SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, THE
(director: Norman Z. McLeod; screenwriters: Ken Englund, Everett Freeman, Philip Rapp, James Thurber/based on the short stories of James Thurber; cinematographer: Lee Garmes; editor: Monica Collingwood; music: David Raksin; cast: Danny Kaye (Walter Mitty), Fay Bainter (Eunice Mitty, Mother), Ann Rutherford (Gertrude Griswold), Florence Bates (Irma Griswold), Virginia Mayo (Rosalind van Hoorn), Boris Karloff (Dr. Hugo Hollingshead), Thurston Hall (Bruce Pierce), Gordon Jones (Tubby Wadsworth), Henry Corden (Hendrick), Konstantin Shayne (Peter van Hoorn); Runtime: 108; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Samuel Goldwyn; RKO/Samuel Goldwyn; 1947)
“As for Danny Kaye, he’s an acquired taste I never acquired.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Norman Z. McLeod (“My Favorite Spy”/”Road to Rio”) directs this wannabe humorous musical/comedy on a timid and absent-minded daydreamer. It’s based on a short story by the humorist author James Thurber. It’s co-written by Ken Englund, Everett Freeman, Philip Rapp, and Thurber. I found its effeminate star Danny Kaye to be more annoying than enjoyable as the overbearing daydreamer. I also was bored by some of his daydreams, as he becomes a sea captain trying to save his ship during a sea storm, a life-saving surgeon, and an RAF pilot on a dangerous mission.
Mama’s boy Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye) is a bachelor. He works as a magazine writer/assistant editor for Pierce Publications, who publish a bunch of pulp magazines. Walter commutes during the week to work in Manhattan. The timid adult lives with his domineering and nagging mom Eunice (Fay Bainter) in a modest suburban home in Perth Amboy, NJ, whose life is so boring he daydreams he’s a hero to escape from reality. He’s engaged to Gertrude Griswold (Ann Rutherford), who is much like his bossy mom.
On the train to work, Walter meets one day the beautiful Rosalind van Hoorn (Virginia Mayo) who pretends to know him and gives him a kiss. While following her as she exits, she slips him a notebook containing a list of the whereabouts of various stolen Dutch art treasures. Walter thereby becomes hunted by the international criminal Dr. Hugo Hollingshead (Boris Karloff), who is after the notebook and will kill for it. Poor Walter can’t get help because he has difficulty convincing others he is not daydreaming.
Thurber hated the film for making it a musical and never listening to any suggestions he made as a screenwriter. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t particularly care for it. It was overlong, its pacing was off kilter, and the story needed some serious editing to get rid of its many dull spots. As for Danny Kaye, he’s an acquired taste I never acquired.
REVIEWED ON 1/21/2025 GRADE: C+
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