MovieChat Forums > Random Harvest (1943) Discussion > What does the title mean?

What does the title mean?

posted 17 years ago by aciolino
7 replies | jump to latest

I suspect one must read the book for the answer, but I just can't get to it.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
Joe

[–] Theo87 17 years ago

from the imdb trivia section:

The title is taken from a quotation that appears in hardback versions of the novel (but omitted from most paperback printings.) The quotation is: "According to a British Official Report, bombs fell at Random." - German Official Report. The movie renames the Rainier ancestral home "Random Hall" to better tie in with the title, although in the novel, the estate is named "Stourton".

hope this helps.

[–] viaggio1 16 years ago

One possibility would be a poetic allusion to the First World War and the untold human devastation it incurred --- as with any war, multitudes of men died, a great many survived with lost limbs, and then there were men who survived the war physically , but because of shell-shock had no memory. They were alive, but "had no life." Much like a roulette wheel or "Lady Luck," the war was a "random harvester:" either a blind arbiter of one's fortunes, or else the results of its harvest were extremely varied --- not of "one quality" throughout.

[–] Harold_Robbins 16 years ago

One would think they could have included the quotation at the beginning of the film, and left Stourton alone!

"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn

[–] aciolino 13 years ago

I'm more confused now than before.

[–] 398 13 years ago

I guess IMDB must be correct, but I have a difficult time figuring out what bombs falling at random have on a harvest.

"Random harvest" has traditionally referred to the parable of the seeds from the New Testament. The farmer sows seeds by hand. Some fall among weeds and are choked. Some fall on stony ground and never take root. And some fall on fertile ground and take root and grow.

Now I always thought the meaning of the title was, and I believe it was originally directly explained in radio promos for this movie, that "the seeds of love bear a random harvest".

[–] Godfrey2 12 years ago

I always just thought it referred to the pure randomness of death and destruction that results from war. As a poster mentioned a few posts above, the sheer randomness of its impact and devastation on the people/soldiers who were caught up in the horror of WWI.

[–] spartacus126 11 years ago

IMO, the title relates to his injury and the haphazard deaths of many of the soldiers in WWI. This cartoon, titled “The Harvest Is Ripe” (See http://www.animationresources.org/pics/raemaekers07.jpg) is by Louis Raemaekers, a famed Dutch painter and cartoonist , during World War I (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Raemaekers). “Death” has been pictured as harvesting souls many times over the years.