On the surface, a movie about a man who makes pals with an apparently imaginary humanoid rabbit sounds like a bad idea - and beneath the surface, it still seems like a recipe for disaster. Against all odds, though, 1950's Harvey turned into a classic.

Wealthy Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) drinks too much and he lives with his sister Veta (Josephine Hull) and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne). One day he claims he can see and interact with a six-foot-three rabbit named Harvey.

Unsurprisingly, Veta suspects that Elwood's marbles slipped. However, complications arise that indicate Elwood might not be as nuts as he seems.

Despite the goofy premise, Harvey hit screens in 1950 with a proven track record. The film adapted Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize winning 1944 play, a stage production so successful that it ran on Broadway for more than four years.

The movie became a big smash as well and continues to entertain audiences all these decades later. I suspect some of this comes from the simple kindness of its theme.

Frankly, there’s not much to Harvey. Basically we see Elwood as a completely kind and gentle soul who assumes the best of everyone he meets.

In a cynical world, this kind of optimism brands him as nuts. Okay, the fact he claims the be BFFs with a large invisible rabbit also pushes in that direction, but it often feels like the other characters object more to Elwood’s genial nature than his potentially non-existent friend.

Stewart offers a nicely ingenuous performance as our lead, and that helps sell the material. Stewart lacks any sense of guile and allows the audience to buy the absurd journey.

Stewart also helps keep together a “narrative” that often feels more like a vaguely linked collection of comedic scenes. Nothing here creates a firm plot, so we instead find a bunch of set pieces aimed in a general direction.

Some of these work better than other, mainly because we spend too much time with various dreary supporting characters. I get that these scenes exist to show Elwood’s positive impact on the world, but they nonetheless slow down momentum and create a drag on the entertainment factor.

Still, Harvey largely creates an endearing little fable. I can’t quite figure out why it so enchanted audience decades ago, but it remains likable and enjoyable.

Harvey appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite a few anomalies, this usually became a satisfying presentation.

Overall sharpness worked well, though occasional interiors leaned a bit mushy. Most of the film boasted appealing delineation and accuracy.

Neither jaggies nor moiré effects impacted the proceedings. Edge haloes remained absent and I saw no print flaws, though grain could seem a little clumpy at times.

Blacks seemed deep and rich, while low-light shots brought us nice smoothness and clarity. Contrast felt a little more gray than I’d like but still worked fine overall. Even with a few minor issues, this turned into a more than satisfactory image.

I felt the same about the DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, as it held up fine for its age. Music and effects didn’t boast great range or punch, but both came across accurate enough and they lacked distortion or problems.

As usual for older recordings, speech came across as a little tinny, but the lines remained fairly concise and only a few spots of edginess occurred.

The mix lacked hiss, noise or other problems. This turned into a more than acceptable mix for its era.

Along with the movie’s trailer, the disc includes a Special Introduction. This runs seven minutes, 10 seconds and features actor James Stewart as he speaks over a photo montage.

Recorded in 1990, Stewart reminisces about Harvey and his experiences related to it. Stewart doesn’t give us terrific insights but he brings us some enjoyable tales.

We also get two featurettes under the 100 Years of Universal banner. The set includes “The Carl Laemmele Era” (8:41) and “The Lew Wasserman Era” (8:50).

During “Laemmle”, we get info from Hollywood Left and Right author Steven J. Ross, NBC Universal Archives and Collections director Jeff Pirtle, Moguls and Movie Stars writer/producer Jon Wilkman, Early Universal City author Robert S. Birchard, and niece Carla Laemmle.

The show offers a quick biography of Universal founder Carl Laemmle. While this is an interesting and efficient overview, I’d like to see a more detailed look at a Hollywood pioneer.

For “Wasserman”, we hear from Wilkman, Ross, former MCA Executive VP Tom Wertheimer, NBC Universal Director of Archives and Collections Jeff Pirtle, son Casey Wasserman, former MCA/Universal president/COO Sid Sheinberg, former executive assistant Melody Sherwood and former MCA Executive VP/Director Skip Paul.

The program looks at the life and career of Lew Wasserman, long-time MCA/Universal president. Much of this devolves into praise, but the show does tell us a bit about Wasserman.

Although not a particularly narrative-driven tale, Harvey gets by on basic charm. The movie enjoys a warm spirit that makes it mostly work. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio but it lacks substantial supplements. Harvey does enough to succeed.