I have not read the
short story nor have I seen the new film from Ben Stiller of “The Secret Life
of Walter Mitty.” But I did just check out the original cinematic take with
Danny Kaye as the mother-heckled, day-dreaming hero whose flights of fancy get
him in trouble, from running a car over a curb to getting caught up in a murder
conspiracy plot that plays as a satirical stab at Hitchcock. That’s not a
complaint, not with Kaye -– absolutely one of the most lovable and talented
souls ever to grace the screen -- as the good guy and Boris Karloff as an evil
doctor who tries to shove Kaye out a high-rise window. (Kaye is playing the
anti-Cary Grant hero here, a scared wet-eyed puppy.) Story author James Thurber
hated the film. Changes were made and blah blah blah. Sorry for him. Truly. Because
it’s Danny Kaye, we have song and dance, and not to discount Thurber, I smiled
huge. Sure, it’s corny,
but it’s joyful, even if the finale feels random, missing. Watch it. Smile. B+
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