Editing Harold and Maude (section)

==Production==
[[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television#Department of Film, Television and Digital Media|UCLA film school]] student Colin Higgins wrote ''Harold and Maude'' as his master's thesis. While working as producer Edward Lewis's pool boy, Higgins showed the script to Lewis's wife, Mildred. Mildred was so impressed that she got Edward to give it to [[Stanley R. Jaffe|Stanley Jaffe]] at Paramount. Higgins sold the script with the understanding that he would direct the film, but he was told he was not ready after tests he shot proved unsatisfactory to the studio heads. Ashby said that he would only commit to directing the film after getting Higgins' blessing, and took Higgins on as a co-producer so he could watch and learn from him on the set.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|pp=120–121}} Higgins says he originally thought of the story as a play. It then became a 20-minute thesis while at film school. The film script was turned into a novel and then a play, which ran for several years in Paris.<ref>{{cite news|title=Up From the Underground Harold; Maude|last=Wilson |first=John M.|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 14, 1978|page=g14}}</ref>

Ashby felt that the actress portraying Maude should ideally be European and his list of possible actresses included [[Peggy Ashcroft]], [[Edith Evans]], [[Gladys Cooper]], and [[Celia Johnson]], as well as [[Lotte Lenya]], [[Luise Rainer]], [[Pola Negri]], [[Minta Durfee]], and [[Agatha Christie]].{{sfn|Dawson|2009|pp=122–123}} Ruth Gordon indicated that in addition, she heard that [[Edwige Feuillère]], [[Elisabeth Bergner]], [[Mildred Natwick]], [[Mildred Dunnock]], and [[Dorothy Stickney]] had been considered.{{sfn|Gordon|1976|p=392}}

For Harold, in addition to Bud Cort, Ashby considered all promising unknowns, [[Richard Dreyfuss]], [[Bob Balaban]], and [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]]. Also on his list were [[John Rubinstein]], for whom Higgins had written the part, and then-up-and-coming British singer [[Elton John]], whom Ashby had seen live and hoped would also do the music.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=122}} Anne Brebner, the casting director, was almost cast as Harold's mother, when Vivian Pickles was briefly unable to do the role.<ref name=AR>{{cite episode |title=Anne Brebner |last=Morrison |first=John (host) |date=May 6, 2011 |url=http://blip.tv/aspect-ratio-cfi/aspect-ratio-april-2011-5131957 |series=Aspect Ratio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518020355/http://blip.tv/aspect-ratio-cfi/aspect-ratio-april-2011-5131957 |archive-date=2011-05-18 |via=[[blip.tv]] |access-date=2011-09-08}}</ref>

[[Principal photography]] began in late December 1970 and concluded in mid-March 1971.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/54046#3 |title=Harold and Maude (1971) – Details |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=June 5, 2024}}</ref> Filming took place in and around San Francisco and [[San Mateo, California]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/54046 |title=Harold and Maude (1971) – History |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=June 5, 2024}}</ref> including locations such as [[Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)|Holy Cross Cemetery]] in [[Colma, California|Colma]] (Harold catches his first glimpse of Maude at a funeral),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=96}} [[St. Thomas Aquinas Church (Palo Alto, California)|St. Thomas Aquinas Church]] in [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]] (the church funeral where Harold first meets Maude),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=98}} [[Oyster Point Marina/Park|Oyster Point Boulevard]] in [[South San Francisco, California|South San Francisco]] (Maude's railroad car),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=119}} an abandoned warehouse at the [[Bayshore Cutoff#Bayshore Yard|Southern Pacific Railroad Bayshore Yard]] in [[Brisbane, California|Brisbane]] (Glaucus' studio),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=124}} [[Half Moon Bay, California|Half Moon Bay]],{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=96}} [[Golden Gate National Cemetery]] in [[San Bruno, California|San Bruno]],{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=97}} [[Redwood City, California|Redwood City]] (Maude rescues a street tree to be transplanted to the forest),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fASQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 92]–93}} the [[Dumbarton Bridge (California)|Dumbarton Bridge]] (a motorcycle officer pulls over Harold and Maude on their way to replant the tree),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=118}} [[Sutro Heights Park]] (Harold rides in a limousine and walks with Uncle Victor) and the ruins of the [[Sutro Baths]] (Maude poses as a protester and later falls through a hole to her apparent death) in San Francisco,{{sfn|Davidson|2016|pp=102–[https://books.google.com/books?id=fASQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 103]}} the [[Emeryville mudflat sculptures|Emeryville mudflats]] (Harold discovers Maude's concentration camp tattoo),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fASQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 94]}} [[Oakland, California|Oakland]],{{sfn|Gordon|1976|p=388}} the [[Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk]] (amusement park),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|pp=126–127}} [[Mills-Peninsula Medical Center|Peninsula Hospital]] in [[Burlingame, California|Burlingame]] (Maude is hospitalized),{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=P3itCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 125]}} and [[Mori Point]] in [[Pacifica, California|Pacifica]] (Harold drives his car off a cliff).{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=130}} For the Chasen mansion, scenes were shot at Rosecourt Mansion in [[Hillsborough, California]].{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=125}}{{sfn|Davidson|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fASQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 105]}} According to Ashby, there were some issues securing the location because [[Otto Preminger]] had previously filmed in the Hillsborough area and had antagonized the local residents.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beck |first=Marilyn |author-link=Marilyn Beck |chapter=Director Charges Studio Was Afraid of ''Maude'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/halashbyintervie0000ashb/page/14/mode/2up |editor-last=Dawson |editor-first=Nick |title=Hal Ashby: Interviews |location=Jackson |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |year=2010 |pages=14–15 |isbn=978-1-60473-564-2}}</ref>