Day #82 - Harvey

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Harvey, I wanted to like you. I really did. ....but you know, I didn't. In fact, I was over you about an hour in. This one was hard for me - I love, love, love Jimmy Stewart so I figured as long as he was in it I was good to go. Just seeing him at the opening of the movie made me smile and laugh. What really drove me crazy, and I mean CRAZY, about this movie was Josephine Hull who played Veta, Elwood Dowd's (Jimmy Stewart's) sister. I'm sorry, but I found her to be SO annoying - her constant whining and crying and fretting about drove me mad. It certainly didn't help that she had such a big part in the movie. ....interestingly enough, she won an Academy Award for her role. Honestly, with some of these old movies I really wonder what the Academy was thinking.....harsh, I know.

Harvey is the story of Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood lives with his sister and her daughter, Myrtle May, in the house he used to share with his mother before she passed. All would be well except that Elwood has a best friend who has created a lot of problems for Veta and Myrtle - this best friend just happens to be Harvey - and Harvey happens to be a 6 foot 3 1/2 inch rabbit. Along the way we learn that Harvey came about just after Elwood's mother passed, and we as the audience should assume that this is how he dealt with the trauma of the loss. He befriends everyone he knows and spends most of his time with Harvey, drinking at the local bar. When he introduces Harvey to a group of socialites dining with his sister and niece, they are so embarassed that they decide to commit him to the local institution. When they take Elwood there, a huge mix-up occurs which ends Veta in the institution and Elwood out of it! Once they figure out the mistake, Elwood is gone and they set out to find him. The thing about Elwood is that even though he sees Harvey, he is such a good man that the doctors and nurse at the institution really start to care for him. In fact, by the end of the movie, the head doctor is convinced that he also sees Harvey. Veta stays dedicated to committing Elwood until the end, when she realizes that even though he has some issues, he is far more pleasant as is than if she were to change him through medication. Thus, a happy ending.

Harvey was based on a Pulitzer-Prize winning book and Jimmy Stewart also portrayed Elwood P. Dowd on Broadway. I believe Josephine Hull was also part of the Broadway cast, oh joy. In the film, Elwood refers to Harvey as a "pooka", which basically means that he is an apparition which usually takes the form of a large animal, in this case, a rabbit. Although the only other person to see Harvey is the doctor, I think as the audience we are not led to believe that he for sure does or does not exist....it's an interesting way to tell a story.

Word has it that Steven Spielberg is remaking this movie in 2010 - the latest rumor is that Robert Downey, Jr. will play Elwood P. Dowd. I don't think he looks or acts much like Jimmy Stewart - I think Tom Hanks would be a good choice - but I don't put anything past Robert Downey Jr.....he's extremely talented.