Movie Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Synopsis: Walter Mitty uses daydreaming as a way to escape a life of boredom and verbal abuse from his mother, fiancée and others. His dreams of excitement suddenly become too real when he shares a taxi with a woman he met on the train and discovers his life is in danger.
Who's in it? The movie stars Danny Kaye, Boris Karloff, Virginia Mayo, Ann Rutherford and Thurston Hall.
Review: I remember first watching The Secret Life of Water Mitty about a decade ago with my wife. While I remembered liking it enough to want to see the 2013 Ben Stiller remake (something I have yet to do), I realized that was about all I could recall about the film. So, since I had some time before going into the office this morning, I gave it another try.
Now I remember why I liked it.
I have not seen a whole lot of Danny Kaye films, and this is a movie that makes me realize that is a mistake. The movie's script and his role as the title character give him an opportunity to show off his wide range of talents. I especially loved the musical number about the hat maker and, as I re-watched the film, remembered how my wife got a kick out of his physical comedy.
It wasn't just the music and comedy either. His overall acting ability made Mitty's near nervous breakdown very believable. It was so convincing, it was sometimes difficult to tell if the things that were happening to him were real or just his imagination.
As I've said about countless movies, a film is only as good as the antagonist and this film nailed that with Karloff as Dr. Hollingshead. Like Kaye, Karloff was able to show off his acting range and portrayed the murderous character in a believably creepy way.
Rutherford, meanwhile, was a scene stealer as Mitty's ditzy fiancée, Gertrude Griswold. After re-watching this film, I kind of wish someone would have thought to do a spin-off movie featuring just her.
My only real complaint about the film is the ending. It wasn't bad but it felt rushed and ultimately left a lot of the story feeling a bit incomplete. However, it was minor enough for me to overlook it since the rest of the film more than made up for it.
Final Opinion: This is a hilarious movie that I have now enjoyed watching twice. It's worth taking the time to watch it if you haven't had a chance to yet.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other 1940s comedies:
Movie Review: Lucky Ghost (1942)
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