Random Harvest

One of the most-watched melodramas of the 1940s. At the end of the First World War a soldier is held in a hospital with no memory. He does not know his name or where he came from. On the night of the armistice he slips out in the crowd and meets Paula, a stage performer. She takes him in, they settle in a country town and marry. Then he goes to the city on business and has an accident. His old memory returns: he remembers that he comes from a wealthy family. But he loses the last three years entirely, and with them Paula. Everything after that is the film's tension. Paula finds him and starts working as his secretary; he does not know her and she does not tell him the truth. The source is James Hilton's novel. Ronald Colman and Greer Garson lead. The film was a large commercial success and took seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. One of the leading examples of its kind for anyone who likes classical Hollywood melodrama and the star acting of the period. For a viewer looking for realism, the premise runs on coincidence throughout and the film makes no attempt to hide it.