FAQ for
Harold and Maude (1971) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Harold and Maude can be found here.

No. Harold and Maude was based on an original screenplay written by producer Colin Higgins. The screenplay was subsequently novelized as Harold and Maude in 1971. Harold and Maude was also a play on Broadway, and the script for the play was published as Harold and Maude: A Play in Two Acts in 1983.

The movie does not explicitly state Harold's age. The script describes him as: "HAROLD, a young man of about twenty". In the novel when Mrs Chasen decides Harold is to be married, she states: "You are nineteen, almost twenty." Bud Cort (Harold Chasen) was 23 when he made the film. Ruth Gordon (Dame Marjorie "Maude" Chardin) was not quite 75 but playing someone who turns 80 within the film.

Technically, he wasn't trying to commit suicide...he was merely trying to stage it in a variety of ways, e.g., by hanging, by slaughter, by drowning, by a gunshot to the forehead, by setting himself on fire, etc. His goal was to get a reaction from his cold and preoccupied mother. As Harold tells Maude, the only time his mother ever showed any "loving emotion" towards him was the time she thought he had died. Thus, to get that reaction again, he staged suicides. However, as time wore on, even though the tricks got more elaborate, they lost their impact, and his mother just poohpoohed him off and went on talking.

It is Maude's 80th birthday, and Harold has planned a surprise for her. A large sign saying "Happy Birthday Maude" hangs from the ceiling, large paper sunflowers are pasted over all the walls, and a small table is set up with snacks and champagne ("Don't worry, it's organic"). "I couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell," she tells Harold. When Harold looks puzzled, Maude informs him that she took the tablets an hour ago. "I'll be gone by midnight." Several seconds pass during which Harold looks stunned until he suddenly cries out, "WHAT?" He summons an ambulance and rushes Maude to the hospital as Cat Stevens sings Trouble. On the way, he tries to tell Maude that he loves her. Happily, Maude tells him it's wonderful and bades him to "go and love some more." Unfortunately, it's too late. Maude doesn't make it. Later, Harold drives his Jaguar hearse to a cliff. The audience sees the jaguar go off the cliff and fall to the rocks below. The camera pans to the top of the hill and Harold is shown at the top of the cliff. He straps on his banjo and starts strumming it. Then, accompanied by Cat Stevens singing If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, he dances away as the credits roll.

Since there is no indication as to when, or even if, Harold jumps out of the car, some viewers ask how Harold came to be on the cliff. Nearly all viewers believe he was not in the car when it went over, either jumping out, or more likely stopping and getting out before sending his car over the cliff. Presumably, the ending mirrors the beginning, in that the viewer first believes Harold has died. Others have speculated Harold actually perished in the car crash, and it is his spirit/ghost that can be seen playing the banjo on top of the cliff.

The Cat Stevens' songs are in this order (followed by the albums/CDs they are on): (1) Don't Be Shy (FD, BS2); (2) On the Road to Find Out (TT, FD, BS2); (3) I Wish, I Wish (MBJ, BS2); (4) Miles from Nowhere (TT); (5) Tea for the Tillerman (TT); (6) I Think I See the Light (MBJ); (7) Where do the Children Play? (TT, FD, BS2); (8) If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out (FD, BS2); (9) Trouble (MBJ, FD, BS2); (10) If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out, Reprise (FD, BS2).

Albums/CD: MBJ = Mona Bone Jakon (1970); TT = Tea for the Tillerman (1970); FD = Footsteps in the Dark, Greatest Hits Vol 2 (1984); BS2 = Boxed Set disk 2 ("The Search") [2001]. All nine of these songs are also available on the Harold and Maude Soundtrack [2007].

You can purchase the soundtrack album here. It is a limited edition (2,500) vinyl albums (not on compact disc). It comes in a variety of album colors, contains all the songs and also contains alternate recordings of Don't Be Shy and If you Want to Sing Out, Sing Out. The limited edition Harold and Maude Soundtrack is now sold out, but can be found on eBay [ranging in price], and such auctioning sites. The Japanese Harold and Maude soundtrack is also sometimes available on eBay and other auctioning sites. With the albums TT and MBJ you can get all but the movie's real "theme songs" (Don't be Shy and If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out). These were (initially) only released for the film (to make the music a unique experience in the film) and were unavailable until 14 years after the movie's release. [A newer, remade (alternate) version of I Think I See the Light was released on his 2006 album (under the name of Yusuf Islam) called "An Other Cup". Yusuf Islam also performs Don't be Shy on the 2007 concert DVD "Yusuf's Cafe Session" ]

The screenplay can be downloaded here. The novelization is copyrighted and is available for purchase used at some booksellers (it has been out of print for a long-time and some are "pricey").