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Harvey Overview:

Harvey (1950) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by Henry Koster and produced by John Beck.

SYNOPSIS

Elwood is a good-natured, slightly sloshed man whose faithful companion is a 6-feet-3.5-inches-tall rabbit that only he can see. When his sister Veta (Hull) tries to have him committed, she's taken in instead. It's up to Elwood and Harvey to straighten out the mess. Stewart in his best amiable, bumbling mode.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1950 --- Ceremony Number 23 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorJames StewartNominated
Best Supporting ActressJosephine HullWon

Harvey BlogHub Articles:

Getting to Know Peggy Dow: Harvey and Beyond

source: IMDb The L.A. Times headline in 1951 read: “Peggy Dow Sketches Future as She Quits Hollywood to Wed” Many people recall how Grace Kelly famously married Prince Rainier of Monaco and from thenceforward left her stirling Hollywood career behind out of a sense of love and duty. That... Read full article


Turning a Page on film books: Anita arrives, James Harvey leaves

It's still hard to believe a book was dedicated to me, but it happened some years ago when Michelle Morgan wrote "Carole Lombard: Twentieth-Century Star." (I assisted her with research at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library.)Since becoming a Lombard fan three and ... Read full article


Becker (1998) s01e18 – Saving Harvey Cohen

The episode plays like writer Eric Cohen really likes “Becker.” Everyone in the cast gets something to do; even if it’s a little subplot, it’s a complete one. The main plot has Becker (Ted Danson) reluctantly caring for a sick stray cat, including some really obvious stuff when he takes it t... Read full article


The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – with Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey

Share This! An idea once unbelievable. . . . Then unthinkable. . . . Now all too possible. . . .  A chilling classic. In the recent war in Iraq and the current one in Afghanistan, the greatest threat and concern has been and is—torture.  Although torture had also been a concern in the Kore... Read full article


Josephine Hull in HARVEY

Josephine Sherwood decided to study drama at Radcliffe College because she couldn’t fight the urge to perform.  The Newtonville, Massachusetts native began her journey to become one of the greats of the American theater in a stock company in Boston.  Hers was not the built of a glamour quee... Read full article


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Harvey Quotes:

Mailman: Beautiful day...
Elwood P. Dowd: Oh, every day is a beautiful day.

Veta Louise Simmons: Judge Gaffney, is that all those doctors do in places like that - think about sex?
Judge Gaffney: I don't know.
Veta Louise Simmons: Because if it is they ought to be ashamed of themselves. It's all in their heads anyway. Why don't they get out and take long walks in the fresh air?

Attractive sales lady at a department store: What can I do for you, Mr. Dowd?
Elwood P. Dowd: What did you have in mind?

Elwood P. Dowd: [talking about Harvey] Did I tell you he could stop clocks?
Dr. Chumley: To what purpose.
Elwood P. Dowd: Well, you've heard the expression; 'his face would stop a clock'.
Dr. Chumley: Mm-hmm.
Elwood P. Dowd: Well, 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.

The Taxi Driver: ...I've been driving this route for 15 years. I've brought 'em out here to get that stuff, and I've drove 'em home after they had it. 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 flyin'. Sometimes we stop and watch the birds when there ain't no birds. And look at the sunsets when its raining. We have a swell time. And I always get a big tip. But afterwards, oh oh...
Veta Louise Simmons: "Afterwards, oh oh"? What do you mean, "afterwards, oh oh"?
The Taxi Driver: They crab, crab, crab. They yell at me. Watch the lights. Watch the brakes, Watch the intersections. They scream at me to hurry. They got no faith in me, or my buggy. Yet, it's the same cab, the same driver. and we're going back over the very same road. It's no fun. And no tips... After this he'll be a perfectly normal human being. And you know what stinkers they are!
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Harvey Facts
At the suggestion of James Stewart, the director changed many shots to make them wider so that "Harvey" would be in the frame.

Though James Stewart's character, Elwood P. Dowd, may certainly be referred to as an alcoholic, only at one time in the entire picture is he seen taking a drink.

First film project of Fess Parker.

Josephine Hull first performed her role in the Broadway version of Harvey. Jesse White also appeared in the original Broadway production and a 1972 television version.

Although James Stewart is 6'4'', he refers to Harvey as being 6'3 1/2'' tall in the film and looks up at him during the entire film. That's because this is Harvey's height in the original play by Mary Chase. In a 1990 interview, Stewart said that he had decided that for the film, Harvey was going to be 6'8'', so that he could indeed look up at him.

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