Review: Harvey (1950)

Harvey (1950)

3.5

COMEDY/DRAMA
U.S. Release Date: 10/13/50
Running Length: 104 Minutes
MPAA Classification: NR
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway
Director: Henry Koster
Screenplay: Mary Chase
Cinematography: William Daniels
Music: Frank Skinner
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures

Review by: Carter Moulton

07/16/09

Harvey tells the story of Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart), a man with many random friends and a few screws loose upstairs. He lives with his sister Veta Louise (Josephine Hull in an Academy-Award winning supporting role) and her daughter Myrtle Mae. Veta Louise loves her brother, but his behavior drives Myrtle Mae’s suitors away, and, wanting a normal life for her daughter, she decides to admit her brother into a sanitarium.

Much of Elwood’s zany behavior revolves around his imaginary friend Harvey. Elwood has no reservations about Harvey, opening doors, ordering drinks, and talking with his human-sized rabbit friend—yes, Harvey is a human-sized rabbit. My initial reaction was “Donnie Darko stole this idea,” but after watching the rest of the film I think it’s clearly a coincidence—I’ve even read that Richard Kelly, director of Donnie Darko, hadn’t seen Harvey until after his film was released.

While attempting to admit her brother, a misunderstanding lands Veta Louise inside the sanitarium instead of Elwood. When the staff realizes their mistake, the search for Elwood is on. There is a contrived love story between two of the sanitarium workers, Miss Kelly and Dr. Sanderson, but luckily it’s only lightly sketched. The film is based off of Mary Chase’s stage production by the same name, and director Henry Koster does a decent job of expanding the material; but it’s the screenplay and lead performance that make Harvey the classic that it is, and Mary Chase’s script tightly weaves humor and ambience together.

Josephine Hull rubs me the wrong way with her performance as the uptight Veta Louise, although I am surely in the minority here, seeing as she won an Academy Award for it. I got a headache from her mile-a-minute dialogue and her unflattering facial expressions. Perhaps she plays the character well and it’s just a character I don’t like. Jimmy Stewart is wonderful as usual. He never forgets that Elwood would always be aware of Harvey’s height and presence in a room. Stewart delivers another one of his life-changing monologues (we’ve seen them in many films, notably It’s A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington) in a scene that takes place in a low-lit alley. The lighting in this scene is brilliant and adds to the atmosphere of Stewart’s dialogue. And the film becomes something else entirely after this scene. I don’t want to delve too deeply, but the last quarter of the film couldn’t resonate more beautifully. It taps into the facets of our imagination and the endless freedom that exists therein.