Harvey

 Harvey is a 1950 comedic film staring James Stewart (nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor, won by Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac) and Josephine Hull (won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress).  It was adapted from a play I saw Stewart and Helen Hayes perform on Broadway years later.  

The main character of Harvey is Elwood P. Dowd (Stewart), a middle-aged man of independent means, who lives with his sister, Veta (Hull).  He spends most of his free time at various bars around town drinking martinis and chatting with other patrons, especially his friend Harvey, a very tall, imaginary and invisible white rabbit.

As Elwood, in his naivete, continually disrupts her social life with his insistence that Harvey is real, Veta attempts to have him committed to a mental institution.  However, at the last minute she reconsiders her decision believing she shouldn't try to change her otherwise kind and sweet brother.

Variety in its critique wrote that "escape from life into a pleasant half-world existence has many points in its favor."  Really?  

Stewart said that "of all the films I've made, Harvey is one of my favorites.  I have a special admiration and love for that big white rabbit.  The whole idea of the character, Elwood P. Dowd," is... what?  

Elwood P. Dowd is an alcoholic who lives in an imaginary world with an invisible white rabbit as his best friend.  Is this something we should strive for?  Is this the movie's message?  I hope not.

I think society's view of drinking has evolved since 1950 and I don't think Harvey the film could be made today.  Drunkenness used to be considered funny.  No more!  

Check out The Lost Weekend (1945), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) for serious examinations of the affects of alcoholism.  It's not a joke as Harvey seems to be.

On the other hand, last week the Danish film, Another Round, won the Academy Award for best International Feature Film.  Its premise is based on a psychiatrist's theory that "having a blood alcohol level of 0.05 makes you more creative and relaxed."  

For the four friends in the film, this is but the start of an attempt to push the limit.  And for one, it led down a slippery slope...to oblivion.

Finally, working for an alcoholic beverage company for more than 31 years left me with a sense of guilt about what the product can do to some.