Harvey

I'm slowly but surely getting around to all the classics... I'd actually always mistakenly believed 'Harvey' to be a Frank Capra film, but this recent viewing put me to rights. It's safe to say that Jimmy Stewart is easily the best thing about 'Harvey', and it's also safe to say - 50 years down the line - that the film can still be watched by new audiences (like me) and enjoyed.

'Harvey' concerns one Elwood P. Dowd (Stewart, at his amiable best), a small-town drifter and life-long bachelor whose best friend happens to be an 'imaginary' 6 foot rabbit named Harvey. Various mishaps and bumblings ensue as Dowd's long-suffering sister attempts to have him committed to a mental asylum and Dowd himself wanders about attempting to befriend anyone who'll exchange two words with him. It's fair to say that the humour feels a little dated at times, but the story still retains a genuine warmth and charm about it, and the character of Dowd is every bit as amusing now as he would be in any time.

Gripes (I don't care how old the film is, it still has flaws)... the setup is a little too stagey, and it's painfully obvious that the story had it's roots as a play, and a play - no matter what awards it might have won - is still a play and not a film. Also, Josephine Hull's performance is far too over-the-top for my liking, and I think these days it would fail to get her a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination let alone a win (not that she’d be nominated for anything these days, seeing as she’s been dead for several decades). Aside from these two factors though, the film is immensely enjoyable. The always-charming Jimmy Stewart wisely underplays the saintliness of his character by underscoring it with a sense of aimless alcoholism, and the rest of the supporting cast are played with enough variety to ensure the viewer's interest never wanes when Stewart leaves the screen.

What else can I say? 'Harvey' is fun, amusing, entertaining, and surprisingly deeper than I would have thought in terms of themes and background (especially regarding Harvey's revealed origins half-way through the film). Jimmy Stewart is the man.

Jimmy and Harvey

HIGHLIGHTS: A quote from Elwood P. Dowd... 'Harvey and I have things to do...we sit in the bars...have a drink or two...and play the juke box. Very soon the faces of the other people turn towards me and they smile. They say: 'We don't know your name, mister, but you're all right, all right.' Harvey and I warm ourselves in these golden moments. We came as strangers - soon we have friends. They come over. They sit with us. They drink with us. They talk to us. They tell us about the great big terrible things they've done and the great big wonderful things they're going to do. Their hopes, their regrets. Their loves, their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. Then I introduce them to Harvey, and he's bigger and grander than anything they can offer me. When they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back.'

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