The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947: Movie and film review from Answers.com

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

DVD Release

Release Date: 1998
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Rating:
Genre: Comedy
Movie Type: Musical Comedy, Fantasy Comedy
Themes: Fantasy Life, Therapy
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Main Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Ann Rutherford
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes

Plot

James Thurber wasn't too happy with the Sam Goldwyn film adaptation of his 1939 short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but the Technicolor musical comedy proved to be a cash cow at the box office. Danny Kaye stars as Walter, a milquetoast proofreader for a magazine publishing firm. Walter is constitutionally incapable of standing up for himself, which is why his mother (Fay Bainter) has been able to arrange a frightful marriage between her son and the beautiful but overbearing Gertrude Griswold (Ann Rutherford). As he muses over the lurid covers of the magazines put out by his firm, Walter retreats into his fantasy world, where he is heroic, poised, self-assured, and the master of his fate. Glancing at the cover of a western periodical, Walter fancies himself the two-gun "Perth Amboy Kid"; a war magazine prompts Walter to envision himself as a fearless RAF pilot; and so on. Throughout all his imaginary adventures, a gorgeous mystery woman weaves in an out of the proceedings. Imagine Walter's surprise when his dream girl shows up in the flesh in the person of Rosalind van Horn (Virginia Mayo). The girl is being pursued by a gang of jewel thieves headed by Dr. Hugo Hollingshead (Boris Karloff), a clever psychiatrist who manages to convince Walter that he's simply imagining things again, and that Rosalind never existed. At long last, Walter vows to live his life in the "now" rather than in the recesses of his mind: he rescues Rosalind from the gang's clutches, tells his mother and Gertrude where to get off, and fast-talks his way into a better position with the publishing firm. Substituting the usual Danny Kaye zaniness for James Thurber's whimsy, Secret Life of Walter Mitty works best during the production numbers, especially Kaye's signature tune "Anatole of Paris." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

American humorist James Thurber penned whimsical, telling fables about ordinary life in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. His most famous story was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, about a mousy man, suffering under emotional persecution from his wife, who has elaborate heroic dreams. The character of Walter Mitty made such an impact on popular culture that the name came to stand for a daydreamer. Although Thurber didn't much care for this 1947 feature based on the story (the film added an overbearing mother), it was a memorable star vehicle for comedian Danny Kaye, launching him into a new level of popularity. Kaye was adept at playing the kind of dual roles required by this film, in which he is a milquetoast in real life and a he-man in his fantasies. The musical comedy, shot in Technicolor, was a hit, but it was scorned by Thurber, who believed it to be a vulgar bastardization of his work. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Cast

Danny Kaye - Walter Mitty
Virginia Mayo - Rosalind Van Hoorn
Boris Karloff - Dr. Hugo Hollingshead
Fay Bainter - Mrs. Mitty
Ann Rutherford - Gertrude Griswold

Florence Bates - Mrs. Griswold; Thurston Hall - Bruce Pierce; Gordon Jones - Tubby Wadsworth; Konstantin Shayne - Peter Van Hoom; Reginald Denny - R.A.F. Colonel; Henry Corden - Hendrick; Doris Lloyd - Mrs. Follinsbee; Fritz Feld - Anatole; Frank Reicher - Maasdam; Milton Parsons - Butler/Tyler; Eddie Acuff; Ernie S. Adams; Sam Ash - Art Editor; Billy Bletcher; Betty Blythe; Mary Brewer - Goidwyn Girl; Betty Cargyle; Sue Casey; George Chandler - Mate; Jack Cheatham; Dorothy Christy; Wade Crosby; Lorraine de Rome; Vernon Dent - Bartender; Harry Depp; Ralph Dunn; Maude Eburne - Fitter; Bess Flowers - Illustrator; Mary Forbes; Joel Friedkin - Grimsby; Jack Gargan; Karen X. Gaylord; Mary Gordon; Dorothy Granger; William Haade; John Hamilton - Dr. Remington; Lumsden Hare - Dr. Pritchard-Mitford; Harry Harvey, Jr. - Office Boy; Henry Kolker - Dr. Benbow; Frank LaRue - Conductor; Ethan Laidlaw; George Lloyd; Wilbur Mack; George Magrill - Wolf Man; Chris-Pin Martin; Sam McDaniel; Moy Ming; William Newell; Paul Newlan; Broderick O'Farrell; Dick Rush; Sid Saylor; Charles Trowbridge - Dr. Renshaw; John Tyrrell; Minerva Urecal - Woman with Hat; Irene Vernon; Lynn Walker - Goldwyn Girl; Pierre Watkin; Hank Worden - Western Character; Robert Altman - Man Drinking; Harry Woods - Wrong Mr. and Mrs. Follinsbee; Brick Sullivan - Cop; Beal Wong; Donna Dax - Stenographer; Dick Earle; Raoul Freeman - Department Head; Mary Ellen Gleason; Martha Montgomery; Patricia Patrick

