‘Harold and Maude’ Takes On Established Cult and Conceits

Many, many Web sites are devoted--and I mean devoted--to “Harold and Maude,” the 1971 cinematic May-December romance in which Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort go to funerals, smell the flowers and get it on, baby, in a discreet, GP-rated way. (Remember GP?)

How fervent is the average “Harold and Maude” devotee? Free country notwithstanding, I suspect if anyone bad-mouthed the film itself, its fans would surely ignore screenwriter Colin Higgins’ dreamy, peaceful nonconformist message, band together as one, and go Billy Jack on the naysayer’s backside. It is a cult item beloved.

The Higgins estate (Higgins died in 1988) rarely grants stage rights. But Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer had a natural angle: In director Hal Ashby’s film, Geer played one of the computer-dating service prospects lined up for 20-year-old, death-obsessed Harold, the role originated by Cort.

Though screenwriter Higgins himself adapted the script (after he’d already novelized it following the film’s release), the story doesn’t sit easily on a stage.

It’s too bad, because Geer’s very touching as Maude. In director Heidi Helen Davis’ staging, Geer takes on the Ruth Gordon role, a concentration camp survivor and free spirit who steals cars and hangs out at funerals. A few days shy of her 80th birthday, Maude awakens young Harold, teaches him to live, live, live, and offers him love, love, love.

Maude’s shadowy history, only alluded to in the film’s final cut, receives fuller explication in Higgins’ stage version. Certain characters from the film are gone, notably Harold’s one-armed military-brass uncle. In trade, Higgins brings on many others, stretching the two acts out to a pretty thin 2 1/2 hours. (The movie clocked in at 90 minutes.)

*

In the movie, Gordon stuck to one note in the key of Pixie. I prefer Geer by a mile or two; she’s an honest and enjoyable presence. Aaron Angello’s less distinctive as Harold, though he certainly has the right look, augmented by all those turtleneck shirts and tres ’71 blazers provided by costume designer Rae Robinson.

As Mrs. Chasen, Harold’s unflappable image-conscious mother, Susan Angelo proves a fountain of arch high style. Angelo’s a very sharp comic actress; as this matriarch (not blessed with an overabundance of funny lines), she swoops into her scenes, her body language guided by the swoops and dives of her vocal cadences.

Even with such performance wiles, “Harold and Maude” feels protracted. After a while Maude’s little pranks on various establishment figures begin to plod, even if you buy into Higgins’ consciously adorable you-be-you-and-I’ll-be-me message. (Actually that’s CatStevens’ message; the movie’s cult status wasn’t hurt by the Stevens score, bits of which we hear as pre-show music here.)

It is a guileless and non-ironic piece, and Geer and company believe it wholeheartedly. As a culture we’re so splattered by irony and assault that “Harold and Maude” acts as a dispatch from another planet. Perhaps my taste in 1971 film titles simply runs more toward the hazy melancholyof “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” with its Leonard Cohen bummer music, rather than the coy conceits of “Harold and Maude.” With or without the Cat Stevens.

Harold and Maude

Ellen Geer: Maude

Aaron Angello: Harold

Susan Angelo: Mrs. Chasen

Earnestine Phillips: Dr. Matthews

John Lohr: Inspector Bernard

Leonard Kelly-Young: Priest

Rebekah Brown: Maid

Abby Craden/Willow Geer-Alsop: Sunshine

Christine Louise Berry: Sylvie

Daniele O’Loughlin: Nancy

Written by Colin Higgins, based on his screenplay. Directed by Heidi Helen Davis. Scenic design by Thomas A. Brown. Costumes by Rae Robinson. Lighting by Aaron Bronsal. Stage manager Tricia Druliner.

* “Harold and Maude,” Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Saturdays, 8 p.m., through July 22; Sundays, 7:30 p.m., through Sept. 19; Saturdays, 4 p.m., Sept. 9-30. Ends Sept. 30. $11-$20. (310) 455-3723. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.