Despite its happy
ending, Random Harvest (1942) left me feeling oddly melancholy. The main
characters, Charles Rainer aka “Smithy” (Ronald Colman) and Paula Ridgeway
(Greer Garson) have undergone a long, emotional journey. When they first meet,
Rainer is an amnesic WWI vet who can hardly speak. With Paula by his side, he
recuperates. They fall in love, marry, and build a happy life together—complete
with a little cottage and baby son. He discovers a passion for writing and is
on the verge of translating his talents into a profitable career when an
accident changes everything. His memory of life prior to the war returns and
the years with Paula are erased. He becomes Charles Rainer, heir of Random Hall and prominent businessman.
