Harvey (James Steward Collection) DVD

Based on a stage play that opened six years earlier, Harvey, the 1950 film directed by Henry Koster, is a delight. If this Jimmy Stewart classic doesn't make you feel ... Read on

Based on a stage play that opened six years earlier, Harvey, the 1950 film directed by Henry Koster, is a delight. If this Jimmy Stewart classic doesn't make you feel good, you must be related to Mr. Henry F. Potter of Bedford Falls. In case you didn't know, Harvey is a 6' 3'' Pooka who has befriended a certain Mr. Elwood P. Dowd. In Celtic mythology a Pooka is a fearsome spirit that usually takes the form of a sleek dark horse that roams the countryside at night, creating harm and mischief. Well, Harvey is not like that at all.

In fact, Harvey is a very gentle spirit who is always helping people out and has the ability to make everybody around him feel relaxed and in a good mood. Now Dowd needs all the help he can get. He likes to take a nip once in a while and is always talking to that danged rabbit to the chagrin of his sister Veta Louise (Josephine Hull) whose social life takes a nosedive when brother Elwood is around. Elwood's shenanigans also interfere with her plans to marry off her daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Home).

The mayhem in the first part turns into a gentle and moving drama in the latter part of the film. The heart of the film belongs to Elwood and the flawless performance of Jimmy Stewart. He is thoroughly convincing as basically a decent man who never loses his temper and is always giving people his card and inviting strangers home for dinner but who most people think a bit strange in that he talks to an invisible rabbit. The film works because of its good natured humour and its gentle slap about those who condemn ideas and people that are outside socially acceptable norms without thinking for themselves. Hide