes wonder why things happen. His philosophy was, they just do. Thanks, pal. I miss you!
Carmelann - 07/09/98 16:56:46
Your city: Philadelphia

I fell in love with Harold and Maude in the late '70's, when I was a snip of a girl. Maude's simple, open philosophy of life has helped me grow into the woman I am today. When I find myself in a cage, or trying to put someone else in one, when I try to conform to someone else's idea of what I should be, when I feel afraid to take chances, I try to remember the lessons I've learned from this movie, and apply them. I hope when I am 80 I'm still liberating the canaries.
Joanna Kay - 06/26/98 14:02:39
My Email:JoJoKay@aol.com
Your city: East Meadow, NY

I first watched Harold & Maude with a group of my closest friends (Dan, Marc, Tatsu, and Sarah) during the summer before my junior year of high school (1987). Needless to say, the movie changed my life. It is one of my two favorite movies of all time (the other is Cinema Paradiso). I am now a high school guidance counselor. Just the other day, I recommended Harold & Maude to one of my sophomores who I really thought would understand and appreciate it. (It's the summer before his junior year). I can't wait to hear what he and his friends think of it. Last year, I got two kittens and named them... Harold & Maude. But Harold is a mean cat. Maude's a mush. Go figure.
Amy the Hearse Queen - 05/12/98 23:43:42
My URL:http://members.aol.com/hearseq/grimrides.htm
My Email:HearseQeen@aol.com
Your city: Mountain View, CA

I love "Harold & Maude", why? There's so many reasons, I wouldn't know where to start..At the very least, how can I not identify with the character of "Harold"? I drive a hearse too..Which leads me to my query for anyone out there who may know this...Any idea who originally owned the Harold & Maude Cadillac hearse? There are quite a few people who claim to own it currently, but I don't believe any of them...I'd like to find the original owner, and get some info..It would be a shame for this hearse to go lost forever...Also, is there any proof that there were TWO jag hearses? Or is that just a hopeful rumour on someone's part...Thanks...Amy the Hearse Queen, Prez, Grim Rides Hearse Club
Jennifer Breed - 04/26/98 19:59:44
My Email:jbreed@uiuc.edu
Your city: Urbana, IL

If anyone has a recipe for Ginger pie, please email me! I was introduced to this movie by my father when I was 14, a freshman in highschool. It's so great to find out that we're not the only one's who have heard of it. The movie instantly became my favorite and still stands as the most influential film in my life. I do my best to expose as many people as possible to the movie and I've gotten mixed reactions. Most people stay with me until Harold is blowing bubbles and that's where I find out who's going to be scared of me for loving such an eccentric film and what precious few will share in my love. There haven't been many so far. I always want to live my life by Maude's example.
Maria Gomez - 04/26/98 04:44:56
My Email:braincar@hatelecom.or.jp
Your city: Nagoya, Japan

I too was a Harold and Maude nut and have run across others like me from time to time. I love your page so much! It's just what I have been wanting to do. I have been to most of the locations you mention, including talking with some of the nurses who were on duty the night of filming at Peninsula Hospital. Keep up the great page!
L.B. - 04/18/98 20:08:12
Your city: Media, Pennsylvania

In response to question "Don't you think Harold should have caught-on (or asked) to Maude's two references to what she had planned for her 80th" - Answer is NO. Many reasons: Just met / Improper-impolite to ask this of someone don't yet know well (esp. of Harold's background) / could have meant many other things / and Harold hadn't seen the movie x times. Point is that this movie is watertight. Just as perfectly engineered as all of Harold's priceless displays...Which, by the way, also answers that other question asked about Harold's tape measuring above the fireplace. Thanks for providing this site and privileged forum.
james o'melia - 04/14/98 17:00:30
My Email:restcat@aol.com
Your city: coral springs, fl

just a lttle more pointless trivia for your soul. On Nickelodeon, there is a show called Rugrats, and the mother of the kids the show is about is named Vivian Pickles. interesting or not, thats all i have to say. peace
Sandee - 04/06/98 16:49:52
Your city: S. Orange Cnty, Ca

Does anyone find it strange that as bright as Harold is/was, he didn't catch on to the two clues that Maude gave him that she was planning on doing herself in on her 80th birthday? She spilled her first clue during their first meeting when she told Harold she was going to be 80 "next week" and remarked ..."good time to move on, don't you think....? The 2nd clue she gave was over tea & ginger pie when she said, ".....it's all gonna be over after Saturday.....". It baffles me that Harold was so shocked when she told him she "...took the tablets an hour ago, I'll be gone by midnight....". Why didn't he have a clue? What do you think?
Mike Sullivan - 04/05/98 07:28:46
My Email:sulliva1@ix.netcom.com
Your city: San Francisco

