Harvey (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harvey

Directed by	Henry Koster
Produced by	John Beck
Written by	Mary Chase Oscar Brodney Myles Connolly (Uncredited)
Starring	James Stewart Josephine Hull Peggy Dow Charles Drake
Music by	Frank Skinner
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Distributed by	Universal International Pictures
Release date(s)	October 13, 1950
Running time	104 min
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is a "pooka" named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, eight-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit.

Hull's performance earned her an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress; Stewart's portrayal earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

This film was ranked #35 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.

1 Cast
2 Plot
3 Remakes
4 Pop Culture
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Cast

Elwood P. Dowd: James Stewart
Veta Louise Simmons: Josephine Hull
Miss Kelly: Peggy Dow
Dr. Lyman Sanderson: Charles Drake
Dr. Willie Chumley: Cecil Kellaway
Judge Gaffney: William Lynn
Myrtle Mae Simmons: Victoria Horne
Duane Wilson: Jesse White
Cab Driver: Wallace Ford
Harvey: Himself

[edit] Plot

Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, a middle-aged, amiable (and somewhat eccentric) individual whose best friend is an invisible six-foot, eight-and-a-half-inch tall rabbit named Harvey. [Originally only 6 feet tall, Jimmy Stewart (who is six-foot, three-and-a-half inches tall) had to add to Harvey's height so that he could look up to him as described in the play]. Harvey is a pooka, a mischievous magical creature from Celtic mythology. As the film begins, Elwood has been driving his sister and niece (who live with him and crave normality and a place in 'society') to distraction by introducing everyone he meets to his friend, Harvey. His family seems to be unsure whether Dowd's obsession with Harvey is an attempt to embarrass them, or a product of his (admitted) propensity to drink or mental illness.

Josephine Hull and Victoria Horne

His sister, Veta Louise Simmons (played by Hull), tries to have Elwood committed to a sanitorium. In exasperation, she admits to the attending psychiatrist (Dr Lyman Sanderson played by Charles Drake) that, after so many years of putting up with it, she sees Harvey every once in a while. This causes Dr. Sanderson to let Elwood out and lock Veta up. After sorting out the mistake, Dr. Chumley (head of the sanitorium played delightfully by Cecil Kellaway) decides that to save the reputation of the Sanitorium he must bring Elwood back. Faced by many trials she doesn't understand Veta says to her daughter "Myrtle Mae, you have a lot to learn and I hope you never learn it".

When tracked down, Elwood goes through several ordeals, although he remains oblivious to the plans put in place for him by Dr Chumley, Judge Gaffney (William Lynn) and Veta Louise. In a poignant scene where Dr. Sanderson and his nurse Miss Kelly (played by Peggy Dow) follow Elwood into an alley at the back of his and Harvey's favourite haunt - Charlie's Bar, Elwood tells the incredible story of how he came to meet Harvey, and explains the way in which people react when they meet them. In a later scene, he gives Dr. Chumley an insight into his "philosophy" of life - you can be "Oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart; I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me".

Peggy Dow and James Stewart

In the final scene of the film, Elwood (along with everybody else) arrives back at the hospital, having convinced Dr. Chumley of Harvey's existence. However, Dr. Sanderson convinces Elwood to come into his office where he'll receive a serum that will "stop (him - Elwood) seeing the rabbit." As they are preparing for the injection, Elwood's sister is told by their cab driver about all the other people he has driven to the sanitorium to receive the self-same medicine, warning her that Elwood will become "just a normal human being. And you know what stinkers they are." Upset by the very thought of this, Veta halts the procedure.

At the tale's end Harvey is given the choice of remaining with Dr Chumley (and potentially spending a lot of time in Akron, Ohio) or continuing his life with Elwood, catches Elwood up at the exit to the Sanitorium and is seen (indirectly) opening the gate to the hospital to follow the others out.

[edit] Remakes

The play/film was made for television several times:

1972, in a version also starring Stewart and featuring Helen Hayes as his sister Veta.
1985, in a version for West German television, with Harald Juhnke as Elwood and Elisabeth Wiedemann as his sister.
1998, starring Harry Anderson and Swoosie Kurtz in the Elwood and Veta roles.

[edit] Pop Culture

The films Winchester '73 and Harvey, released a few months apart, were the first to include profit sharing for the film's star; talent agent Lew Wasserman is credited with getting Stewart contracts that guaranteed him a percentage of the returns on those films.^[1]
On the program The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies, host Robert Osborne stated that Stewart preferred his later West End stage production of Harvey to his performance in this movie. That theater performance was said to be darker, suggesting that Dowd really was mentally unstable.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? referenced the source work of the film, a 1944 play by the same name. When the main antagonist is on a search for the title character, a bar patron says he has seen a rabbit. He then puts his arm around an invisible set of shoulders and says, "Well, say hello...Harvey!" much to the amusement of everybody but the villain.
In Farscape, the series' protagonist John Crichton has a neural clone of the series' villain Scorpius (Farscape) inserted into his brain. John calls this clone Harvey, and Harvey regularly appears dressed as a giant white rabbit.
In the film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, Penny Marshall is casting for a remake of the film Harvey and is looking for the next Jimmy Stewart.
In the film Field of Dreams, the main character's daughter watches Harvey soon after he begins to hear voices.
In the film Desk Set, Mike Cutler appears in the Reference Department with a large stuffed rabbit. Bunny Watson asks him: "Aren't you going to introduce me to Harvey?"
In the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Challenge of the Superfriends", the statue of the founder of the town where the series takes place is identified to be that of Elwood P. Dowd, a reference to Stewart's character; in the series, Madame Foster's own imaginary friend is Mr. Herriman, himself a huge rabbit.
The Jimmy Stewart Museum, based in Stewart's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania; presents The Harvey Award to a distinguished celebrity tied to Jimmy Stewart's spirit of humanitarianism. Past recipients include Robert Wagner, Shirley Jones, Janet Leigh, and Rich Little.
On the episode entitled "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" of the program "Undeclared" when the character of Jimmy is dumped by Rachel, he asks if they can still be friends, and when she replies yes and they hug, he says "Just like Harvey...the white rabbit." while an ominous note is heard in the background.

[edit] References

^ [1]^{[dead link]}

In Eric Jerome Dickey's novel Sleeping with Strangers, during an airplane scene a fight attendant asks a character, Mrs. Jones, if a seat next to her is taken. She responds by saying her friend Harvey was occupying the empty seat.