Movie fans who seek out “Harold and Maude” for the performances of Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon get a bonus in the many Bay Area locations.
Obituary: ‘Harold and Maude’ star Bud Cort dies at 77
The 1971 movie directed by Hal Ashby — a black comedy about an odd couple — includes scenes at San Francisco’s Sutro Baths, the Emeryville mud flats and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The map below focuses on less recognizable sites on the Peninsula.
1/ Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma. This is the first of the movie’s cemetery scenes; a later one is at Golden Gate National Cemetery.
2/ The mansion. The Hillsborough estate used as the residence of Harold’s family has since been subdivided, but the mansion itself still stands on what is now called Stacey Court.
3/ The church. Harold and Maude meet at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto.
4/ Maude’s railcar. Her unusual domicile was parked along Oyster Point Boulevard, and it eventually ended up at the Western Railway Museum in Suisun City.
5/ The daisy field. On the Cozzolini farm site in Half Moon Bay.
6/ Save the tree! Maude does doughnuts in the intersection of Marshall and Hamilton in Redwood City before she snags the potted tree outside the courthouse.
7/ Old Dumbarton Bridge. The couple’s encounters with a cop played by Tom Skerritt are at a toll plaza that no longer exists and on the former bridge, which was blown up in 1984.
8/ Tarzan yell. The frolicking to the music of Cat Stevens was filmed at what is now the Horse Park at Woodside.
9/ The hospital. The old hospital building in Burlingame was demolished, and the site is now occupied by Mills-Peninsula Medical Center.
10/ Mori Point. Site of the dramatic conclusion. You can’t drive out there as Harold does, but you can walk the trail to the Pacifica cliff.
“Harold and Maude” is on some streaming sites, including free on Pluto TV. It’s also free and ad-free at Kanopy, available to many public library cardholders.
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