Harold and Maude

My personal favorite film of all time. Other than this film simply being so damn good, I have personal reasons to love HAROLD & MAUDE: * I saw them filming this in Pacifica, CA in 1970 (the one-second-long shot of Harold driving off the highway toward the cliff at the end of the film). * I grew up all around the filming locations (San Francisco Bay Area). * And more... ...But enough about me. Here are bits of trivia that may be of interest to some: * Years ago I read that the H&M script was writer Colin Higgins' senior thesis project for scriptwriting at USC or UCLA (I forget which). * Higgins adapted the script into a stage play in appx 1980, in which Ellen Geer (the movie's "Sunshine Dore") played Maude recently. * I read a paperback novelization of H&M years ago, and it was written that Harold used the top of a Datsun (Nissan) station-wagon to modify the Jaguar into a hearse.

There was a period of about five years where I would HAVE to see this film every 6 months or so to "re-charge" my enthusiasm for life. I just watched it again last week, and it had a lovely tranquilizing effect on me (calmed my stresses about finance and romance; made me appreciate the beauty of life again). Not many movies have the power to do that. I consider this movie my favorite, second only to "Nights of Cabiria" by Fellini (see!), and I give HAROLD AND MAUDE a 95% rating (of course, 100% being perfect).