Hi everyone -- I just found a site that is very cool. Lots of you have asked if there's a Harold and Maude soundtrack. I always thought that the answer was "no," but apparently not. Check out http://catstevens.com/media/albums/harold.html for a link to a Cat Stevens page dedicated to a harold and maude album that was apparently released only in Japan. Maybe some of you knew this, but I didn't until now. It also has realaudio versions and full lyrics for each of the songs! Later -- Mike
barbara - 03/30/98 00:26:11
Your city: MEXICO CITY

harold and maude a pair with no parallel why do we care to know about others' lives when we dont really know our own that is my reason for caring to watch movies existentialism a topic for the food i want to learn about my self and i have learned about harold more than me harold and maude is a great movie to learn about life and my place in it, i watch and watch to like is a human trait and i like harold i love maude and i like the tree saved so take the time to watch a great movie take the time to think a bit about your life a great movie a great life a great sound a great life a great movie in the screen of life i love the movie Harold and Maude thank you.
Josh Landou - 03/25/98 18:10:17
My Email:jol@ou.edu
Your city: Norman OK

I was assigned to watch this movie in my Énglish class at the University of Oklahoma. I fell in love with the movie and my teacher.
Thomas - 03/21/98 18:06:04
Your city: Frankfurt, Germany

Thanks for this great site. I'm not that surprised about the huge number of fans, because I'm one, too. This summer a good friend of mine is celebrating her 40th birthday with a garden party, including a midnight private screening of H & M. I recorded for her a CD with the soundtrack (i.e. the songs mentioned below), she also will get the poster, the video (not available in German since years), the novel (Colin Higgins: "Ich liebe dich, ich liebe Dich", paperback) and a copy of the original typewriter-script of the movie. FOR THOSE WHO ARE AS MAD AS ME ABOUT THAT STUFF: The script is available for 20 $ + shipping at Limelight Film & Theatre Bookstore, 1803 Market St., San Francisco, California 94103, Tel. 415-864-2265, Fax 864-7753.
Andy White - 03/18/98 20:22:00
My Email:andyw@clara.net.uk
Your city: Bradford

I first saw Harold and Maude when as a student in 1977 I went to Island records in London to film Cat Stevens either they or I screwed up 'cos he wasn't recording that day so they sat me down in a preview theatre and put a tape of the movie on. (I never did meet Cat) althought I did see the studio where he recorded. The next time I saw the movie was in Paris in 1980, bearing in mind the film was by then nine years old and in English (no sub titles) the theatre was full. A testimony to the real power of the film.
Steve - 03/14/98 17:42:22
My Email:dollarh@worldnet.att.net
Your city: Delray Bch FL

Outstanding!! Even if I didn't love the movie (does anyone who doesn't wander in?) it is refreshing to see an original page - this kind of work keeps the net alive.
Mark Hogarth - 03/10/98 03:41:41
My Email:pc8688@cnsvax.albany.edu
Your city: Albany, NY

Thanks *so much* for this great Web page! Whenever I'm depressed I think about H&M and it's better than Prozac!! I read the *entire* guestbook tonight with tears of joy in my eyes - I LOVE all of you H&M fans! I wish my friends loved H&M as much as you do. . . We are family.
Jane McKee - 03/07/98 04:57:38
My URL:http://www.pitt.edu/~jhmst14.index.html
My Email:jmckee@sis.pitt.edu
Your city: The 'Burgh

I have a tie for my favorite movie: Harold and Maude - and - Thelma and Louise. I would love to get the four of them together and see how it goes. Harold and Maude taught us that people are free. Thelma and Louise taught us that women are people. I must admit that though I have seen H&M many times, I did not see the scene with the concentration camp tatoo unitl I was 34. How was this lost? Perhaps because there are things we don't want to remember? GOD - don't let us forget!
gayle - 02/24/98 08:05:10
Your city: Portland, Oregon

I think I may have made a mistake in my earlier post about when Colin Higgins died. It is probably more like eight years ago, maybe more -- but I'm not really sure. Ah, how fast the years fly... "Your enthusiasm for Harold and Maude makes me feel full of joy and somersaults!" he wrote to me in 1977, in answer to mt fan letter.
gayle - 02/24/98 06:42:49
My Email:g dot highpine at genie dot com
Your city: Portland, Oregon

