Harvey (1950)

Elwood P. Dowd is a mild-mannered, pleasant man, who just happens (he says) to have an invisible friend resembling a 6-foot rabbit.

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Mary Chase (play), Mary Chase (screenplay),

Stars:

James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow

Top 250 #239 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Stewart	...	Elwood P. Dowd
Josephine Hull	...	Veta Louise Simmons
Peggy Dow	...	Miss Kelly
Charles Drake	...	Dr. Sanderson
Cecil Kellaway	...	Dr. Chumley
Victoria Horne	...	Myrtle Mae Simmons
Jesse White	...	Wilson
William H. Lynn	...	Judge Gaffney (as William Lynn)
Wallace Ford	...	The Taxi Driver
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. Hazel Chumley
Grayce Mills	...	Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet (as Grace Mills)
Clem Bevans	...	Mr. Herman Shimelplatzer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gino Corrado	...	Eccentric Man (scenes deleted)
Jack Curtis	...	(scenes deleted)
Ida Moore	...	Mrs. McGiff (scenes deleted)

Storyline

The classic stage hit gets the Hollywood treatment in the story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.

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Plot Keywords:

rabbit | mental institution | sanity hearing | bartender | psychiatrist | 

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Taglines:

The Wonderful Pulitzer Prize Play... becomes one of the Great Motion Pictures of our Time!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mein Freund Harvey

Filming Locations:

Colonial Mansion, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although James Stewart is 6'4'', he refers to Harvey as being 6'3 1/2'' tall in the film and looks up at him during the entire film. That's because this is Harvey's height in the original play by Mary Chase. In a 1990 interview, Stewart said that he had decided that for the film, Harvey was going to be 6'8'', so that he could indeed look up at him.

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Goofs

Books on the second shelf up from the bottom in Elwood's library change position throughout the movie.

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Quotes

Myrtle Mae Simmons: Oh, mother, people get run over by trucks every day. Why can't something like that happen to Uncle Elwood?

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Crazy Credits

At the very end Harvey opens a door and the words at the bottom of the screen say "Harvey as Himself."

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: My Big Fat Geek Wedding (2004)

User Reviews

Considered a classic with good reason

For about the first thirty minutes, I was thinking of some way to politely inform those who recommended this film that it wasn't my cup of tea, but the more I stayed, the more captivated I became. Based on a stage play that opened six years earlier, Harvey, the 1950 film directed by Henry Koster, is a delight. If this Jimmy Stewart classic doesn't make you feel good, you must be related to Mr. Henry F. Potter of Bedford Falls. Harvey is a 6' 3'' Pooka who has befriended a certain Mr. Elwood P. Dowd and this causes all sorts of complications for those around him. In case you didn't know, in Celtic mythology a Pooka is a fearsome spirit that usually takes the form of a sleek dark horse that roams the countryside at night, creating harm and mischief. Well, Harvey is not like that at all.

In fact, Harvey is a very gentle spirit who is always helping people out and can make everybody around him feel relaxed and in a good mood. Now Dowd needs all the help he can get. He likes to take a nip once in a while and is always talking to that danged rabbit to the chagrin of his sister Veta Louise (Josephine Hull) whose social life takes a nosedive when brother Elwood is around. Elwood's shenanigans also interfere with her plans to marry off her daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Home). When Veta decides that she has had enough and tries to commit Elwood to a psychiatric institution, the tables are turned and she ends up being committed in a hilarious case of mistaken identity. When Elwood leaves the hospital after being released, the medical staff in the hospital (a bit eccentric themselves) realize their mistake and all try to find him.

The madcap beginning soon turns into a gentle and moving drama. Jimmy Stewart is flawless as the decent man who never loses his temper and always has a smile on his face, giving everyone his card and inviting strangers home for dinner. The supporting cast is top notch as well including the unpleasant Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway), the egotistical psychiatrist Dr. Sanderson (Charles Drake), his love struck assistant Miss Kelley (Peggy Dow) and the overwrought orderly (Jesse White, later known as the Maytag repairman).

Eventually some that ridiculed Elwood and his rabbit privately admit that they could see Harvey themselves and by the end we are gradually convinced that the so-called normal people may be stranger than Mr. Dowd. Harvey is considered a classic and with good reason. It works because of its good-natured humor and its gentle slap at those who automatically condemn ideas that are outside socially acceptable norms without thinking for themselves.