The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)'s comments

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Siskoid

1947's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fair Danny Kaye showcase - for his singing and nervous slapstick - but it seems to miss the mark in terms of understanding what the original short story was about. In the story, Walter has such a dull life, he's forced to imagine himself the hero of various adventures. Here, Walter soon gets tangled into a film noir plot à la Maltese Falcon and starts to use his daydreams as inspiration or morale boosters so he can push through. But he can't call his life dull. (One might say the same of the 2013 version with Ben Stiller, except there, the point is to make Walter realize he should "seize the day"; there's no such lesson for Kaye to stumble upon.) It's all certainly amusing, if often over-played, and at times feels like a collage of vignettes, the visions interrupting the story more than supporting it. The use of Walter's job at a pulp magazine publishing company is a nice touch too. But as there is a better film version of this story...

6 years 4 months ago

gulliver

Terribly dated, but there could be a good remake in this.

13 years 1 month ago

Emiam

6 + / 10
Not many similarities with the new version starring Ben Stiller (2013), which I think is better, but it is also a different genre (!).

3 years 4 months ago

ClassicLady

Danny Kaye can be both hilariously funny and disturbingly annoying, all in the same movie. He accomplishes both here.

10 years 4 months ago

essaywhu

I've seen four 1940's Danny Kaye films in the last two months and i have disliked all of them. He just isn't funny to me. He reminds me of the terrible comedian that Woody Allen is being asked to write for in Annie Hall. He is actually talented as a singer and has an agreeable face for a leading man when he isn't doing his terrible impersonation schtick or acting like a nebbish dweeb. He seems completely miscast in all of his early roles that I have seen. I do remember seeing Hans Christian Andersen and liking it though.

edit: I've just seen A Song is Born and I quite liked it. Kaye plays a much more subdued character so I could actually get into the film and he never stops the show to do some stupid impression or stupid song.

9 years 4 months ago