HAL ASHBY RETROSPECTIVE: 'Harold & Maude', (1971). A box office disaster upon its original release, Hal Ashby's comedy of a death-obsessed teenager and the older woman who teaches him to live has become a cult favourite in the years since. Bud Cort stars as Harold; a young man who attends the funerals of strangers and stages fake suicides to antagonise his wealthy mother. Meeting Maude (Ruth Gordon) at a funeral, the two form an unlikely bond that will alter their lives forever.