This movie is not about Harvey! It is not about a man who thinks he has a 6-foot rabbit as companion. Harvey is just decoration, he is not important. It is a movie about a man who sees everybody!
Because Elwood P Dowd (James Stewart) sees high and low, acknowledges their assets, asks for their names, remembers their names. He is everybody's friend, sees everybody, listens, invites to dinner, makes compliments. This makes some of his friends unacceptable in the upper class, and that is not just Harvey. In the beginning of the movie, we hear Mr Meegles (Harry Hines) say that Veta (Josephine Hull) didn't like him because he is an ex-convict. He is just another Harvey, Elwood is his friend but other people can't, or won't, see him. For them, Mr Meegles is as invisible as Harvey!
Thus, my favorite scene in the movie has nothing to do with Harvey. It is the scene near the middle of the movie with the guard by the gate (Clem Bevans). Elwood admires the construction, befriends the guard, Mr Shimelplatzer. And later, in the end of the movie, he addresses Mr Shimelplatzer by his name, again acknowledging him. The guard by the gate is a typical "invisible man".
Harvey is just a mirror of these "invisible people", an amplification of them, a caricature.
You may ask why Elwood can't explain properly, why he, who sees everybody, can't see that people are uncomfortable with Harvey, that they can't see him. He should notice that. However, that is a flaw needed to drive the story. If Elwood was discrete about Harvey, there would be no conflict, no problem to solve, no visits at the sanatorium.
But then I get to the real weaknesses of the movie. The romance between miss Kelly (Peggy Dow) and Dr Sanderson (Charles Drake) is sketchy, and the one between Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne) and Wilson (Jesse White) is even clumsier. These seem slapped-on as something good that Harvey is supposed to cause, but I am not convinced.
At the end, Elwood is basically ready to give up his life to follow Vetas wishes, something that feels strange for a man who has ignored her needs for years. That makes him unnecessarily daft. Is he wise or is he dumb? I guess we are not really supposed to know for sure.
All in all, I really love the concept of the man who sees everybody, to the extent that he can see Harvey as well as lower class people, creatures that many people can't see. This makes most of the movie enjoyable and even genius. I can understand why Josephine Hull earned an Oscar for the movie. It also has some bumps that makes it less that perfect - but not by much. This movie is about seeing and acknowledging, and focusing on the positive, so I acknowledge its strengths while still seeing its weaknesses, and liking it for the strong parts.
Because Elwood P Dowd (James Stewart) sees high and low, acknowledges their assets, asks for their names, remembers their names. He is everybody's friend, sees everybody, listens, invites to dinner, makes compliments. This makes some of his friends unacceptable in the upper class, and that is not just Harvey. In the beginning of the movie, we hear Mr Meegles (Harry Hines) say that Veta (Josephine Hull) didn't like him because he is an ex-convict. He is just another Harvey, Elwood is his friend but other people can't, or won't, see him. For them, Mr Meegles is as invisible as Harvey!
Thus, my favorite scene in the movie has nothing to do with Harvey. It is the scene near the middle of the movie with the guard by the gate (Clem Bevans). Elwood admires the construction, befriends the guard, Mr Shimelplatzer. And later, in the end of the movie, he addresses Mr Shimelplatzer by his name, again acknowledging him. The guard by the gate is a typical "invisible man".
Harvey is just a mirror of these "invisible people", an amplification of them, a caricature.
You may ask why Elwood can't explain properly, why he, who sees everybody, can't see that people are uncomfortable with Harvey, that they can't see him. He should notice that. However, that is a flaw needed to drive the story. If Elwood was discrete about Harvey, there would be no conflict, no problem to solve, no visits at the sanatorium.
But then I get to the real weaknesses of the movie. The romance between miss Kelly (Peggy Dow) and Dr Sanderson (Charles Drake) is sketchy, and the one between Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne) and Wilson (Jesse White) is even clumsier. These seem slapped-on as something good that Harvey is supposed to cause, but I am not convinced.
At the end, Elwood is basically ready to give up his life to follow Vetas wishes, something that feels strange for a man who has ignored her needs for years. That makes him unnecessarily daft. Is he wise or is he dumb? I guess we are not really supposed to know for sure.
All in all, I really love the concept of the man who sees everybody, to the extent that he can see Harvey as well as lower class people, creatures that many people can't see. This makes most of the movie enjoyable and even genius. I can understand why Josephine Hull earned an Oscar for the movie. It also has some bumps that makes it less that perfect - but not by much. This movie is about seeing and acknowledging, and focusing on the positive, so I acknowledge its strengths while still seeing its weaknesses, and liking it for the strong parts.