1947's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" was adapted from the famed James Thurber short story published in The New Yorker in 1939, its working title "I Wake Up Dreaming" swiftly discarded, filmed from early April-Aug. 21, 1946. As the 4th star feature for Danny Kaye, it was the one that became his signature role, a proofreader for a major publishing firm who spends much of his time imagining himself a more heroic figure, his beautiful dream girl one day come to life in Rosalind Van Hoorn (Virginia Mayo). She turns to Mitty for help when her friend (Frank Reicher) is murdered but not before slipping Mitty a valued black book filled with priceless art treasures, and from here on a real life drama ensues with several villains trying to recover the book. One of these bad guys is Boris Karloff as Dr. Hugo Hollingshead (just under 9 minutes screen time), first attempting to push Mitty out of his own office window before posing as a noted psychiatrist to get him to believe that Rosalind doesn't exist. Thurber himself didn't approve of the numerous changes to his story (he dubbed it "The Public Life of Danny Kaye"), substituting a domineering mother instead of the author's wife, but it was a huge success with audiences, rivaling "The Court Jester" as Kaye's most enduring vehicle.
Review of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
