Turner Classic Movies pick for Dec. 29, 2008: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

December 28, 12:03 PMClassic TV ExaminerDoug Krentzlin

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“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” TCM, Monday, Dec. 29, 8 a.m. (EST)

To this day, Danny Kaye remains one of the movies’ most beloved comedians and the 1947 classic “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” based (loosely) on the short story by James Thurber, is his funniest film ever.

Mitty is a milquetoast copy editor for a pulp magazine publisher who is bullied by every one around him: his domineering mother (Fay Bainter), his spoiled fiancée (Ann Rutherford) and her mother (Florence Bates), his so-called “friend” (Gordon Jones) and his pompous, credit-stealing boss (Thurston Hall).

To escape from his mundane existence, Mitty is constantly day-dreaming in the style of the pulp magazine stories he edits. One day, he has the opportunity to live out his dreams in real life when he comes to the rescue of damsel in distress Rosalind van Hoorn (Virginia Mayo) who is the target of international spies in pursuit of hidden Nazi art treasures.

One of the best things about “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is that the head villain is played by Hollywood’s most talented boogeyman, Boris Karloff. As the sinister Dr. Hugo Hollingshead, Karloff does a hilarious self-parody (“I know of a way to kill a man and leave no trace”).

Directed by comedy veteran Norman Z. McLeod (whose other films include “Road to Rio” with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope) and photographed in gorgeous Technicolor, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” also features Kaye’s signature song from his early Broadway days, “Anatole of Paris” written by Sylvia Fine (Mrs. Kaye).