Random Harvest

Random Harvest is a 1942 film in which a man loses his memory after being traumatized by his experiences in World War I. He begins a new life, then suddenly regains his memory and tries to pick up his old life, having no recollection of his "new" life. It stars Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters, Henry Travers and Reginald Owen.

Film Plot

The film opens during the closing days of World War I. "John Smith" is a solider who was gassed and shellshocked in the trenches and is at an English hospital. He has lost his memory, and is bitterly disappointed when a couple looking for their missing son says he is not theirs. When the war ends, jubiliation reigns in Melbridge, the town near the hospital, and the gatekeepers abandon their posts to celebrate. Out for an evening walk in the foggy grounds, Smith simply wanders off.

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In town he is befriended by Paula, a kindly showgirl, who takes him under her wing. After she discovers he has left the hospital, but is perfectly fine except for his memory loss, she realizes he will never get well surrounded by impersonal surroundings at "the asylum." She arranges for him to join her travelling theatrical group. After an incident that could result in his being returned to the hospital, Paula takes Smith away to a secluded country village where they marry and set up house. He discovers a literary talent and takes to writing stories for a living and they share a blissful existence together.

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Smith gets an offer from a newspaper in Liverpool to come for an interview and he leaves his wife, Paula (pregnant at the time) for the day trip into the city.

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In Liverpool "Smithy" is struck by a taxi while crossing the street. He awakens in a chemists shop, and is astonished to learn that he has lost three years of his life. To him, he is still in France and the war is still raging. He now remembers who he was, but has no recollection of Paula and the idyllic life he shared with her. "Smith" is in fact Charles Rainier, son of a wealthy businessman. He returns home to learn of his father's death, and takes his place in the household again. His siblings are amazed, and some not all that pleased, since he inherits a goodly portion of his late father's estate.

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Charles yearns for a life of scholarship, but the family's business needs him and he puts off his own desires to rescue the family fortune. He toys with the idea of returning to university to resume his studies which were interrupted by the war, but doesn't make it back. One of those who welcome him home is Kitty, step-daughter of one of Charles' siblings. As the years pass she becomes infatuated with her "uncle."

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During those years, Paula has conducted an unsuccessful search for Smithy. Losing her son in infancy, Paula returns to the business world as a secretary. One day she sees a photo of Smithy in a newspaper, touting his accomplishments as Charles Rainier, the "Industrial Prince of England". She manages to obtain a position as his assistant, hoping he will recognize her. But he doesn't.

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Years pass and Charles and Kitty become engaged. Paula, now known as "Margaret," ("Paula" having been her stage name), has her marriage dissolved so Charles can marry Kitty without any furture legal problems. She still had hopes he would remember their love and life together.

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While settling on details for their marriage, a hymm that he and Kitty are picking out triggers a vague memory and Kitty realizes that Charles still has an uneasiness towards their union. She breaks off the engagement and goes away.

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When she hears Charles is in Liverpool, trying to piece together his lost years, Margaret goes to join him. But the quest fails and Charles abandons hope he will ever regain those years. Charles is then approached to stand for Parliament. After his triumphant election, in which Margaret assisted him, he feels the need for a wife in his new role. He proposes to Margaret, more as a business proposition than a romantic one. She accepts, still hoping to jar his memory of "Smithy".

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Charles and Margaret become an ideal couple. She is the perfect wife and society hostess. They sometimes discuss his lost years, since it is obvious that he still feels an emptiness inside. She recounts her own past love, whom she has lost. Charles hopes their life together can fill the void they both feel. Mentally exhausted by the stress of hoping Smithy will come back to her, Margaret decides to take an extended vacation abroad by herself. With time to spare before her liner sails, she visits the hamlet she and Smithy lived in one more time.

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While Margaret is remembering happier times with Smithy, Charles has to act as mediator in a strike at the Melbridge Cable Works. He succeeds and afterwards he begins to recall certain places and events from his missing years -- it turns out that the town he is in is the same one he was hospitalized in. His returning memory leads him to the shop where he and Paula first met, and eventually to the house he and Paula shared in the country. Margaret, about to leave for the boat train, makes an off-the-cuff remark to someone about the previous inn-keeper, whom she knew when she and Smithy stayed in the inn. She is told someone else had just that morning asked about the same woman. Hoping it was Charles, she goes to the cottage and sees him outside. She calls "Smithy!". He turns, memories flooding back; he cries out "Paula!" and the film ends as they embrace.

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