Posted 10:24 AM by Blah blah

Harvey, James Stewart, and the Need for Faith

I just saw the classic James Stewart movie Harvey (1950) last night. It's a comedy about a 40 year old man, in the "cute-cute" Stewart style, who believes his best friend is an over 6 foot tall white rabbit named Harvey. No one else can see it (at first). I loved this movie. The writer, Mary Chase, wrote it originally to cheer up her neighbor, who had lost her son in World War II. Stewart is oh so sweet in this film, charming, courteous, and dreamy. Such a gentleman. In the midst of people burdened with the troubles of the world, backbiting, suspicious, and anxious, comes Elwood P. Dowd (Stewart's character), a man of blind faith in an invisible rabbit.



What's fascinating is how Dowd's unshakable faith in his friend spreads into his faith in the unhappy people around him. His strong faith in the goodness of others gradually transforms whomever he meets. At the end, other people begin to see, or wish they could see, Harvey!

Peggy Dow, who plays the gentle nurse ignored by the man whom she cares about, is a breathtaking vision of beauty and light here. (Another photo of her.) She's like Donna Reed in Stewart's more famous classic, It's a Wonderful Life. An ideal wife type. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Watching her was like falling in love. Too bad she left Hollywood after only two years, to marry a rich Oklahoma oil man.



You know, while everyone else was watching Top Gun, Indiana Jones, and Nightmare on Elm Street in the 1980s, I grew up watching these charming black and white films. Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. James Stewart. Spencer Tracy. Ingrid Bergman. These were my screen idols as a kid and teenager. (Learn more about the classic movies at Reel Classics.)

I seriously learned values from watching these movies. Honesty. Courtesy. Wit. The way people lived was kind of my ideal vision of America and American values. When I have children, I'll definitely introduce these wonderful, positive films to them. They teach you unforgettable lessons, and I sometimes turn to them when I feel down. You should do the same, both for yourselves AND your children!

This movie relates to what Heather said below about a relationship being like a church. Trust and faith are THE foundation of every good, healthy relationship. Harvey shows the transformative power of sincere faith in someone. Every good relationship, whether at home or in business, must take this blind leap of faith. That's the true way we show love. Even as an agnostic and ex-Christian, I strongly strongly believe that.