Rating of
4/4
Benign Kook
woody - wrote on 01/29/11
Are there any movie characters like Elwood P. Dowd anymore? Of course, there are not. Times have changed, and stories about benign kooks tend to have a darker or more surreal bent. This movie's setting is good-ol' small-town America, and its characters, including Harvey's pal Elwood, are all just simple folks trying their best to fit in and do the right thing. Only James Stewart could've pulled this off, and only in the early fifties. It would be pointless and impossible to do a remake.
The movie also includes a nice low-comedy moment, when a wanna-be society dame entertains a bruch bunch with a "hop, hop, hippity-hop" number, ample bosom a-bouncing. In a stellar cast, Josephine Hull is a treat as Elwood's long-suffering but adoring sister.