It's so wonderful to read all these enthusiastic Harold & Maude comments. It gives me the same feeling as watching H&M with a theater full of H&M fans. I discovered H&M when it first came out (let's see -- I would have been about 19 then) and have seen it over sixty times in theaters. Whenever I would feel depressed, I would go out and see H&M and it would leave me feeling euphoric. Luckily, I live in one of the few places where H&M was a hit from the very beginning. It played for eight straight months here when it first came out, then the same theater brought it back two years later and it played for another six months. I wrote a fan letter to Colin Higgins (RIP) in 1977 and got an answer back. (For those who don't know, Colin Higgins died of AIDS about four years ago.) He wrote the script as as his master's thesis while in UCLA film school. The original draft of the script is still in the UCLA library. His landlady was Mildred Lewis, who fell in love with the script and became the producer. For those who don't know, the hippie watching the toy trains is Hal Ashby, the director (who is also dead now). There are a lot of other movies I love, but Harold & Maude has a special, unique place in my heart and always will. Deep down, it probably always will be my favorite movie.
Toby Everett - 02/09/98 06:16:44
My URL:http://tua.arctic.net/tua
My Email:tua@tua.arctic.net
Your city: Anchorage, AK

First, my sister pointed out to me that Maude lives in a train car, a rather symbolic item for an concentration camp survivor. Also, the train car where Harold discusses his impending induction. Lastly, Maude watching the model trains in the arcade. The only thing I regret about the movie is that I can't erase my memory and thus experience the full power of the ending once more. I still cherish the memory of how my heart stopped with that car, and how it lifted with the banjo. It's just not the same when I know what's going to happen.
Duane - 01/21/98 18:23:56
My Email:duanes@petersons.com
Your city: Princeton NJ

Message to Pamela Funk: Regarding the soundtrack, none was produced, however, you can get the Cat Stevens tunes on several of his CD's. The Album Mona Bone Jakon carries "I think I see the Light", "Trouble",& "I Wish, I Wish". You can get the others on Volume 2 Greatest Hits (except Tea for the Tillerman on an album of the same name) "Don't Be Shy" & "If you Want to Sing Out Sing Out" were written just for the movie and appear only on the Greatest Hits vol 2. Tea for the Tillerman also has "Where d'th'Children Play", "On the Road to Findout" & "Miles From Nowhere". But these are also on Greatest Hits 2. Two Classical selections: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1 (the pool scene), and Strauss' Blue Danube. Hope this helps!
Duane - 01/16/98 22:05:18
My Email:duanes@petersons.com
Your city: Princeton NJ

I would appreciate your collective insights on one particular scene from the movie: At the funeral in the Church when Maude approaches Harold for the first time, as the deceased is being loaded into the Hearse, a marching band goes by. I've often wondered if this was just a coincidence (albiet a scripted one) used as a metaphor of the great circle of life, a tribute to the deceased by the survivors, or the deceased's last wishes. What are your thoughts? And what is the tune?
Sandee L. - 01/15/98 15:58:22
Your city: South Orange Cnty, Ca

Everytime I watch this movie (at least 30 times to date) I see something new. Has anyone noticed that the first time Harold visits his uncle there are a couple of times Harold appears to be holding back a chuckle? Watch closely when uncle Victor leans in to make a point to Harold and watch Harold hold back.
Duane - 01/14/98 18:41:00
My Email:Duanes@petersons.com
Your city: Princeton NJ

At last, something worthwhile on the Internet. I could go on all day about how great this movie is, but I won't, however psychologically purging it might be. My favorite scene is when Harold's mom fills out the questionnaire and takes over for him. What also appeals to me are the seeming glitches in the takes that are left in the film. Sunshine's slipping on the hardwood floor, the little girl smiling at the funeral when Maude is trying to get Harold's attention at the rainy-day funeral. Glad to see this movie has not lost its appeal.
Kobee - 12/15/97 12:02:30
My Email:kobee@hotmail.com
Your city: Hamburg

Ich habe vor einigen Jahren gelesen, daß es ein Buch gibt, I Love You, auf dem die Geschichte H&M beruht, weiß irgendjemand etwas darüber?? Das wäre Klasse
Stefano Sciotto - 12/09/97 16:54:03
My Email:sciottino@hotmail.com
Your city: Catania,Italy

