History Theatre / Harvey

* CloudCuckoolander: Elwood, much to Veta and Myrtle Mae's dismay.

--> "After this he'll be a perfectly normal human being. And you know what stinkers they are!"

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harvey_1950_poster.jpg]]

->''"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be' – she always called me Elwood – 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."''

Harvey himself is a giant rabbit who is also a Pooka and who is InvisibleToNormals. (To those who can see him, he is white.) He is quite friendly. He may or may not have several StockSuperpowers...

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
-->'''Attractive sales lady at a department store:''' What can I do for you, Mr. Dowd?
-->'''Elwood P. Dowd:''' What did you have in mind?

A classic, UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1944 play by Mary Chase which has been adapted to the screen several times, including a 1950 film starring Creator/JimmyStewart and a 1996 MadeForTVMovie starring Harry Anderson. Creator/JimParsons has starred in it on stage as well.

* DrinkOrder: "Two martinis!"

* TheFilmOfThePlay: The original Broadway production of the play ran for almost five years and was directed by Antoinette Perry, the namesake of the [[UsefulNotes/TonyAwardWinners Tony Awards]]. Former {{Vaudeville}} star Frank Fay[[note]]One-time husband of Creator/BarbaraStanwyck, reputedly the inspiration for [[Film/AStarIsBorn Norman Maine]], and a notorious supporter of Fascism[[/note]] originated the role of Elwood P. Dowd, but Creator/JimmyStewart was one of the replacements as Dowd later in the Broadway run. Also reprising their Broadway roles in the 1950 film were Josephine Hull as Veta (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) and Jesse White as Wilson. And there have been many other made-for-TV adaptations over the years, including one with Stewart as Dowd once again. Plans for a modern-day remake have fallen into DevelopmentHell, with Creator/{{Netflix}} announcing in late 2018 that they were going to take a shot at remaking it.

* TheFilmOfThePlay: The original Broadway production of the play ran for almost five years and was directed by Antoinette Perry, the namesake of the [[UsefulNotes/TonyAwardWinners Tony Awards]]. Somewhat-controversial comedian Frank Fay originated the role of Elwood P. Dowd, but Creator/JimmyStewart was one of the replacements as Dowd later in the Broadway run. Also reprising their Broadway roles in the 1950 film were Josephine Hull as Veta (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) and Jesse White as Wilson. And there have been many other made-for-TV adaptations over the years, including one with Stewart as Dowd once again. Plans for a modern-day remake have fallen into DevelopmentHell, with Creator/{{Netflix}} announcing in late 2018 that they were going to take a shot at remaking it.

* TheFilmOfThePlay: The original Broadway production of the play ran for almost five years and was directed by Antoinette Perry, the namesake of the [[UsefulNotes/TonyAwardWinners Tony Awards]]. Somewhat-controversial comedian Frank Fay originated the role of Elwood P. Dowd, but Creator/JimmyStewart was one of the replacements as Dowd later in the Broadway run. Also reprising their Broadway roles in the 1950 film were Josephine Hull as Veta (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) and Jesse White as Wilson. And there have been many other made-for-TV adaptations over the years, including one with Stewart as Dowd once again. Plans for a modern-day remake have fallen into DevelopmentHell, with Creator/{{Netflix}} announcing in late 2018 that they were going to take a shot remaking it.

A classic, UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1944 play by Mary Chase which has been adapted to the screen several times, including a 1950 film starring Creator/JimmyStewart and a 1996 TV Movie starring Harry Anderson. Creator/JimParsons has starred in it on stage as well.

** The rabbit's only 6'3 in the play, in the movie it was changed to 7' because Jimmy Stewart was too tall to look up to a 6'3 bunny the way he needed to.

* MyBelovedSmother: We are told Elwood had a close relationship with his mother and they lived together until his mother died.

--> '''Veta Louise Simmons:''' "Afterwards, oh oh"? What do you mean, "afterwards, oh oh"?

* SanitySlippage: Veta progressively becomes more unbalanced as the story progressive, as if she's losing contact with reality and cannot make up her mind if Harvey is real or not. [[spoiler: She gets better at the end, in that she can accept Harvey so long as Elwood stays as nice as he always is.]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The reason Harvey stayed with Elwood instead of the Asylum Director at the end, seems implied to be that he was turned off by the Director's fetish wish.

