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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Comedy · Fantasy · Romance · 1947

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.

Movie details

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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

1947 Comedy · Fantasy · Romance 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Norman Z. McLeod

Written by

Ken Englund · Everett Freeman · James Thurber

Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye

Walter Mitty

Virginia Mayo

Virginia Mayo

Rosalind van Hoorn

Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff

Dr. Hollingshead

Fay Bainter

Fay Bainter

Mrs. Mitty

Ann Rutherford

Ann Rutherford

Gertrude Griswold

Thurston Hall

Thurston Hall

Bruce Pierce

Gordon Jones

Gordon Jones

Tubby Wadsworth

Court is in session

Put The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.