Film

Harvey

Name: Harvey
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Released: 1950
Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway

Harvey is a gentle screwball comedy about a genial drunk, Elwood P. Dowd, whose closest confidant is a six-foot invisible rabbit only he can see. James Stewart plays it with soft-spoken sincerity rather than showbiz zaniness, turning the joke into something tender about kindness, sanity, and who gets to decide what's real. It's slow, talky, and utterly disarming — best suited to anyone who likes their whimsy sincere.

TMDb rating

7.7

If you liked this

It's a Wonderful Life1946

Stewart again plays a man whose goodness gets mistaken for foolishness, with an angel standing in for the rabbit. Capra's warmth and moral clarity make it the natural double bill.

But It's been sentimentalised into holiday wallpaper — you may need to rescue it from Christmas-special fatigue to see how strange it actually is.

Arsenic and Old Lace1944

Cary Grant flails through a house of homicidal aunts in a farce that shares Harvey's love of eccentric relatives and commitment papers as comic engine.

But The pace is manic where Harvey is languid — if you loved the film's calm, this will feel like a different animal entirely.

Miracle on 34th Street1947

A courtroom decides whether a man's harmless, insistent belief makes him mad or wise — practically Harvey's plot wearing a Santa suit.

But Its Christmas trappings and legal-procedural stretches might feel like a detour if you came purely for whimsical comedy.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Donnie Darko2001

Both hinge on an invisible companion, seen only by one person, whose reality the whole plot refuses to settle — one plays it as comfort, the other as omen.

A giant rabbit who may or may not exist guides a troubled teenager toward a truth no one else can see — Harvey's premise turned inside out and set on fire.

But It's cryptic, unsettling, and genuinely dark where Harvey is cosy; go in expecting dread, not charm.

Being There1979

Peter Sellers plays a man so guileless everyone assumes he must be a genius, echoing Elwood's serene refusal to explain himself to a suspicious world.

But It trades Harvey's warmth for satire — cooler, drier, and considerably more cynical about why people believe what they believe.

Big Fish2003

Tim Burton's tall-tale family drama asks the same question Harvey does: does it matter if a story's untrue, if it makes everyone's life better?

But The whimsy comes with more visual spectacle and a heavier emotional payload — expect tears, not just chuckles.

Field of Dreams1989

Kevin Costner's quiet, stubborn faith in something invisible that everyone else thinks is madness is Elwood Dowd transplanted to an Iowa cornfield.

But It's sincere to the point of corniness, and baseball mysticism is a much narrower target than a friendly rabbit.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town1936no page yet

Gary Cooper's small-town innocent gets hauled before a sanity hearing for being too kind — the same institutional cruelty Harvey mocks, a decade earlier.

But Capra's social commentary is blunter and less funny than Harvey's whimsy; this one wants to move you more than amuse you.

Local Hero1983

A gentle, funny fable about outsiders colliding with a strange, stubbornly magical Scottish village — the same unhurried, generous comic spirit as Harvey.

But Almost nothing happens by design; if you need plot momentum, this meandering charm might test your patience.

Paddington 22017

A small, endlessly polite outsider disarms everyone around him with pure decency, exactly as Elwood does — just with more marmalade and prison breaks.

But It's a family film through and through; the darker undercurrents Harvey hints at about institutionalisation are entirely absent here.

My Neighbor Totoro1988

Same structural trick: a benevolent unseen presence only certain people can perceive, offered without ever confirming or denying whether it's real — belief itself is the point.

Miyazaki's warm, wordless spirit-forest companion is mostly invisible to adults and entirely real to the people who need him — animation doing, gently, what Harvey does with a rubber suit.

But Almost nothing happens by plot standards, it's aimed at children as much as adults, and it's in Japanese — a big format leap from a 1950s Hollywood comedy.

Drop Dead Fred1991no page yet

Same setup — one person's invisible friend upending everyone else's sanity and social standing — pushed from tender comedy into anarchic, trashy farce.

An adult woman's chaotic childhood imaginary friend returns to wreck her orderly life — the invisible-companion joke played as gross-out slapstick instead of gentle whimsy.

But It's crude, dated, and critically reviled where Harvey is beloved — this is Harvey's idea after several drinks and a lobotomy of good taste.