* WeWantOurJerkBack: Veta wants his brother as he is, even she had to tolerate Harvey.

--> '''Dr.Sanderson:''' Mr. Elwood...what was your father's name?

* CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure: You can see here you can see how the boundaries between patient and therapist gradually merge [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sq-g-UXuMk Poor, poor thing]]. The movie’s ending seems to suggest that the therapist went insane with an inexistent Harvey and if you believe that Harvey is RealAfterAll, Elwood ends with the real Harvey… [[MindScrew or… something]]

* ShipperOnDeck: Elwood is so ''completely'' on board the Dr. Sanderson/Ms. Kelly train that he even believes they're together when he's first meeting them when they insist they're just coworkers. Once Wilson and Myrtle Mae are seen together, he's endorsing their pairing, too.

** Also Veta throughout the play, as she learns to stop fussing about her social status and being "respectable" and try to make people happy.

* BowtiesAreCool: Harvey seems to think so, if the portrait is to be believed.

* TookALevelInKindness: Spelled out in the scene between Elwood and Dr. Chumley. The page quote sums it up nicely.

A classic, UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1944 play by Mary Chase, which has been adapted into a 1950 film starring Creator/JimmyStewart and a 1996 TV Movie starring Harry Anderson. Creator/JimParsons has starred in it on stage as well.

While the 1950 version is the most popular over five other film versions have been made and a sixth was abandoned in 2009/2010.

->''"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be' - she always called me Elwood - 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."''

->''"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be' - she always called me Elwood - 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."''

A classic play which has been made into a 1950 film starring Creator/JimmyStewart and a 1996 TV Movie starring Harry Anderson. Creator/JimParsons has starred in it on stage as well.

[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b845f567bfed27555181a87eee7b75e5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236: Elwood P. Dowd and Harvey.]]

A classic play which has been made into a film starring Creator/JimmyStewart and a TV Movie starring Harry Anderson. Creator/JimParsons has starred in it on stage as well.

--> '''Dr. Sanderson''': "How did you come to call him Harvey?"
--> '''Elwood''': "Well, Harvey's his name."

--> '''Wilson:''' ''Is he alone?''
--> '''Mr. Cracker, the Bartender:''' ''Well, there's two schools of thought, sir.''

--> '''The Taxi Driver:''' ''...I've been driving this route for 15 years. I've brought 'em out here to get that stuff, and I've drove 'em home after they had it. It changes them... On the way out here, they sit back and enjoy the ride. They talk to me; sometimes we stop and watch the sunsets, and look at the birds flyin'. Sometimes we stop and watch the birds when there ain't no birds. And look at the sunsets when its raining. We have a swell time. And I always get a big tip. But afterwards, oh oh...''
--> '''Veta Louise Simmons:''' ''"Afterwards, oh oh"? What do you mean, "afterwards, oh oh"?''
--> '''The Taxi Driver:''' ''"They crab, crab, crab. They yell at me. Watch the lights. Watch the brakes, Watch the intersections. They scream at me to hurry. They got no faith in me, or my buggy. Yet, it's the same cab, the same driver. and we're going back over the very same road. It's no fun. And no tips... After this he'll be a perfectly normal human being. And you know what stinkers they are!"''

--> '''Dr. Chumley''': "I want to observe his face as he talks to the rabbit. He does talk to it, doesn't he?"
--> '''Veta''': "Yes, they discuss all things together."
--> '''Dr. Chumley''': "What?"
--> '''Veta''': (''without changing her expression or tone from her last line'') "I said yes, he does talk to it."

--> '''Veta''': (''points at painting of Harvey'') "Doctor, that is NOT my mother!"
--> '''Dr. Chumley''': "Yes, well, I'm very glad to hear that."

-->'''Wilson:''' [reading from an encyclopedia] ''"P O O K A - Pooka - from old Celtic mythology - a fairy spirit in animal form - always very large. The pooka appears here and there - now and then - to this one and that one - a benign but mischievous creature - very fond of rumpots, crackpots, and how are you, Mr. Wilson?"'' {{Beat}}.'' 'How are you, Mr. Wilson?' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Who in the encyclopedia wants to know?]]''

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: In this case, absurdly youthful brother. Elwood's age is revealed to be forty-two while Josephine Hull, who played his sister, was 31 years older.

* NoAntagonist: The conflict is people's misguided attempts to "cure" Elwood.