How does one go about choosing their favourite James Stewart movie? The great actor’s oeuvre spans a wide variety of genres and moods. For good ol’ fashioned Christmas cheer, it’s hard to go past It’s a Wonderful Life. For political drama, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. For repartee-filled romantic comedy, The Shop Around the Corner. For thrillers, there’s not one but three great Hitchcock productions: Vertigo, Rear Window and Rope.
These are all fine films (and we haven’t even mentioned his westerns yet), but I have a soft spot for a less well-known production, starring Stewart as a lovely drunkard whose best friend and constant companion is a giant invisible rabbit. If you’ve never heard of Harvey (the title of the film and the name of the rabbit) you may wonder whether you read that sentence correctly. Or perhaps your mind went to Richard Kelly’s nightmarish 2001 drama Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a high school student haunted by a doomsaying person dressed in a rabbit costume.
