Harvey

What an absolutely charming play. Holds up well after all these years. Laugh out loud fun.

When national politics, world affairs, declining health... or other depressing issues threaten to put me down, I always need a re-read of HARVEY. It makes a sunny day brighter and has a way of shattering and dispersing hovering clouds on dreary days. My favorite bit of wisdom, courtesy of Elwood P. Dowd, in the words of his mother: "In this world...you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant." to which Elwood adds his own view of the matter, to wit: "For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." To which I say, GOOD ON YOU, Elwood, not to mention Mary Chase.

Harvey ws first an award winning play, and then a movie favorite staringJames Stewart. It is funny, charming, and has some rel truths of life presented in entertaining way. I have loved it for years, at first from paper copies copied on copier because I could not find the book. Classic.

There seem to be a few too many dystopian novels on the list of reviews, a winter of too many storms and the realization that the shift from pandemic to endemic is not a certain good thing, and then there is the 1954 Pulitzer Prize winning play by Mary Chace: Harvey, a Comedy in 3 acts. It is mostly an actor’s comedy with much of the best humor not in the occasional word play and few repetitions of the single pie in the face gag line from early in act one. Instead done properly the actors must play the situations straight. Not so much as a wink at the audience, but making sure the audience knows that the situation is what makes Harvey a hot chocolate with foam on top kind of time away from the hard news. Most likely, many of us have seen and enjoyed the well-done movie starring the spot on Jimmy Stewart as the heavy drinking, slightly pixilated Elwood P. Dowd. Against those who complain that the movie makes too light on the subjects of mental illness and alcoholism. I would argue that it makes the case that the business of judging who is mentally ill is left open as is the question of who among us is qualified to make that judgement. Otherwise: Ok your right. You are welcome to skip it and move on. Elwood P. Dowd, having presented us with is card and the instructions as to which phone number we should use, and an invitation to join him for drinks, dinner and to drop in, would also observe that “In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant, well for years I was smart... I recommend pleasant, and you may quote me.” And that is about as heavy as the play will get. The basic plot revolves around Elwood P. Dowd, his very close friend, a pooka named Harvey, who appears to Elwood P. Dowd as a talking 6-foot-tall rabbit, his sister, Veta (Elwood P. Dowd’s Sister, not Harvey’s sister, who we may assume does not have a sister, which may seem odd for a rabbit, even a 6-foot-tall rabbit) and niece Myrtle. Sister and niece want him confined to a mental hospital so that they can have control of his apparently well-funded estate, and marry off the daughter without having to deal with an invisible rabbit and a stream of strangers spontaneously invited to dinner. The thing is that Veta admits to the doctor at the rest home, that she occasionally sees Harvey and in the confusion with the hospital staff, hilarity and romance ensue. As a read, the play can be a tad uneven. Very little happens and most of the last act can seem flat. Rather than more oh so intelligent analysis, Harvey is a quick read, hardly as long as the movie. Between the play as text, or as the movie, the movie, by having Jimmy Stewart and some nicely cast if less known performers may be the better way to lighten you day.

There seemed to be a few grammatical errors. Could consider a reread!

Reading a play allows you to capture all the word=play that goes on, and in this Pulitzer Prize winning (1945) play, there is plenty of that. It formed the basis for the beloved 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart, Josephine Hull, and Cecil Kellaway.

This is a must have for your collection. Are you a bit different? Maybe considered a little out of the ordinary? Read this book, and have hope, that each of us is unique, and of value. Plus, I absolutely adore Bunnies and Rabbits, don’t you?

"Harvey" (A comedy in three acts) is not a novel but a play for theatre, and as such, it is delightful, the characters coming to life through the dialogue. A wonderful asset to any theatre company, with characters to make you smile and think.

A new book, really funny. I love it. I got it quickly. What can anybody want more ? ( in this respect ) Thanks a lot Yours faithfully Elias Pofitt Trumbledore

Harvey never grows old and it is much better when staged where it really gets funny!

Una pena que no tenga traducciones al español. Pero así practico mi inglés. Se envió perfectamente aunque un poco lento para el producto que es.

Everyone , should read this delightful book; it’s enchanting, a gentler time 🕊️

My daughter is very very happy for this book！