Filmmaker Henry Koster
Posted: November 20th, 2012, 10:15 pm
Hello Everyone,
Henry Koster directed several films (It started with Eve, The Bishop's Wife, Harvey, My Cousin Rachel, The Robe, Mr. Hobbs takes a vacation).
But my favorite film from him was Harvey (1950). The film has Great acting from James Stewart and others, Great cinematography from William H. Daniels, Great script by Mary chase and Oscar Brodney, and Wonderful Direction from Henry Koster. This film also has a brilliant music score from Frank Skinner who also did the score for Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942).
Here is a review of Harvey I did long time ago. But it contains SPOILERS
Harvey (1950)
Harvey (1950) is a film that touched me throughout my life.
One of the strong points of Harvey (1950) is it focuses on the value of a human being and many of extraordinary things that humans forget to notice. Let me take the character Herman Schimmelplusser. He is an old man who opens the gate for Chumley's Rest. But he is an extraordinary man like Elwood P. Dowd. He constructed the brilliant gate himself for Chumley's rest. I think Elwood is the only person who was able to recognize the brilliance of Herman. We see Elwood P. Dowd congratulating Herman Schimmelplusser. Others will just ignore by saying like this "He is just an old man." It is important to give recognition to people for their hardwork and contributions.
Elwood's sister Veta is a social climber who looks for her own success and her own satisfaction. Elwood is exactly the opposite. He is a kind man who tries to do good things for everyone. He gets his satisfaction by making others happy. Elwood's best friend Harvey shares the same good intentions of Elwood. It doesn't matter to Elwood if the person is rich or poor. He is kind to everybody. We also have to understand that Elwood is not living with Veta and Myrtle Mae. But Veta and Myrtle Mae are living with him. If Elwood was in cab driver's own words "a perfectly normal human being", then he would have thrown Veta and Myrtle out of his house. The invisible effort of Harvey makes Veta realize the difference between a man like Elwood and a perfectly normal human being.
Another thing I liked about the character "Elwood" is he talks about about the values of life through his experience - Elwood says to Dr. Chumley like this "Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." Cinematography by William H. Daniels was brilliant. You can feel the presence of happiness throughout the movie especially through the use of cinematography. Direction by Henry Koster is brilliant. Each Scene is handled brilliantly. Performance from Jimmy Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Jessie White, Charles Drake, Wallace Ford, and others were great.
I wish I could talk more about it. But it is a long post already. I rate the film 10 out of 10.
Henry Koster directed several films (It started with Eve, The Bishop's Wife, Harvey, My Cousin Rachel, The Robe, Mr. Hobbs takes a vacation).
But my favorite film from him was Harvey (1950). The film has Great acting from James Stewart and others, Great cinematography from William H. Daniels, Great script by Mary chase and Oscar Brodney, and Wonderful Direction from Henry Koster. This film also has a brilliant music score from Frank Skinner who also did the score for Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942).
Here is a review of Harvey I did long time ago. But it contains SPOILERS
Harvey (1950)
Harvey (1950) is a film that touched me throughout my life.
One of the strong points of Harvey (1950) is it focuses on the value of a human being and many of extraordinary things that humans forget to notice. Let me take the character Herman Schimmelplusser. He is an old man who opens the gate for Chumley's Rest. But he is an extraordinary man like Elwood P. Dowd. He constructed the brilliant gate himself for Chumley's rest. I think Elwood is the only person who was able to recognize the brilliance of Herman. We see Elwood P. Dowd congratulating Herman Schimmelplusser. Others will just ignore by saying like this "He is just an old man." It is important to give recognition to people for their hardwork and contributions.
Elwood's sister Veta is a social climber who looks for her own success and her own satisfaction. Elwood is exactly the opposite. He is a kind man who tries to do good things for everyone. He gets his satisfaction by making others happy. Elwood's best friend Harvey shares the same good intentions of Elwood. It doesn't matter to Elwood if the person is rich or poor. He is kind to everybody. We also have to understand that Elwood is not living with Veta and Myrtle Mae. But Veta and Myrtle Mae are living with him. If Elwood was in cab driver's own words "a perfectly normal human being", then he would have thrown Veta and Myrtle out of his house. The invisible effort of Harvey makes Veta realize the difference between a man like Elwood and a perfectly normal human being.
Another thing I liked about the character "Elwood" is he talks about about the values of life through his experience - Elwood says to Dr. Chumley like this "Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." Cinematography by William H. Daniels was brilliant. You can feel the presence of happiness throughout the movie especially through the use of cinematography. Direction by Henry Koster is brilliant. Each Scene is handled brilliantly. Performance from Jimmy Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Jessie White, Charles Drake, Wallace Ford, and others were great.
I wish I could talk more about it. But it is a long post already. I rate the film 10 out of 10.