Harvey 5 Star Movie
		Made: 1950 Cast:  James Sterart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway, Victoria Horne, Jesse White Director: Henry Koster Screenwriter: Oscar Brodney, Mary Chase Cinematographer:  William H Daniels Producer: John Beck "It's our dreams, doctor, that carry us on. They                     separate us from the beasts."
	Harvey starts off like a typical stage play, but soon evolves into something else: a meditation on optimism. Truly, this is the most optimistic movie I have ever seen. The lead character is seen as crazy and delusional by half the characters in the movie but the other half put up with him out of tolerance, or perhaps something else. Elwood best friend is a giant white rabbit, a "pooka" he calls himself. Pooka is defined as "a creature of Celtic folklore, both respected and feared by those who believe in it." Harvey is always given space by Elwood: pulling up barstools, opening doors and gates, and is always formally introduced to his friends, much to their confusion.      The comedy is definitely hysterical with Aunt Vera and May being quite frantic about their "crazy" relative. They honestly seem more out of their heads than Elwood at points. Once they try to have Elwood committed to an asylum, four more characters are introduced: the feuding young couple Mrs. Kelly and Dr. Standerson, the tough employee Wilson, and the head of the department Dr. Chumley. They try to have Vera herself committed because they think she is the crazy one. Though the comedy is hysterical, the pace of the movie is very balanced. There is never a dull moment and the serious moments are played so that they don't hurt the comedy but fuel it further along.      In a way, the movie made in 1950 is even more poignant today: constant lawsuits, escape from reality, and scatterbrained cast members. Many criticisms have been hurled at the movie, among them that it is "slow", "obvious", and "only one joke spread out". Well, those are the pessimists that all great comedies rile against. The dialog is often believable, funny, and risque. Best moments include the confusion over whose hat is whose, the head of the asylum needing Harvey, the conversation under the stairs about how Dowd met Harvey. Conversations between Harvey and Elwood are often played off to other members of the cast, which makes the movie constantly charming. I've seen it over ten times and I still laugh out loud quite often: "Is there something I can do for you?" "What did you have in mind?" "He's had that rabbit up in my office many a time; I may be old but I don't miss much." "You got the screwiest uncle whoever stuck his puss inside our nuthouse!" "I've wrestled with reality for 35 five years doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it."      Harvey's existence is often believable, though to say exactly how would prove impossible with words. The acting should all be attributed to Stewart, his body language and constant smile are the perfect center for this movie. "Let me give you one of my cards," he says to every person he meets. He is the shining light in a word full of doubters, the positive to the negative of the world. Everyone thinks Elwood has a sinister motive but his outlook is the absence of a motive: pure bliss. People think he is a drunk and that fits right in, or is it their excuse because they are not as happy? Harvey is the ultimate comic allegory, though the movie is not exactly a satire. It transcends labels. It has influenced countless films including Oh God, A Beautiful Mind, Lars and the Real Girl, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and any nonsensical comedy made after 1950. What it can stand for is up to the imagination, just like the shape of the pooka himself.