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John C. Sherwood as Elwood, also with Harvey in the background painting, created by Dusty Reeds [Marshall Civic Players, Marshall, Michigan, USA, 1999).
Our dear friend the late James Stewart as Elwood introduces Harvey to some of his sister's acquaintances in the 1950 film of "Harvey."
Another one of our dear friends, the late Joe E. Brown, also was famous for playing Elwood P. Dowd on stage. To learn more, click on the picture!
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HELLO THERE! Thank you for joining us at HarveyPooka.com! If you've been here before, welcome back! It's great to see you again. Please take a look around and see our latest features. However, if this is your first visit -- well, it's wonderful to make a new friend, because you just can't have too many!
IF YOU DON'T KNOW 'HARVEY,' A GOOD IDEA is to begin with the movie or a copy of the play script. You can order the film or the play script by clicking on the appropriate words in this sentence. Another way is to visit our *STORE* and scroll down to our Amazon search field. If you want the video or DVD, select the "Video" area and enter "Harvey Stewart" in the search field. If you want the play script, select the "Books" area and enter "Harvey Mary Chase" in the search field. WHO IS HARVEY? MOST PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT HARVEY think of him as an invisible white rabbit who stands at least six feet tall (somewhere between 6' 1" and 6' 6"), stops clocks with a glance, makes things vanish, helps people re-experience memories, knows just about *everything* and spends his "down time" going from bar to bar, usually with his friend Elwood P. Dowd. Harvey seems to be a bit more complicated than that. When Mary Chase wrote "Harvey," she left clues in her script about Harvey's origins and personality. As a result, here at MysteryVisits we regard Harvey as a shape-shifting elemental spirit of extremely ancient origin -- and perhaps subterranean address. We also suspect Harvey picked Elwood to be his best friend because Mr. Dowd, who used to be smart, now prefers to be merely pleasant. Perhaps Harvey believed he had something to learn from Mr. Dowd, rather than the other way around. Some people even see theological implications in the relationship between Mr. Dowd and Harvey. Perhaps you'll tell us what you think!
WE KEEP FINDING references to Harvey, most recently in movies! A now-famous one is in an early scene in "Field of Dreams," when Kevin Costner's character describes Elwood P. Dowd as crazy -- but that's before Costner starts hearing a strange, whispering voice himself. We also were happy to hear Russell Crowe introduce another performer to Harvey during an exchange in "A Beautiful Mind." But that was just a passing glance and was meant as a joke -- obviously Harvey wasn't really there because the other performer promptly sat in the chair supposedly occupied by Harvey! There's a similar moment in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" when Angelo tells Judge Doom he knows where the rabbit is; he points to an empty seat and says "Well, say hello, Harvey." We'd like to think that Harvey still gets some credit for being in those movies. On the other hand, Harvey appears to have shown up "for real" in the movies "Sexy Beast" (as a nightmarish, rifle-toting rabbit/humanoid) and "Donnie Darko" (as a nasty, violence-prone spirit). In both of those films, the rabbit-pooka was much more threatening and strange than in the original "Harvey." Of course, even in the original story set down by Mary Chase, some of the characters regarded Harvey as highly threatening -- and even malignant. Oh, yes, there's more: We've even heard that John Travolta planned at one time to play Elwood in a new movie version. Hmm .... CALM YOUR FEARS DOES THE NOTION that entities such as pookas might be real sort of *SCARE* you? You're not alone! Just try introducing your own invisible companion to other people and see how they react. So ... before you read any more, you'd better shake off any lingering fears. Just click * HERE *. BEFORE THE MOVIE ... DID YOU KNOW Jimmy Stewart was not the first Elwood Dowd?! To learn the facts, click *HERE* . We've included photos of the original cast, and some information about Mary Chase, the Denver, Colo., woman who introduced Harvey and Elwood to the world. ELWOOD VISITS YOU! PERHAPS OUR MOST EXCITING news is that Elwood P. Dowd often pays *in-person visits* during events held in communities across the United States, even when no production of "Harvey" is being staged there. On such occasions, he talks about his experience with the invisible world of pookas -- and introduces people to Harvey himself! Sometimes, Harvey really acts up, practically stealing the show with his remarkable ability to stop time, know the future and cloud people's minds. Even the most skeptical people often walk away from Mr. Dowd's presentations, convinced that pookas indeed are real -- and, if they're not, at least they'll be bewildered by the experience!  |
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WHAT IS A
POOKA, ANYWAY? Here's everything you *should* know about those mischievous, sometimes furry ancient Celtic guardian sprites and hobgoblins! Did you know that Shakespeare's Puck is a pooka ("pwca" in Welsh)? And what's the real story about that Winnie-the-Pooh pal of Christopher Robin? And does Harvey really "know everything"? And can Harvey really stop clocks? Is the White Rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland" Harvey's uptight second cousin? And what about Calvin's dear friend Hobbs? TO LEARN MORE, CLICK *HERE*. 
HAVE YOU BEEN with Harvey in a staged production of the play? We wonder what you think about having had close contact with Harvey -- or anyone like him. So, if you've ever been in a staging of Mary Chase's "Harvey," we'd especially enjoy hearing from you -- and we'll even share your comments about your experience through a special page at this site. Tell us anything you like, whether you'd like to be identified as the author of your comments, and the region where you live. To send your comments, click * HERE * -- and let us know!
SOME QUESTIONS we hope to address someday: When Elwood's sister told Harvey to "go to Hell," why did Harvey go? What do Elwood and Moses have in common? Elwood drinks alcohol and befriends just about everyone. What biblical person did the same? Is Harvey the only wise supernatural entity that people say doesn't exist?
A review of a special production of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "HARVEY" ** COMING SOMEDAY ** * "All I Need to Know I Learned from an Invisible Celtic Pastoral Entity" * and * "Harvey's Side of It All: Tidbits I Picked Up from Mr. Dowd" * |
E-mail to: jcs@mysteryvisits.com
