Harold and Maude

Unspooled

Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson

Tv & Film, Film Reviews

4.5 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2026

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul and Amy pay tribute to the late Bud Cort by revisiting Hal Ashby’s 1971 cult classic that somehow never shows up on the big movie lists. They unpack the film’s unlikely origins as UCLA student Colin Higgins’ audacious script and trace its journey from disastrous reviews and a blink-and-you-miss-it release to becoming a full-blown counterculture cult classic. You can join the Unspooled conversation on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6 Follow Paul and Amy on Letterboxd for more of their movie hot takes! https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/ https://letterboxd.com/theamynicholson/ Paul’s book Joyful Recollections of Trauma is out now! Find it at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/joyful-recollections-of-trauma-paul-scheer Check out more of Paul's writing on his Substack https://substack.com/@paulscheer Episodic Art by Kim Troxall: https://www.unspooledart.com/ Learn more about the show at Unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and on Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The year is 1971.
0:02.8	Tell me, Harold, what do you do for fun?
0:07.1	What activity gives you a different sense of enjoyment from the others?
0:12.5	What do you find fulfilling?
0:15.1	What gives you that special satisfaction?
0:21.1	I go to funerals.
0:23.7	The movie, Harold and Maud.
0:31.7	Hello, everyone, and welcome to unspolled. Yes, welcome to Unspooled.
0:40.3	Yes, welcome to Unspooled. This is a podcast about good movies. Critical hits, fan favorites, must-sees, and in case you missed them.
0:49.5	We have covered the AFI top 100, and now we are checking off movies from three major lists.
0:55.0	The Letterbox top 150 films with the most fans. The IMDB top 250. And the New York Times 1,000
1:01.1	essential films, none of whom have this movie we're doing on our list, which absolutely
1:05.5	surprised me. Wow, that is absolutely shocking. And I will say this. The show also chases its own curiosity.
1:13.8	And sadly, the death of iconic actors. I mean, in this last bit of time, Amy, we have lost so many iconic actors, actresses, directors that a lot of the times we are finding ourselves memorializing
1:29.6	these great titans of cinema. And today, instead of just doing an episode about the
1:35.6	passing of Bud Court, we decided we would focus on, I would say, a movie that defines Budcourt.
1:43.3	And a movie that, to your point, is a classic. I think in most
1:49.2	circles you could agree that this movie is a classic. Yeah, this movie, from my impression,
1:54.6	is so beloved. I thought for sure it would be on all three of those lists. Absolutely.
1:58.9	Anyway, it wouldn't be on my list. I'm Paul Shear. I am an actor,
2:01.8	writer, director, and I'll tell you more about that as we get into the episode. I'm Amy Nicholson
2:07.6	Film Critic for the Los Angeles Times. And I think I just heard in your voice that you don't like
	...

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