A Mirror Floating in Water

"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be' -- she always called me Elwood -- 'n 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.”

Harvey - I begin with this quote because it virtually sums up the simplicity and pleasantness of Elwood, the films protagonist, who, enjoys passing the time in bars and pubs, being a gentleman to everyone (even the most insulting), drinking with his invisible six and a half foot rabbit friend Harvey.

This film, along with Vertigo and It's a Wonderful Life, is the reason why James Stewart is known as one of the immortals of cinema. The selection and diversity of his characters is immense. In It's a Wonderful Life he was an ambitious young man, frustrated by the fact that he can't escape the confines of his hometown; in Vertigo he was a retired police detective who becomes obsessed with the perfect women; in Harvey, he plays an anti-conformist who greets adversity with a smile.

In the sense that he is an anti-conformist, is that he refuses to be a narcissistic self-righteous member of the herd. It's not that he is consciously rebelling, it's just against his pleasant personality.

Harvey, adapted from Mary Chase's Pulitzer prize winning play, takes place almost within the confines of a single day, the plot being a comedic farce concerning Elwood's image-obsessed sister and her attempts to commit him to a mental institution. James Stewart as Elwood merely seems to float and dance around all of the events of the day, practically not knowing what is going on, introducing himself left and right, offering his card, and inviting new acquaintances to dinner. He is the most powerful and free person in the entire film, because he has utterly surrendered himself to the music and rhythm of life, to the smiles and handshakes of the world (the world that at least, wishes to smile back).

Harvey is a special film. There's nothing that special in the directing (though the invisible effects of Harvey's presence is always magical), it is a film of phenomenal performances and writing. It could virtually be a stage production if it were not for all of the many special performances and moments. Every single character has his or hers own beautiful idiosyncrasies and personalities, and are usually only recognized by somebody as caring as Elwood. Just look at the scene in which Elwood is searching for Harvey as he freely wanders about the institutions grounds, he comes upon the electric gate at the exit (something quite innovative and modern for 1950), he comments on how fascinating it is to the elderly police man who runs it. He engages in his usual politeness, but no matter how routine, he always seems utterly sincere.

Elwood is an individual who belongs to the tradition of Falstaff and Don Quioxte who surrenders himself to the world of play. I must admit that of all of the many characters in cinema, it is he whom I aspire to be the most. I remember watching Harvey over the years every Easter ever since I was a little kid, and I must say that it was grown on me with each viewing. It is no longer that routine holiday film which I would watch once a year, but it is a deep character study of all of the many roles that we might play in the world. So very few films say so much about something in such a pleasant way, and in the absence tragedy (though faithful readers of mine will know that I prefer tragic stories over easy shallow tales). But Harvey is not a shallow film, it is filled with comedic joy, all done at the expense of all of the other films characters, who just don't seem to understand Elwood's innocence and joy. There is not a single despicable character in this film, almost all of them have their faults, but we seemed to have already accepted them as friends along with Elwood.

The most beautiful scene in the entire film (and probably in my opinion, Stewart's shining moment), takes place in a back-alley outside of a club with jazz music playing in the distance, with Elwood explaining to two psychologists who have been following him all day, how he met Harvey. Of course there is so much more to this scene, and is an opening into Elwood's psyche. It is so perfect and so calmly and casually articulated by Stewart, that we can't help but fall along with the two doctors into the trance that is Elwood. There is a shot in which we see the two doctors faces as they listen to Elwood talk, and we can see for about a moment, that they too are experiencing the joy the Elwood is constantly experiencing, for the first time in their life.

I haven't even gotten to Josephine Hall's manic performance as Elwood's sister. It is truly a work of comedic genius; her mannerisms and thoughts completely preoccupied with impressing her friends and making sure that her daughter Myrtle May find the “perfect young man”. She is the antagonist and cause of all the action in the plot, but is not so threatening to the audience, living behind Elwood's pleasant smile. Take the scene in which the head doctor is explaining to Elwood how all day she had been attempting to lock him up. Elwood thoughtfully replies, “She did all that in one afternoon. Veta certainly is a whirlwind isn't she?”

As for Harvey; Elwood's imaginary rabbit friend on which the entirety of the film is centered on. What is Harvey? Is he real or imagined? Merely a figment of some of the characters imaginations or a true physical force? I believe such questions are irrelevant to the fact that Harvey, real of imagined, is the uncanny reflection of Elwood's innocence, his forever-loyal friend and companion, which is himself and the world. Harvey is a physical manifestation of Elwood's warmth and kindness. Like a fantastic six foot white rabbit, Elwood welcomes the world with open arms.

Oh how I make this sound like some complex philsophical film. It is philosophical in the sense that Charlie Chaplin's City Lights is philosophical. It is a delightful entertainment, making one think of their best experiences at the theatre. It is hilarious and quick-witted (with Hall's performance being by far the funniest) and is filled with so many theatrical soliloqueys by characters from cab-drivers to scientific-minded psychologists.

Elwood may be a simple man, but is not a simple character. He annunciates so many bits of knowledge on life and humanity without even noticing it. He is a genius of humility and wholesomeness. Stewart's performance is so humble, and Chase's script so subtle, that this film can be immensely underappretiated at first or second viewing, but eventually grows out to be an elegantly mysterious character study of a man who seems to be beyond us. Who is Elwood? Maybe he's a metaphor for that piece of humanity inside every one of us. Either way, he is without a doubt the Falstaff, the Prince Myshkin of the 20th century. The idiot of cinema. 10/10