Harvey (1950)

Due to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Mary Chase (from the Pulitzer Prize Play by), Mary Chase (screenplay)

Stars:

James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Wallace Ford	...	Ellis Logfren, The Taxi Driver
William H. Lynn	...	Judge Omar Gaffney (as William Lynn)
Victoria Horne	...	Myrtle Mae Simmons
Jesse White	...	Martin Wilson
Cecil Kellaway	...	Dr. William Chumley
Charles Drake	...	Dr. Raymond Sanderson
Peggy Dow	...	Miss Kelly
Josephine Hull	...	Veta Louise Dowd Simmons
James Stewart	...	Elwood P. Dowd
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. Hazel Chumley
Grayce Mills	...	Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet (as Grace Mills)
Clem Bevans	...	Mr. Herman Shimelplatzer
Harvey	...	Harvey
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gino Corrado	...	Eccentric Man (scenes deleted)
Jack Curtis	...	Undetermined Secondary Role (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 | misunderstanding | giant rabbit | pooka | animal character name as title | 

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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 | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Latin

Release Date:

21 December 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harvey

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 111 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film has 2 Oscar winners, James Stewart and Josephine Hull and one Oscar nominee, Cecil Kellaway.

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Goofs

After Wilson has a scuffle with patrons in Charlie's they return to the booth and there were four drinks on the table. Stewart's character had ordered and the bar keep had brought only three.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mailman: Is this 348?
Elwood P. Dowd: Yes, it is.
Mailman: I gotta special delivery here.
Elwood P. Dowd: Oh, that sounds interesting.
Mailman: It's for Dowd.
Elwood P. Dowd: Dowd. Dowd's my name. Elwood P. Let me give you one of my cards.
Mailman: That won't be necessary sir. Just, eh, sign right here. Beautiful day.
Elwood P. Dowd: Oh, every day's a beautiful day.

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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

Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Stewart (1980)

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Soundtracks

My Love
(uncredited)
Written by Jack Brooks

User Reviews

Perfect film, look for lighting

A perfect film, overwhelmingly loved. I would like to point out the lighting in the film is wonderful. The best scene to look for is as Mr Dowd is sitting in the alley behind the bar speaking to the Doctor & nurse and the use of shadows and indirect lighting bring a strength to the scene that is usually only noted for Citizen Kane.

Stewart is so great in so many films and this is among his best roles.

This is screwball comedy that is somehow low key and without slapstick. I cannot think of any film that is similar to this since Peter Sellers did "Being There" in 1979.

They should not remake this film, but if they did the only acceptable actor would be Tom Hanks.