The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

James Thurber (story) and
Ken Englund (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

Walter Mitty, a daydreaming pulp-fiction writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures...

Plot Keywords:

Pulp Fiction | Milquetoast | Based On Short Story | Beautiful Woman | Magazine

Cast

Danny Kaye	...	Walter Mitty
Virginia Mayo	...	Rosalind van Hoorn
Boris Karloff	...	Dr. Hugo Hollingshead
Fay Bainter	...	Mrs. Eunice Mitty
Ann Rutherford	...	Gertrude Griswald
Thurston Hall	...	Bruce Pierce
Gordon Jones	...	Tubby Wadsworth
Florence Bates	...	Mrs. Emma Griswald
Konstantin Shayne	...	Peter van Hoorn
Reginald Denny	...	Colonel
Henry Corden	...	Hendrick
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Letitia Follinsbee
Fritz Feld	...	Anatole of Paris
Frank Reicher	...	Maasdam
Milton Parsons	...	Butler

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #12017) | Australia:G

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Henry Corden's first project.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene in the Mitty home's kitchen, after Rosalind van Hoorn has come in the middle of the night during a rain storm to ask for Walter's help, she removes her dress to dry it. As they are talking, Rosalind is shown putting her dress back on and buttoning it all the way to the neck. As the scene shifts and pans back, she is shown once again buttoning the top button of her dress.

Quotes:

Dr. Hollingshead: Perhaps you are mistaking me for someone else.
Walter Mitty: Oh, no. No one looks as much like you do as *you* do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Murphy Brown: The Secret Life of Jim Dial (#7.11)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Anatole of Paris

A Classic Comedy!

Before there was Mike Meyers, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, JIM CARREY -- of course -- there was the great and late Danny Kaye. In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", Mr. Kaye gives a brilliant and hysterical performance as the highly imaginative Walter Mitty, who escapes his own real life and pictures himself as a whole new person, whether it's a hat designer, professional gambler, a war hero, surgeon, etc. Yet his imagination is no longer fiction when a real life event and adventure takes place in the dull, but unique life of Walter Mitty.

Anyhow, I was really surprised at this movie. I thought it was going to be boring, because 1947 is 34 years before I was born, but I was really impressed by this movie. As a matter of fact, I thought it was A LOT funnier than a few comedy films they have these days. Danny Kaye really puts a smile on your face in this film. Anyone would love watching this film! It's a true classic! :o)