Harvey

film by Koster [1950]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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Article History

Harvey, American comedy film, released in 1950, that is based on Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name about a man’s unusual friendship.

James Stewart portrayed Elwood P. Dowd, an amiable fellow with a fondness for drink who travels everywhere with his best friend—a giant rabbit named Harvey. Though Elwood describes Harvey as a pooka (a shape-shifting spirit of Celtic folklore), he seems oblivious to the fact that no one else can see his friend and continues to introduce him to new acquaintances and carry on in-depth conversations with him. After Elwood disrupts a party thrown by his matronly sister Veta (played by Josephine Hull), she arranges to have him treated at a psychiatric institution. Upon their arrival, however, Dr. Sanderson (Charles Drake) determines that the apoplectic Veta, rather than her charming mild-mannered brother, is the one in need of help and has her forcibly committed. After discovering Sanderson’s mistake, the facility’s director, Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway), releases Veta and attempts to track down Elwood. As it turns out, though, Chumley is able to see Harvey, and Veta—who has confessed to having seen him as well—eventually decides that Elwood’s affable disposition compensates for his eccentricities.

Audiences delighted in the film’s farcical plot and its playful inquiry into the nature of being “normal.” Harvey was remade for television several times, including a 1972 version in which Stewart reprised his starring role and Helen Hayes played the beleaguered Veta.