March 8, 2022

I'm in an acting class at SMC. Jerry Springer is mentioned in the script I'm working on with my scene partner. She told me that when she was in high school, her mom went on the Howard Stern show to beg for breast implants. It was embarrassing. All her classmates knew about it. Her mom went on TV for that shit. Amazing. 

MLog Time! 

HARVEY

1950

Directed by: Henry Koster

Written by: Mary Chase, Oscar Brodney

Watched: 3/1/22

Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) lives with his sister Veta (Josephine Hull) and niece, Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne), who are trying to get him out of the house so they can entertain a group of society women. It’s Myrtle Mae’s time to be introduced into society and to try to find a husband, but the problem is that ever since Elwood and Veta’s mother died, Elwood has been walking around with an invisible six-foot 3 ½ in tall rabbit named Harvey. The ladies can’t afford to let people know that Elwood is nuts. It would ruin Myrtle Mae’s chances. Elwood goes to the same bar every day and orders drinks for himself and for Harvey. Elwood drinks constantly. Veta, at her wits end, tries to commit Elwood to a sanatorium, but when she tells the doctor about Elwood’s condition, she admits to sometimes seeing Harvey, and gets locked up herself. Trying to rectify this mistake, the staff at the sanatorium tries desperately to retrieve Elwood, but every time they do, they end up having a nice time and sort of forgetting what they were on about and getting drunk and believing in the rabbit themselves. Elwood explains that Harvey is a pooka, a kind of sprite from Celtic mythology bent on fun and mischief. The head doctor ends up fully believing in Harvey and wanting Harvey for a companion for himself. The other doctors are finally able to retrieve Elwood and offer to give him a serum called “Formula 977” which will stop him from seeing the rabbit. Veta wants them to do it. But at first she’s unable to find money to pay the cabby, so she has to stop the procedure to ask Elwood for cash. Then the cab driver says what wonderful passengers come to the sanatorium, but after the treatment they go away miserable. He warns Veta that Elwood will become "just a normal human being, and you know what stinkers they are." Veta stops the procedure. Veta, Myrtle Mae, Elwood, and Harvey walk together into the sunset. 

People fall in love along the way, facilitated by Elwood’s pleasant battishness. I watched this movie because John Green talked about it in the Anthropocene Review. When he was in his 20s, newly dumped, and having a mental breakdown, he had to move back in with his parents for a little while. His boss told him to take some time but that he didn’t have to quit. He left him a note that said, “Now, more than ever, watch Harvey.” A good quote: “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh-so-smart or -oh-so-pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me.” By the end, the movie seems to suggest – with Harvey opening doors on his own and such – that Harvey is real. While the beginning of the movie lines Harvey up, in my viewing, as a response to Elwood’s trauma of losing his mother. The drinking maybe is the actual trauma response and the rabbit real. The movie seems to suggest the benefits in letting things slide, in keeping it blurry, in not fighting so hard anymore. That premise reminds me of Another Round. It would be interesting to watch/discuss these two movies together. Harvey is way whimsical for my taste, generally, but I think that the actual darkness of life grounds it. And not dramatic darkness, just the everyday mundane hardships. The stuff grinding grinding you down. The loss of a parent, the most common thing in the world. The judgment of strangers. The pressure to perform. The toll of the whole thing and the desire – like the head doctor – to just lie under a tree and have a beautiful woman stroke your hair and say, “Poor dear… poor dear…” Yeah.

Rating: ★★★1/2