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

• When considering the role of Harold, Bud Cort asked the opinion of director Robert Altman, his mentor. Robert Altman cautioned that rising star Bud Cort might find himself forever typecast.
  
  
• Henry Dieckoff, who appeared as Mrs. Chasen's butler, was the actual butler of Rose Court Mansion in Hillsborough, California, south of San Francisco, which served as the setting for the Chasen mansion.
  
  
• Fearing that he would be typecast as crazy (as Robert Altman had warned), Bud Cort, who was offered the part of Billy Bibbit, turned down that role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He wanted the role of McMurphy, which belonged to Jack Nicholson but was denied it by director Milos Forman. His next film wasn't until 1977.
  
  
• Colin Higgins' screenplay was based on his thesis for the UCLA screenwriting MFA program.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Hal Ashby] the bearded man seen briefly in the amusement park arcade.
  
  
• In all shots of Ruth Gordon (Maude) driving the hearse it is being towed because she never learned how to drive a car.
  
  
• Maude's picture frames are empty. In Colin Higgins's book, Harold asks why she removed the photographs (the scene was not used in the movie). Maude tells him they mocked her by their images remaining sharp even as her memories were fading, implying that she is suffering from Alzheimer's or a similar form of dementia.
  
  
• While watching a sunset with Harold, Maude sees a flock of seagulls and refers to Dreyfus. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), a Jewish officer in the French army, was wrongly convicted of treason in 1894, and sentenced to life in solitary confinement on Devil's Island (a penal colony off the coast of French Guiana). He was pardoned five years later, and ultimately exonerated when the evidence against him was proved false.
  
  
• The hearse Harold originally drives is a 1959 Cadillac Superior 3-way model that is one of the most sought after hearses among collectors today but at the time was considered nothing more than an undesirable used car which was purchased for a few hundred dollars. The Jaguar hearse was really destroyed at the end and no replica exists because they only constructed one version for filming.
  
  
• When Maude and Harold steal the police officer's motorcycle, Bud Cort accidentally hit himself in the head with the shovel, but just kept going for the sake of the shot.
  
  
• Charles Mulvehill and Shari Summers married immediately following the completion of Harold and Maude (1971) in director Hal Ashby's home.
  
  
• Harold and Maude (1971) played for a total of 1,957 showings from mid-1972 until June 1974 at the Westgate Theater in Edina, Minnesota. Ruth Gordon appeared for the first anniversary celebration and both Gordon and Cort showed up for the second anniversary.
  
  
• Cyril Cusack stabbed his hand while rehearsing a shot in which he was sculpting ice - only he didn't know it was merely a rehearsal, and bore with the pain.
  
  
• The scenes in which Harold turns to look at the camera after successfully scaring off his first date, and when he does "the finger" behind his mother's back after she sees the Jaguar turned into a Hearse, were not in the script, rather, they were improvised by Bud Cort.
  
  
• [June 2008] Ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Romantic Comedy".
  
  
• To avoid an 'R' rating, a controversial swear word had to be eliminated from the scene in which Harold and Maude sit under the sunset.
  
  
• Bud Cort wanted Greta Garbo to play the part of Maude.
  
  
• There is a deleted scene in which Mrs. Chasen talks with Harold's dummy, mistaking him for her son. It is described in detail in the book-adaptation
  
  
• Actors originally considered for the role of Harold Chasen included John Rubinstein, Bob Balaban, Daniel Fortus, Todd Susman, Elton John and John Neilson.
  
  
• Cameo: [Suzanne Somers] As a "deodorant girl."
  
  
• Hal Ashby intended to film a scene of Harold and Maude making love, but Paramount dismissed this idea.
  
  
• Suzanne Somers was supposed to have a walk-on during one of the funeral scenes, but it was ultimately cut.
  
  
• According to Ruth Gordon's autobiography, a number of other actresses were considered and interviewed by director Hal Ashby for the role of Maude including Edith Evans, Mildred Dunnock, Mildred Natwick, Gladys Cooper, Peggy Ashcroft, Elisabeth Bergner, Edwige Feuillère and Dorothy Stickney before Ruth was finally chosen by Ashby.
  
  
• The budget was $1.2M.
  
  
• When she first meets Harold, Maude states her full name as Dame Marjorie Chardem.
  
  
• Colin Higgins was originally to direct Harold and Maude, but production was soon canceled. A couple of months later, production resumed when Hal Ashby was to direct.
  
  
• The Cat Stevens songs Pop Star, Shine, Time, and Fill My Eyes were originally to be used in the film.
  
  
• There is a deleted scene in which Maude paints smiles on the statues in the church. A still from this scene can be found on one of the original lobby cards, and it is described in detail in the book-adaptation.
  
  
• In the scenes between Harold and the psychiatrist, both wear matching clothes, down to the ties and handkerchiefs.
  
  

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