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Harvey (1950)
A 6' 8" invisible rabbit...who knew such a film could be so rewarding! I loved this! I'd seen it only once before many years ago, so it was a real treat to watch again. Gosh, there's so many good things happening in the film that I don't know where to start. Actors: of course, what a cast! could Elwood P. Dowd be played by anyone else than James Stewart? Stewart's wonderful in this and in the DVD extras there was an interview from 1990 with Stewart and he sighted Harvey as one of his own favorite movies. Stewart had been in the stage play of Harvey, and when director Henry Koster made the film he decided to use some of the stage performers which was unusual for the time. Also unusual was the director's choice to literately shoot the film in long master-takes without breaking for close up shots. That way the film had a continuity and energy like the award winning play had.
And what energy the screenplay has! It takes off from the opening when Dowd leaves that neat looking old Victorian home with the heavy pillars and sun room with curved glass...and the film never lulls as it's packed with people and nuances that makes the film a joy to watch. You know what was cool was the interior of the house...no way did I expect to see that curved sun room window from the inside, but surprise, they created it from the interior for a shot during the tea party scene.
Oh, the older eccentric sister Veta Loiuse was played to utter perfection by stage actress Josephine Hull, who had played Veta in the stage play. She was good! So was her desperate to be wed daughter, Myrtle May and the Maytag Repairman Jesse White aka the nut-catcher. What a hoot he was! And I'd be amidst if I didn't give a shout out to one of my fav character actors Cecil Kellaway.
But you know what shines greater than any of the actors or sets or even direction? "The play is the thing." Hitchcock said that once, and it's so true. The play's script was written by Mary Chase who won a Pulitzer Prize and it's her story that makes these people so three dimensional. Even the doctor and nurse have their own subplot of a near-miss romance, which not only adds depth but makes these smaller roles seem so important to the story. And that's what Harvey and Harvey do, they make lemonade out of proverbial lemons.
Harvey (1950)
Director: Henry Koster
Writers: Mary Chase (play & screenplay), Oscar Brodney (screenplay)
Cast: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn, Victoria Horne
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Cast: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn, Victoria Horne
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A 6' 8" invisible rabbit...who knew such a film could be so rewarding! I loved this! I'd seen it only once before many years ago, so it was a real treat to watch again. Gosh, there's so many good things happening in the film that I don't know where to start. Actors: of course, what a cast! could Elwood P. Dowd be played by anyone else than James Stewart? Stewart's wonderful in this and in the DVD extras there was an interview from 1990 with Stewart and he sighted Harvey as one of his own favorite movies. Stewart had been in the stage play of Harvey, and when director Henry Koster made the film he decided to use some of the stage performers which was unusual for the time. Also unusual was the director's choice to literately shoot the film in long master-takes without breaking for close up shots. That way the film had a continuity and energy like the award winning play had.
And what energy the screenplay has! It takes off from the opening when Dowd leaves that neat looking old Victorian home with the heavy pillars and sun room with curved glass...and the film never lulls as it's packed with people and nuances that makes the film a joy to watch. You know what was cool was the interior of the house...no way did I expect to see that curved sun room window from the inside, but surprise, they created it from the interior for a shot during the tea party scene.
Oh, the older eccentric sister Veta Loiuse was played to utter perfection by stage actress Josephine Hull, who had played Veta in the stage play. She was good! So was her desperate to be wed daughter, Myrtle May and the Maytag Repairman Jesse White aka the nut-catcher. What a hoot he was! And I'd be amidst if I didn't give a shout out to one of my fav character actors Cecil Kellaway.
But you know what shines greater than any of the actors or sets or even direction? "The play is the thing." Hitchcock said that once, and it's so true. The play's script was written by Mary Chase who won a Pulitzer Prize and it's her story that makes these people so three dimensional. Even the doctor and nurse have their own subplot of a near-miss romance, which not only adds depth but makes these smaller roles seem so important to the story. And that's what Harvey and Harvey do, they make lemonade out of proverbial lemons.