I've seen your guestbook and I'm happy to say that I'm sending the first message from Italy. The first time I saw Harold and Maude was something like eight or nine years ago. It was recorded by my mother (unfotunately,full of spots) and only 'cause I've be en very lucky I've found it. I can simply say that H&M is the best film I ever seen. Surely, other films are better than it under cinematographic profiles (I'm talking about Truffaut, Bergman, Antonioni, Bunuel, Hitchcock) but in H&M I've found something that I haven't found before in a film: I've found myself, I've found all of my best friends, I've found a possible way of life, the way where you always find your wishes another time. Can you realize them? It's not so important. You are here, it's all you have to do. I received a maieutical effect by the film and, like Socrates said, I know that I don't know. I think also that H&M lead all of his fans in a similar way of life, the way of the acceptation of ourselves. It's not a religion; it's only a picture of men and women (maybe, all the men and all the women) without fear and without hopeness. And everyone is a different flower. I think it's not a little thing to know. I'm sorry for my awful english but if someone want to write me something about anything he thought about the film (or anything else) write free. I understand english and speak spanish and, naturally, italian. "...it's easy...you only need to go..."
masae - 11/19/97 07:32:54
My Email:s2396099@swu.ac.jp
Your city: Tokyo,JAPAN

OH,I'm sorry I missed to express... H+M is NOT stupid film... It is funniest*lovely*lovely and sweetiest Love*story...I have a few Question. Why did they wear Japanese-KIMONO? I wonder why did Harold know how to Japanese-HARAKIRI(=Japanese old kill himself style). When Harold went mad(!?) at seaside,where did Maude disappear? why? How? and that so quickly...
cristi - 11/16/97 02:34:14
My Email:xana@brown.edu
Your city: new york city

Sometime in middle school my papa rented this movie on a whim -- he hadn't seen it in a while and remembered having enjoyed it. We share the same sense of humor, and I immediately took to it, while my younger brother and my mother solemnly swore never to watch it again. I saw it over and over, having found a small rental place that actually had it, and I wanted to spread the love. So at my eight grade birthday party I showed it. I lost all my friends. And thereafter, my shortcomings all boiled down to my "weirdness". I was ahead of my time -- in high school it suddenly became everybody's cult fave.
Kevin Topolski - 10/10/97 23:44:13
My Email:topolski@nwrain.com
Your city: Tacoma, Washington

In so many cases, we come across movies that are based on or created from books and novels, and the majority of these times, the book stands out as superior. This is not one of those time however. I have two copies of the book, one printed after the release of the film with cheesy blurbs about the film, and one published prior, that contains no photos or information about the film. I feel the movie is much better than the book(s) for two main reasons. 1: RUTH GORDON is the absolute best...she breathes new life into the character, and creates a warmness which the book does not even come close to! 2: CAT STEVENS...it is my opinion, as a huge Cat Stevens fan, that his music added and element of innocence and light to the otherwise film noir/black comedy feel that the film possesses in certain scenes. Love the homepage...keep up the good work!
Chaz Bugni (Boon-yay) - 10/10/97 22:59:39
My Email:bananathief@juno.com
Your city: Garazhe

Ahem. Harold and Maude is spectacular, absolutely splendiferous. I watch it while in my garage with Kevin, sipping spritzers. My favorite scene is when Harold's mother is calling her hairdresser, although I don't understand why she cancels her appointment with Faye, as getting one's hair done is the ultimate in importance in life. As an aside, when I was 22 I had an affair with my best friend's grandmother, Claire. She was . . . a bit older.
Mike Sullivan - 09/19/97 04:24:36
My Email:sulliva1@ix.netcom.com
Your city: San Francisco

My first time ever: in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the local campus theater, where Harold and Maude played (probably still does) every Saturday night, week after week, at midnight. Some friend took me to see the movie. I remember watching the initial scene, watching the elaborate preparation for . . . something . . . and then watching that first suicide -- and everyone in the theater was giggling! The other memory I have of that first time was of the end of the movie -- feeling sort of betrayed by the movie when the car landed on the beach -- that the ending wasn't consistent with the spirit of the movie. Which made the final scene of the movie that much better --
Zach Poholek - 09/18/97 00:52:43
My Email:Fredpoho@imsweb.net
Your city: spring hill, FL

I've never had favorites of anything, but when I saw Harold and Maude, I had a favorite movie

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