1918. World War I has just ended. An amnesiac war veteran, known as John Smith (Ronald Coleman), has just escaped from the Melbridge County Asylum. The only reason he is there in the first place is because of his amnesia and having nowhere else to go.

Once outside, he is quickly befriended by Paula (Greer Garson), a traveling music hall performer who nicknames him Smithy and who wants to nurture his ability to regain his memory. To hide him from the authorities who are after him, she quits her job and takes him out to the countryside. They soon fall in love and despite not knowing his true identity or his past, they get married and start a family where Smithy begins a career as a writer.

Soon, Smithy receives a telegram from the Mercury Newspaper asking him to come to Liverpoool to discuss a permanent position on the paper. Because Paula is still recovering from a difficult birth, he reluctantly travels alone, planning to return the following night. After checking into his hotel, Smithy walks toward the Mercury office but is hit by a car and knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he has no memory of the past three years and recalls only his life as aristocrat Charles Rainier.

Charles returns to his life as a wealthy Rainier and begins his career as head of the Rainier family business. By 1932, Charles has become known as "the industrial prince of England" for vastly increasing his family's fortunes, but is haunted by the missing past that is tied to a latchkey he found in his vest pocket after the accident.

However, Charles must go on with his life and plans to marry longtime family friend, Kitty. But Charles' new secretary, Margaret Hansen, has other plans. She wants him to remember the life he left behind with Paula, because Margaret IS Paula.

Oscar
7 Nominations
0 Awards

Golden Globes
0 Nominations
0 Awards
The ultimate tearjerker, this 1942 romance classic was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and based on a novel by James Hilton. LeRoy modulates the obvious suspense element in the story (for example, is Colman going to remember Greer or not?) extremely well, building ever-so-slowly toward a huge payoff. LeRoy almost didn’t make the picture. According to The Hollywood Reporter news items in September and October 1941, it noted that director Clarence Brown was about to sail for England to film the story there, with Ronald Colman and Greer Garson. Following America's entry into World War II, a decision was made to shoot the film on the MGM lot in Culver City, CA, and in early 1942, Mervyn LeRoy was then assigned to direct the picture.

“Random Harvest” received seven Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Peters), Art Direction, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and Adapted Screenplay. Screenwriters Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel and Claudine West did win the Oscar that year in that category, but it was for their work on “Mrs. Miniver”, another fantastic Greer Garson movie. Novelist, James Hilton, also wrote the novel “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” and “Lost Horizon”.

“Random Harvest” was one of MGM's biggest hits of the decade and is one of the greatest love stories of all time. This is definitely one not to be missed. Bring your Kleenex, you’ll need it!