Credit

Monica Collingwood - Editor; Ken Englund - Screenwriter; Perry Ferguson - Art Director; John P. Fulton - Special Effects; Lee Garmes - Cinematographer; Samuel Goldwyn - Producer; George Jenkins - Art Director; Norman Z. McLeod - Director; Emil Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision; David Raksin - Composer (Music Score); Philip Rapp - Screenwriter; Casey Roberts - Set Designer; Irene Sharaff - Costume Designer; Sylvia Fine - Songwriter; Everett Freeman - Screenwriter; Monica Underwood - Editor; James Thurber - Short Story Author

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
DVD cover
Directed by	Norman Z. McLeod
Produced by	Samuel Goldwyn
Written by	Ken Englund Everett Freeman Philip Rapp James Thurber
Starring	Danny Kaye Virginia Mayo
Music by	Sylvia Fine (songs) David Raksin (score)
Cinematography	Lee Garmes
Release date(s)	1947
Running time	110 min.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

DVD cover

Directed by

Norman Z. McLeod

Produced by

Samuel Goldwyn

Written by

Ken Englund
Everett Freeman
Philip Rapp
James Thurber

Starring

Danny Kaye
Virginia Mayo

Music by

Sylvia Fine (songs)
David Raksin (score)

Cinematography

Lee Garmes

Release date(s)

1947

Running time

110 min.

Language

English

All Movie Guide profile

IMDb profile

Synopsis

Walter Mitty is henpecked and harassed by everyone in his life: his bossy mother (Fay Bainter), his overbearing, idea-stealing boss (Thurston Hall), his childishly dimwitted fiancée (Ann Rutherford), her obnoxious would-be suitor (Gordon Jones) and her loud mother (Florence Bates).

His only escape from their incessant needling is to imagine all sorts of exciting and impossible lives for himself, fueled perhaps by the pulp magazines he reads every day as an editor at the Pierce Publishing Company. But his dreams only seem to land him in more trouble.

In one scene, while stoking the heating boiler, he dreams what it would be like to be an RAF fighter pilot. He is awoken from this daydream by his mother, who orders him to come to dinner. Believing he is still a British fighter pilot, he salutes, and places a red-hot poker under his arm -- only to burn a hole in his suit jacket.

The film includes many of Kaye's trademark patter-songs and one of his best remembered dream characters, "Anatole of Paris", a fey women's milliner whose inspiration for the ridiculous chapeaus he creates is in actuality his loathing of women. The Anatole character is based on "Antoine de Paris," a women's hair-salon professional of the era, known for creating preposterous hairstyles. The lyrics to the song Anatole of Paris were written by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine.

Things become much more complicated when he runs into a mysterious woman, Rosalind van Hoorn (Virginia Mayo), who just so happens to perfectly resemble the girl of his dreams. Rosalind is working with her uncle, Peter van Hoorn (Konstantin Shayne), to help secure some Dutch crown jewels hidden from the Nazis during World War II.

Caught up in a real-life adventure that seems unbelievable even to him, Walter attempts to hide his double life from his mundane family and friends. Eventually, he acquires the courage to stand up to those who push him around.

Production

Thurber did not want Samuel Goldwyn and MGM to make this film. He offered Goldwyn $10,000 not to, and was very unhappy with the final result. Goldwyn had the writers customize the film to showcase Kaye, altering the original story. The studio was more interested in making a financial success utilizing Kaye's singing and comedic abilities, rather than what Thurber had written.^{[citation needed]}

Remake

The remake has a troubled on-again off-again history. At first, producer-directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, with a host of screenwriters, and Kevin Anderson as Mitty, were going to re-do the film, but it fell through. Then it was to be made at Paramount Pictures, by producers Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., his brother John Goldwyn, and Richard Vane, with director Mark Waters and Owen Wilson cast as Mitty, with a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese. It was supposed to be released in 2007. It has since been taken over by 20th Century Fox, with Mike Myers in the title role, and scheduled to be shown in 2009.

Probably owing to the production of this film, the DVD released of the 1947 version was withdrawn from distribution and was briefly an expensive collector's item.