16 July 2010

Harvey (1950)


Trailer

" ... You must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
So basically: Vita is trying to get her daughter involved socially around town, however this is made particularly difficult by her brother, Elwood P Dowd. He is the talk of the town because everyone thinks he's a screwball. Elwood has a friend, a peculiar friend, by the name of Harvey, a 6 foot 3 and a half inch tall white rabbit. Tired of her brother, Vita tries to have him committed, but things go awry and hilarity ensues.

Yey! Another Jimmy Stewart (who plays Elwood P Dowd) movie, and a delightful one at that. When I first read about it all I could think of was Donnie Darko (I don't like that movie). This movie is much more pleasant and charming. Jimmy Stewart is brilliant as he strolls around town making friends with everyone he comes across with. I really like this film because it isn't a fantasy and there's no odd explaination of Harvey. Harvey is there, plain and simple. He's a pooka! The doctor even sees him by the end and that's the point. Harvey brings out the best in people, makes them nicer to be around, so they're not like ordinary, rude, boring people. The one criticism I have of this movie is the two couples. Those men, Dr Sanderson and Mr Wilson, are sexist douchebuckets. And the women, Miss Kelly and Myrtle Mae respectively, just fall into their arms! Especially Myrtle Mae, after all the horrible things her mother told her about him, and the way he treated her at first. But throw her a few compliments and she's smitten! Miss Kelly and Myrtle Mae should have slapped those boys in the face. Josephine Hull plays another outrageous character (she was one of the aunts in Arsenic and Old Lace), Vita, and the only woman who doesn't fall for the "charms" of douchey men!

This should defs be on the list! Probably higher, too.

Ziggi seal of approval!

2 comments:

  1. I watched this movie today for the first time, and it was great! The main character, Elwood, was so sweet, and he wasn't causing any harm to anyone with his imaginary friend Harvey, and yet his family were trying to get him into that dreadful place!

    The two couples annoyed me too!! That Myrtle woman especially, just falling for that horrible man. I was wondering if she was so enamoured with him just because she didn't get out much and didn't meet many men on account of her brother, so she just was falling for the first guy she saw.

    The movie had some very amusing dialogue spurned from several "misunderstandings", and a bit of screwball comedy thrown in the mix too, which I really enjoyed.

    Overall it was very entertaining & I was so pleased with how it ended. :)

    I also realised, half way through the movie, that the "social bunny" in the sims 2, is a direct reference to Harvey! Haha!! You could practically see a lightbulb glowing over my head at that moment of realisation, hahaha.

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  2. YEY!! :D He totally was! I absolutely love Jimmy Stewart. He was perfect for the part! I kno, right :< It always makes me sad.

    Awesome! Glad I'm not the only one. Maybe that was it, but still, she can't be *that* sheltered.

    :)

    I'm so glad! I also love how Harvey *is* real, and not just imagined by Elwood. That really made the movie awesome.

    haha, awesome :D

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