The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

"A dream world of comedy, color and Goldwyn-Girl loveliness!"

1947 1h 50m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 143

ComedyFantasyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.

“A dream world of comedy, color and Goldwyn-Girl loveliness!”

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Cast

Danny Kaye
Walter Mitty
Virginia Mayo
Rosalind van Hoorn
Boris Karloff
Dr. Hollingshead
Fay Bainter
Mrs. Mitty
Ann Rutherford
Gertrude Griswold
Thurston Hall
Bruce Pierce
Gordon Jones
Tubby Wadsworth
Florence Bates
Mrs. Griswold

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Writers: Everett Freeman, James Thurber, Ken Englund
Languages: English, French, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

79 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, shot by Lee Garmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Raksin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Monica Collingwood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo and Boris Karloff carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A dream world of comedy, color and Goldwyn-Girl loveliness!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0039808 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Norman Z. McLeod directs. Lee Garmes behind the camera. David Raksin scores. Monica Collingwood cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

179 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.
3Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, shot by Lee Garmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Raksin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Monica Collingwood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo and Boris Karloff carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A dream world of comedy, color and Goldwyn-Girl loveliness!".
8IMDB entry: tt0039808 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lee Garmes
Original score: David Raksin
Editing: Monica Collingwood
Costume design: Irene Sharaff
Makeup / hair: Marie Clark
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Status: Released
Box office: $956,625
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

Also by

Norman Z. McLeod

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-04-03
★ 7/10
I wake up dreaming. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is directed by Norman Z. McLeod and adapted loosely to screenplay by Ken Englund and Everett Freeman from the short story of the same name written by James Thurber. It stars Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Thurston Hall, Ann Rutherford, Konstantin Shayne and Gordon Jones. A Technicoor production with music by Sylvia Fine (songs) and David Raskin (score) and cinematography by Lee Garmes. Milquetoast Walter Mitty (Kaye) escapes the incessant needling of those around him by dreaming up exciting adventures for himself. Upon meeting gorgeous Rosalind van Hoorn (Mayo) he gets thrust into a real adventure involving Dutch treasure, but this is real stuff and his life is under threat! A lovely Danny Kaye vehicle full of neatly constructed comedy, pleasant tunes and Technicolor supreme. It's too long at ten minutes shy of two hours, and non Kaye fans are unlikely to be converted, but for the fans this is a delightful way to spend an afternoon as the spy plot unfolds in a whirl of energised malarkey. Karloff a bonus as well. 7/10

Production companies