Harvey - 1950

I love it, love it, love it :-)
It starts with Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart, love him) walking out of his house and stopping to let someone invisible pass. After he goes out, his sister and her daughter prepare themselves for a party they're having in the house. Miss Johnson had been hired to serve at the party, but she leaves in a hurry because "a man introduced me to somebody (invisible Harvey;-p) Do you think I'd stay in this house after that?"   .... come on, it's not like he went after her with a knife!
Myrtle Mae says "oh mother, people get run over by trucks every day. Why can't something like that happen to uncle Elwood?" .... :-/ what a girl, huh?
Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne) is all against him and wouldn't want him around, but her mother Veta (Josephine Hull) reminds her "your uncle Elwood is not living with us, we're living with him" because "why did grandmother leave all of her property to uncle Elwood?"
She's angry because no man will ever want her because her uncle's crazy. That's why they're having this party at all, to have her "started socially".
I liked the scenes in the bar, where the barman knows Elwood and talks to him about Harvey like a normal thing :-) Nice Mr Cracker :-)
When Elwood meets a man in the bar who tells him about the "reception" at his home he says "Veta didn't tell me anything about this; must have slipped her mind" and then he goes home because he worries she might be offended if he's not there :-p
Elwood does everything with Harvey, and he buys tickets for two, and he introduces everybody to Harvey, he hears him and talks to him, and people they all run away, so Veta wants to have him hospitalized, because she's ashamed of him.
Mr Sanderson (Charles Drake) is the young doctor so full oh himself, so sure he's such a great psychiatrist, and he thinks Veta crazy and has her locked up. Probably because she confesses that sometimes she can see Harvey too: "a big white rabbit, six feet high, or is it six feet three and a half?".
Miss Kelly (Peggy Dow) is in love with the doctor, who knows why since he treats her with such contempt.
Wilson (Jesse White) carries poor Veta over his shoulders and puts her in a cell. They try to explain the situation to Elwood who is so very nice and kind, and says of Miss kelly "isn't she lovely? Isn't she... (turning to her) you're very lovely my dear" - "why thank you Mr Dowd, some people don't seem to think so" - "well some people are blind. That's very often brought to my attention" :lol:
Elwood tries many times to introduce them to Harvey, but they keep talking and not notice and don't let him. :-p The doctor explains that Veta came insisting that Elwood needed treatment but it's her that's not well and must stay there.
The wife of Dr Chumley meets Elwood outside and he tells her about Harvey: he's a Pooka! and his best friend too! The dictionary says : "Pooka=from old Celtic mythology. A fairy spirit in animal form, always very large. The Pooka appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one. A benign but mischievous creature, very fond of rumpots, crackpots, and how are you Mr Wilson?"
When she tells her husband, he's furious, saying Dr Sanderson "let a psychopathic case walk out" (very wrongly I think though, because seeing imaginary rabbits doesn't mean someone is a psychopath at all!)
Dr Chumley (Cecil Kellaway) and everybody else go after Elwood to bring him back in. Veta is left free and she's very shocked and angry that "they put me in and let Elwood out". When Wilson comes to her home to look for Elwood, Myrtle Mae fixes him something to eat *rolling eyes*. Elwood come home bringing a painting of him and Harvey (although it's not clear who made it if nobody else can see him, or maybe this painter could..) but they don't notice.
Dr Chumley goes to Charlie's to find Elwood but after four hours he hasn't come back yet, so Wilson, Sanderson and Kelly go there too. There's only Elwood present. Wilson asks Mr Cracker "Is he alone?" and the reply: "well, there's two schools of thought sir" :-p
Elwood has Dr Sanderson dance with Kelly :-p
I like everything about Elwood, and everything he says :-p "I've wrestled with reality for 35 years and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it" ; "I have so many things to do. Harvey and I sit in the bars, have a drink or two, play the jukebox, and soon the faces of all the people, they turn toward mine and they smile, and they're saying 'we don't know your name mister but you're a very nice fella' Harvey and I warm ourselves on all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers and soon we have friends" and they talk and people tell him their stories and their hopes "their loves and their hates, all very large because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar" ; "one night several years ago I was walking early in the evening down Fairfax Street (..) and I heard this voice saying 'good evening Mr Dowd', well I turned around and there was this big six-foot rabbit leaning against a lamp-post. Now, I thought nothing of that because when you've lived in a town as long as I've lived in this one you get used to the fact that everybody knows your name, and naturally I went over to chat with him, and (..) we talked for a while (..) then Harvey said 'what name do you like?', 'Harvey's always been my favourite name', 'what a coincidence, my name happens to be Harvey'"  :lol: adorable.
Back to the sanatorium, we understand that Dr Chumley saw Harvey too. Elwood talks with him about Harvey: "Harvey can look at your clock and stop it, and you can go anywhere you like, with anyone you like and stay as long as you like and when you get back, not one minute will have ticked by" and "Harvey has overcome not only time and space but any objections" :lol:
Harvey always said he'll do anything for Elwood but he never asked him anything because "so far I haven't been able to think of any place I'd rather be, I always have a wonderful time wherever I am, whoever I'm with". He's always so nice, he's not angry even when he understands that Veta wants to lock him up in there - "years ago my mother used to say to me 'in this world Elwood you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me" :lol: There's such a peaceful look in his face, he's so charming and adorable :-)
They all want Elwood to take a serum that will bring him back to reality, and he won't see the rabbit but only his duties. Of course Elwood doesn't want it, he doesn't think he needs it, but then Veta starts crying, saying that they have no life at all, that they're miserable, so sweet Elwood accepts to take it, and the look on his face, oh it breaks my heart.
While they wait outside, the taxi driver (Wallace Ford) comes for his money but Veta can't find any in her bag, so he should wait for Elwood to come out, but the man's not happy about it, so they have Elwood come out at once and they talk, very friendly. "A sweet guy" says the man later, and he tells her of the other people that have taken that serum. "I brought them out here to get that stuff and frove them home afterwards. It changes them. On the way out here they sit back and enjoy the ride. They talk to me. Sometimes we stop and watch the sunsets and look at the birds flying. Sometimes we stop and watch the birds when there ain't no birds, and look at the sunsets when it's raining. We have a swell time. And I always get a big tip. But afterwards, they crab and crab. They yell at me, 'watch the lights! watch the brakes! watch the intersection!', they scream at me to hurry (..) it's no fun. And no tips (..) after this he'll be a perfectly normal human being, and you know what stinkers they are" :-D
Veta screams now to stop it, she doesn't want her brother to be like that, and even says "and what's wrong with Harvey? If Elwood and Myrtle Mae and I want to live with Harvey, what is it to you?" :-) Elwood is all happy and smiling :-) and now Veta finds her money in her bag and understands that Harvey hid it to stop this nonsense :-)
Veta dislikes Wilson after what he did to her and so she wants him away from Myrtle Mae, but Elwood is so nice he says "very nice couple" and invites Wilson home for dinner :-) so now Myrtle Mae is no more against him.
Harvey thinks of staying with Dr Chumley for a while because he asked, and Elwood doesn't mind, but is sad about it, but he's just walking out the sanatorium's gate when he comes back, and they talk and we see Elwood smile : "oh thank you Harvey, I prefer you too " :-)
How lovely, isn't it? So so lovely :-)

Little notes:
Elwood is 42. He reads 'sense and sensibility' aloud to Harvey while waiting :-p
It's not clear to me why Elwood's father is called John Stiverson, I mean, shouldn't he be called Dowd??

From the pulitzer prize play by Mary Chase who also wrote the screenplay (! I didn't know this, that's why I'm writing it down here :-p)