Harvey (1950)

Hop to it and see Harvey. This is a very funny comedy.

The laughs are numerous, and usually prolonged, with this fine film version of the Broadway play by Mary Chase.

Josephine Hull is the real gem here in a role that earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress.

As Veta Louise Simmons, she's at the end of her rope with younger brother Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart). Simmons and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne) returned to live with Dowd after their their mother's death. Mom left all of her estate to Dowd.

It's then, Vera notes, that Elwood was acting "different." His best friend, and constant companion, is a white rabbit that stands more than six feet tall and is invisible to just about everyone by him. Harvey, he says, is a pooka, a fairy spirit that appears in animal form at times. Simmons is trying to get her daughter married off, but ladies of high society stay away in droves from her home because of Dowd's odd behaviour. Veta isn't keen about Elwood's habit of inviting "a lot of riff raff" to dine with them at his home. That includes bar patron Mr. Minninger, who tells Elwood he's been away a couple of times in recent years with "a job for the state" making licence plates and constructing roads.

When Simmons decides to commit Dowd to a home for the mentally ill, she ends up behind bars. It seems her stories about Harvey convince Dr. Sanderson (Charles Drake) that she's the one who needs help at Chumley's Rest. Meanwhile, Dowd, who was originally checked in, is sprung free. It's only after he leaves the property that Sanderson and his boss, Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway) realize they've mixed up the sibling who should be in care. They fear lawsuits and race to find Dowd.

He's not too hard to find, since he spends a lot of time in bars. But Harvey might not be the creation of Dowd's memory everyone thinks. Even Veta, on occasion, will acknowledge his unseen presence. Chumley sees possibilities in his own life where he'd like to be friends with Harvey.

While Sanderson and Chumley like to speak softly and talk in medical terms, orderly Wilson (Jesse White) is more than willing to use brute force to get patients under control. He strikes fear into Veta. She is convinced he's "a white slaver." But even he manages to notice Myrtle Mae. Romance blooms.

There's a fun, if a little strange, passive/aggressive subplot involving Samuelson and Nurse Kelly (Peggy Dow). She's keen on him, but he's oblivious to her interest. It's Dowd who shows an interest in her and gives her the attention missing from Samuelson's daily rounds.

Harvey is a very funny film about someone who's a little different. It boasts a great cast, with fine support work from William Lynn as Judge Gaffney. See this film.

RATING: 9/10

FUN FACTS: Wallace Ford, who appears here as The Taxi Driver, made his last screen appearance in A Patch of Blue. That film was also reviewed on this site. It's a must see.

Charles Drake appeared as a reporter in The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart.

Jesse White had a long stint as advertising personality Maytag Repairman. He also appeared in Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood. I have to see this film!

A Patch of Blue (1965)

Guy Green has created a small miracle with A Patch of Blue.



The British-born director (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist) took Elizabeth Kata's novel, Be Ready With Bells and Drums, and made a powerful film about friendship and acceptance. This 1965 release is not as well known as other movies that came out the same year such as The Sound of Music, Cat Ballou and Doctor Zhivago, but it packs a punch and still deserves to be seen nearly 50 years later.





Selina D'Arcey (Elizabeth Hartman) is a young, blind woman who continues to live with her dysfunctional family. Her mother, Rose-ann (Shelley Winters in an Academy Award winning performance), beats and neglects her. They share a tiny one-room apartment with Rose-ann's drunk father, Ole Pa (Wallace Ford, in his last screen performance). It's because of Rose-ann that Selina lost her sight when she was five and, about a decade later, raped. Ole Pa is more in love with the bottle than doing what is right to help his grand-daughter.



Selina has little, if any, schooling ("I ain't been taught nothing," she notes early on), can't read braille and doesn't have the living skills to get by outside her home. She strings beads for Mr. Faber (John Qualen) to earn money.





It's when she's working with the beads in the city park that she meets Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier). He helps her right from the start of their relationship when she gets upset when a caterpillar lands on her. Again, Selina has no idea what's on her skin. Her time in the outside world is limited.



A friendship develops. Ralfe gradually learns about Selina's troubled background and wants to help. He starts to teach her how to get around by herself by recognizing the sun's location and using crosswalks.



"It's wonderful to have a friend," she tells Gordon. Her feelings intensify. She's falling in love with the kind man who does so much to help. He's interested, but is more concerned about offering her a new start to her life.



It's during a conversation between the two that Gordon learns Rose-ann, years earlier, cut off contact between her daughter and a black girl who also tried to help her out. Selina doesn't know about the colour of his skin.



A race against the clock starts when Gordon tries to get help for Selina while Rose-ann schemes to take her daughter, desert her father and open what sure sounds like a brothel with her friend Sadie (Elisabeth Fraser).



A Patch of Blue reminds me of 2009's Precious which featured an even more horrifying relationship between mother and daughter (Mo'Nique and Gabourey Sidibe). Selina is also living through hell, but still sees beauty in the world and appreciates the kindness of others.



"It's great eating and talking," she tells Gordon during lunch at the spacious apartment he shares with his brother Mark (Ivan Dixon). There's nothing but a cheap transistor radio to listen to at her apartment. The brothers Ralfe have a record player and a selection of classical records. Selina becomes enchanted with a musical box owned by Gordon's grandmother. She too saw an important relationship affected because of racism. Composer Jerry Goldsmith (Seconds) deserves a nod for composing a great score.



Poitier is solid as a decent man who makes the effort to help Selina. Many others walk by her when she's in distress. He didn't.



A typical Hollywood approach to such a story would be to focus on a romantic relationship between the leads. That's not the big focus here. A Patch of Blue, just like later films like Educating Rita and Green Card, may not give some viewers the tidy wrap-up they want. Good for Guy Green.



A Patch of Blue is about stepping up to help someone else. It's about appreciating people for who they are, not damning them for what they look like. A Patch of Blue is a great film.



RATING: 10/10



FUN, AND NOT SO FUN, FACTS: Ivan Dixon is best known as James 'Kinch' Kinchloe in Hogan's Heroes. He also appeared with Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun and Porgy and Bess.



Elizabeth Hartman earned an Academy Award nomination for her film debut in A Patch of Blue. But life didn't end well for her. She committed suicide in 1987. She was 43.



What a resume. John Qualen also appeared in Casablanca, The Searchers and The Grapes of Wrath.