Our Film of the Week is the classic comedy Harvey, a timeless tribute to the power of the imagination. Jimmy Stewart considered Elwood P. Dodd his favorite role of all.
Harvey is a lovely movie. I first heard about the film somewhere in Dr. Esolen’s writings, which I often seek out. I also love Penny Serenade, Love With the Proper Stranger, and Marty. They are among my very favorite films, with so much gratitude to Dr. Esolen for recommending them.
"I guess that everybody who tells stories he has wrought from his imagination has that feeling."
I would say that you don't know the half of it, but in my case, it's probably more like not knowing even a quarter, or an eighth! I've been working on a large narrative for some time now, and my desire to know everything about every place, person, and thing in my head is....well, I suppose we could say that it makes me like the lunatic, the lover, AND the poet from yesterday's passage! I believe I am at well over 2,000 named things by now. And yet, despite the imagination required, it is not overwhelming at all, but soothing. And it teaches me, too...entering into the mind of someone I created, but who is not me, and who is in fact very different from me. You cannot imagine other worlds and yet fail to enhance your understanding of this world.
I think Elwood and Harvey have the right of it: imagination isn't an escape from the world, as many say it is, but rather a diving into the fathomless worlds that exist within us. Are they "real," these worlds and their imaginary friends? Maybe they're not touchable, as we can touch physical things. But can we touch the love we have for family and friends, or the emotions we feel every day? I think our imaginations are at least as real as those, and those are very real.
“Well, what do you say about a six-foot-two barrel-chested gum-chewing Catholic Irishman, who writes a novella about a man who likes to fly kites from the tops of skyscrapers, leaning out from the parapets while the tug of the kite keeps him from falling?” The whole family MUST know. Who is this???
Its seems all great movies have great quotes. In "Harvey," it comes up when Elwood P. Dowd recalls for the doctor something his mother once told him: "'Elwood,' she would say, 'in this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant."
Love it! Better than therabbits who eat my roses!
Harvey is a lovely movie. I first heard about the film somewhere in Dr. Esolen’s writings, which I often seek out. I also love Penny Serenade, Love With the Proper Stranger, and Marty. They are among my very favorite films, with so much gratitude to Dr. Esolen for recommending them.
Tony, have you ever written about Mr. Blue?
"I guess that everybody who tells stories he has wrought from his imagination has that feeling."
I would say that you don't know the half of it, but in my case, it's probably more like not knowing even a quarter, or an eighth! I've been working on a large narrative for some time now, and my desire to know everything about every place, person, and thing in my head is....well, I suppose we could say that it makes me like the lunatic, the lover, AND the poet from yesterday's passage! I believe I am at well over 2,000 named things by now. And yet, despite the imagination required, it is not overwhelming at all, but soothing. And it teaches me, too...entering into the mind of someone I created, but who is not me, and who is in fact very different from me. You cannot imagine other worlds and yet fail to enhance your understanding of this world.
I think Elwood and Harvey have the right of it: imagination isn't an escape from the world, as many say it is, but rather a diving into the fathomless worlds that exist within us. Are they "real," these worlds and their imaginary friends? Maybe they're not touchable, as we can touch physical things. But can we touch the love we have for family and friends, or the emotions we feel every day? I think our imaginations are at least as real as those, and those are very real.
“Well, what do you say about a six-foot-two barrel-chested gum-chewing Catholic Irishman, who writes a novella about a man who likes to fly kites from the tops of skyscrapers, leaning out from the parapets while the tug of the kite keeps him from falling?” The whole family MUST know. Who is this???
I’m so glad you chose this one, what a great movie, thank you!
Its seems all great movies have great quotes. In "Harvey," it comes up when Elwood P. Dowd recalls for the doctor something his mother once told him: "'Elwood,' she would say, 'in this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant."