My friend Harvey
Harvey (Engl. In the original Harvey ) is a comedy in three acts by Mary Chase , which premiered on November 1, 1944 at 48th Street Theater in New York. The play, which the author initially called The White Rabbit. A comedy released in Three Acts, Five Scenes (1943) was hugely successful: it ran on Broadway for a little over five years and reached 1775 performances. The piece was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1945.
In Germany the play was first staged in April 1950 at the Renaissance Theater in Berlin; the German translation comes from Alfred Polgar .
The play gained particular fame through Henry Koster's 1950 film adaptation with James Stewart in the leading role. Further film versions of the literary model followed, several of which were made in Germany. Heinz Rühmann , for example, took on the leading role in a version from 1970 . My friend Harvey is also the subject of the song of the same name by the German band Rodgau Monotones from 1985.
action
When the adorable-quirky Elwood P. Dowd introduces his friend Harvey, a Puka in the shape of a six-foot-tall, white, invisible rabbit at a party , his sister Veta decides to have him admitted to a sanatorium to protect the family from others To keep embarrassment. However, she is accidentally instructed herself. After this mistake has been cleared up, one goes in search of Elwood and his invisible friend. Elwood shows up at the sanatorium to look for Harvey and manages to impress some doctors. Only shortly before the injection, which is supposed to make him "normal" again, does Veta accept her brother's invisible friend.
Film adaptations
- USA 1950 My friend Harvey (104 min); Director: Henry Koster
- FRG 1959 ( WDR television , black and white, 105 min); Director: Imo Moszkowicz
Actors: Günther Lüders (Elwood P. Dowd), Erika von Thellmann (his sister Veta Louise Simmons), Dorit Fischer (her daughter Myrtle Mae Simmons), Friedrich Schoenfelder (Dr. Chumley, director of the sanatorium), Martina Ott (Mrs. Chumley, his wife), Albrecht Rueprecht (Dr. Sanderson, doctor in the mental institution), Anke Tegtmayr (Miss Kelley, nurse there), Hans Schwarz Jr. (Marvin Wilson, nurse in the mental institution), Karl Georg Saebisch ( Judge Omar Gaffney, legal counsel to Veta Louise) - FRG 1967 (WDR television, black and white, 95 min); Director: Rolf von Sydow
Actors: Ernst Stankovski (Elwood), Alice Treff (Veta Louise), Heidi Treutler (Myrtle Mae), Erwin Linder (Dr. Chumley), Brigitte Drummer (Mrs. Chumley), Walter Wilz (Dr. Sanderson) , Brigitte Grothum (Miss Kelley), Georg Hartmann (Wilson), Karl Georg Saebisch (Gaffney) -
FRG 1970 (film and television production Georg Richter, 95 min); Direction and screenplay: Kurt Wilhelm
Actors: Heinz Rühmann (Elwood), Susi Nicoletti (Veta Louise), Barbara Schöne (Myrtle Mae), Charles Regnier (Dr. Chumley), Adelheid Seeck (Mrs. Chumley), Herbert Bötticher (Dr. Sanderson ), Gerlinde Locker (Miss Kelley), Klaus Knuth (Wilson), Kurt Horwitz (Gaffney), Agnes Windeck (Mrs. Chauvenet) - USA 1972 (Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions); Directed by Fielder Cook , written by Mary Chase and Jacqueline Babbin,
actors: James Stewart (Elwood P. Dowd), Helen Hayes (Veta Louise), Marian Haily (Myrtle Mae), John McGiver (Dr. Chumley), Arlene Francis (Mrs. Chumley), Richard Mulligan (Dr. Sanderson), Madeline Kahn (Miss Kelley), Jesse White (Wilson), Mertin Gabel (Gaffney), Dorothy Blackburn (Mrs. Chauvenet) - BRD 1985 ( Sender Free Berlin , 123 min); Director: Wolfgang Spier
Actors: Harald Juhnke (Elwood), Elisabeth Wiedemann (Veta Louise), Ute Willing (Myrtle Mae), Peter Schiff (Dr. Chumley), Corinna Genest (Mrs. Chumley), Ilja Richter (Dr. Sanderson), Christine Schild (Miss Kelley), Harald Dietl (Wilson), Hans Hessling (Gaffney), Helga Kruck (Mrs. Chauvenet) - USA 1998 (Don Gregory Productions, 120 min); Director: George Schaefer , Script: Joseph Dougherty
Actors: Harry Anderson (Elwood), Swoosie Kurtz (Veta Louise), Lisa Akey (Myrtle Mae), Leslie Nielsen (Dr. Chumley), Lynda Boyd (Mrs. Chumley), Robert Wisden ( Dr. Sanderson), Jessica Hecht (Miss Kelley), Jim O'Heir (Wilson), William Schallert (Gaffney), Sheila Moore (Mrs. Chauvenet)
Web links
- Harvey in the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb)
- My friend Harvey (Harvey) www.felix-bloch-erbe.de
- "My Friend Harvey" on IMDB