50th Anniversary: "Harold and Maude" is as necessary as ever.
Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 7:00PM by Brent Calderwood
It might be time to stop calling Harold and Maude a cult film. Yes, it’s true that when it came out fifty years ago (December 20, 1971), many critics and audiences greeted it with a mix of bewilderment, indifference, and even hostility—Variety, for example, claimed it had “all the fun and gaiety of a burning orphanage.” And yes, it's also true that Harold and Maude has been a staple of midnight art-house screenings almost since its release and has topped “best cult films” lists for as long as “cult film” has been a recognizable term.
But 50 years on, Harold and Maude is so widely beloved by critics and new generations of film lovers that what was faintly hailed as an exquisite but slightly rarefied document of post-’60s counterculture is now firmly a part of our culture...
Witness, for example, the excellent 2018 documentary Hal (about the film’s director, Hal Ashby), or the entire oeuvre of Wes Anderson, or the love that Harold and Maude’s screenwriter, Colin Higgins, continues to receive for the films he went on to direct, especially 9 to 5. While it's still a valuable record of its time, from the Vietnam War to Cat Stevens, Harold and Maude is rendered timeless by the perfect casting of its stars, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon.
In 2021 going on 2022, a film about a love relationship between a 20-year-old (Harold) and a 79-year-old (Maude) directed by a self-proclaimed pot-smoking hippie and scripted by a self-identified gay man is no longer inherently edgy, niche, or “cult.” And yet Maude’s open-hearted and insanely quotable manifestoes on love, self-expression, nonconformity, and empathy are as relevant and necessary as ever. Here are some of the best:
On Hookahs and Morality:
-Like a puff, Harold?
-Well, I really don’t smoke.
-It’s all right. It’s organic.
-I sure am picking up on vices.
-Vice? Virtue? It’s best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, well, then you are bound to live it fully.
On Birds and Prisons:
“You know, at one time, I used to break into pet shops to liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing. Oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage.”
On Life and Taking Chances:
"A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They’re just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E… Live! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room."
Do you have a favourite Harold & Maude quote?
Reader Comments (12)
I watched this for the first time about 3 years ago and absolutely loved it. What a charmingly dark film. Vivian Pickles is fantastic in it.
I don't have a favorite quote but I do love the film as I own the Criterion DVD as I just love it. Hal Ashby from The Landlord to Being There is untouchable.
This film is the definition of Cult.
Definitely the last one. I handle homeroom classes for university freshies and I've used that last quote as a reflection point in modules about mental health.
I've been hearing about this film for years but didn't get a chance to watch it until a plane ride around three years ago. Instantly loved it.
Love it Ruth Gordon was something else she managed to top Minnie Castavett.
This is a favorite film of mine since I saw it while in college in 1971. The only thing I found negative about it is that Ruth Gordon was not acknowledged for this role by the Academy. She should have won Best Actress.
my favourite quote is maude's "i feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are this [points to a daisy] yet allow themselves be treated as that [gestures to a field of daisies]"
but my favourite scene is mrs chasen filling out the computer dating form on harold's behalf -"i find the question distasteful"
The mere fact that Ruth Gordon ever was -- that she existed -- is one of those things that just brings me so much solace during difficult times. She was a marvel of a human being and very definition of "cool" in my book :)
"Everyone has the right to make an ass of themselves. "
One of my favorite, favorite movies.
Love this movie, seen it so many times. It's chock full of great lines and quotes. One of my faves:
Harold's mom, introducing Harold to his second blind date, Edith Fern, who's a file clerk: "She supplies the whole midwest with chicken feed!"
Edith Fern (modestly): Well, not the *whole* midwest.
There was a scene where Harold and Maude were sitting at the water’s edge, watching fireworks at the adjacent amusement park where, earlier in the day, Harold crafted a personal memento for Maude via amusement park machine. It was a tiiny metal keychain coin that read: “Harold Loves Maude.” When he gave it to her, she held it to her heart and said, “And Maude Loves Harold,” after which she thoughtfully cast it into the waters, her arm remaining in the air for some seconds. Harold gasped, confused by her reaction to his gift. She looked at him...and may have touched his face as she said, “So I’ll always know where it is....” Perfection.
"Oh Harold. That's wonderful! Go and love some more."