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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1941) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939; and was first collected in his book My World and Welcome to It (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1942). It has since been reprinted in James Thurber: Writings and Drawings (The Library of America, 1996, ISBN 1-883011-22-1). It was made into a 1947 movie of the same name, with Danny Kaye in the title role, though the movie is very different from the original story. The name Walter Mitty and the derivative word "Mittyesque" have entered the English language, denoting an ineffectual person who spends more time in heroic daydreams than paying attention to the real world.[1] The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 1947 movie, loosely based on a short story of the same name by James Thurber. ...
James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894–November 2, 1961) was a U.S. humorist and cartoonist. ...
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The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
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For other uses, see New Yorker. ...
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Harcourt Trade Publishers is a U.S. publishing firm, and one of the worlds largest publishers of textbooks. ...
This article is about the magazine as a published medium. ...
Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ...
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See also: 1941 in literature, other events of 1942, 1943 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894–November 2, 1961) was a U.S. humorist and cartoonist. ...
For other uses, see New Yorker. ...
is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
My World and Welcome to It was a half-hour situation comedy based on the writings of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber. ...
Harcourt Trade Publishers is a U.S. publishing firm, and one of the worlds largest publishers of textbooks. ...
See also: 1941 in literature, other events of 1942, 1943 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ...
Information Nickname(s) The Old Man (in one fantasy) Occupation unknown; various fantasy occupations Title Commander, Doctor (in fantasies) Spouse(s) unnamed except as Mrs. ...
A daydream is a fantasy that a person has while awake, often about spontaneous and fanciful thoughts not connected to the persons immediate situation. ...
Plot summary
The short story deals with a vague and mild-mannered man who drives into Waterbury, Connecticut with his wife for the regular weekly shopping and his wife's visit to the beauty parlor. During this time he has five heroic daydream episodes. The first is as a pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a storm, then he is a magnificent surgeon performing a one-of-a-kind surgery, then as a cool assassin testifying in a courtroom, and then as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot volunteering for a daring, secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. As the story ends, Mitty imagines himself fearlessly facing a firing squad, "inscrutable to the last." Nickname: Motto: Quid Aere Perennius (What Is More Lasting Than Brass) Location in Connecticut Coordinates: , Country U.S. State NECTA Waterbury Region Central Naugatuck Valley Incorporated (town) 1686 Incorporated (city) 1853 Consolidated 1902 Government - Type Mayor-board of aldermen - Mayor Michael J. Jarjura Area - City 28. ...
The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ...
Boeing 314 A flying boat is an aircraft that is designed to take off and land on water, in particular a type of seaplane which uses its fuselage as a floating hull (instead of pontoons mounted below the fuselage). ...
For other uses, see Storm (disambiguation). ...
“Surgeon†redirects here. ...
“Surgeon†redirects here. ...
Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ...
A courtroom is the actual enclosed space in which a judge regularly holds court. ...
“RAF†redirects here. ...
For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...
Planning, calculating, or the giving or receiving of information. ...
For other uses, see Bomb (disambiguation). ...
An ammunition dump, or ammo dump, is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives. ...
Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ...
Each of the fantasies is inspired by some detail of Mitty's mundane surroundings:
- The powering up of the "Navy hydroplane" in the opening scene is followed by Mrs. Mitty's complaint that Mitty is "driving too fast", which suggests that his driving was what led to the daydream.
- Mitty's turn as a brilliant surgeon immediately follows his taking off and putting on his gloves (as a surgeon dons surgical gloves) and driving past a hospital.
- The courtroom drama cliche "Perhaps this will refresh your memory", which begins the third fantasy, follows Mitty's attempt to remember what (besides overshoes) his wife told him to buy; and also a newspaper vendor using news of a trial to sell his papers. (Thurber once used the same line to caption a cartoon in which a prosecutor shows the defendant a kangaroo.)
- Mitty's romanticized version of British pilots in the early days of World War II is inspired from his looking at "an old copy of Liberty", which contains images of a war in which the United States was not yet involved at the time of the story's publication.
- The closing firing squad scene comes when Mitty is standing against a wall, smoking.
Look up hydroplane in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about law, crime, punishment or the legal profession. ...
“Galosh†redirects here. ...
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries adopting the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. ...
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ...
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Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...
Liberty Magazine is a publication of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that covers issues involving separation of church and state, and current events in politics. ...
Themes The story depicts a man whose extremely mundane life is constantly interrupted by the character's escapist fantasies. These two settings are contrasted in several ways, each of which has to do with the difference between the real Mitty and his heroic persona. Whereas the fantasy Mitty is an extreme risk taker ("The Old Man ain't afraid of Hell!"), the real one protests feebly, if at all, at demands that he behave cautiously (e.g. driving slowly, wearing gloves and overshoes). The fantasy Mitty demonstrates extreme competence; he is a fearless commander, a weapons expert, and a surgeon who handles both impossible cases and broken machines with equal aplomb. The real Mitty drives in the wrong lane in a parking lot, and is unable to successfully remove the chains from his car's tires. Similarly, the admiration bestowed on Mitty in the fantasies is contrasted with much less pleasant interactions with real people. Aside from being ordered around by his wife (who seems to genuinely worry about him, and wants to take his temperature to see whether he is sick), Mitty is yelled at by a policeman and a parking lot attendant, and laughed at by a woman who hears him say the words "Puppy biscuit".
Yet Mitty's fantasy life is not necessarily an improvement over his mundane one. None of the fantasies end with Mitty winning through in each dangerous situation; the first four fantasies are interrupted, and the fifth ends with Mitty getting shot, possibly the ultimate escape from Mitty's unsatisfactory life. The less than upbeat ending is similar to the one found in the Thurber story "The Curb in the Sky", in which the protagonist retreats into his dreams but is unable to find relief there from his wife's nagging.
Sources It has been suggested[citation needed] that Thurber got the idea for Walter Mitty from a book by a leading British crime-fiction writer, Anthony Berkeley Cox. Cox, writing as Francis Isles ten years earlier, in a book called Malice Aforethought (Chapter 2), has a character named Dr. Bickleigh who escapes from intolerable reality into fantasies markedly similar in character to those of Mitty. Thurber, in "The Macbeth Murder Mystery" (a story published the same year as Mitty), demonstrated some familiarity with British detective fiction of the period, citing Agatha Christie and her character Hercule Poirot as well as the Leslie Ford characters Mr. Pinkerton and Inspector Bull. Information Nickname(s) The Old Man (in one fantasy) Occupation unknown; various fantasy occupations Title Commander, Doctor (in fantasies) Spouse(s) unnamed except as Mrs. ...
Anthony Berkeley Cox (July 5, 1893 - 1971) was a British crime fiction author, born in Watford, England. ...
Malice Aforethought is a 1931 murder mystery novel written by Anthony Berkeley Cox, using the name Francis Iles. ...
Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), mainly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ...
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in The Dream Hercule Poirot (pronounced in english ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. ...
Aside from this possible connection, however, Mitty is very much a Thurber protagonist. Like many of his male characters, such as the husband in "The Unicorn in the Garden" and the physically unimposing men Thurber often paired with larger women in his cartoons, Mitty is dominated and put upon by his wife. Like the man who saw the unicorn, he escapes via fantasies. A similar dynamic is found in the Thurber story "The Curb in the Sky", in which a man starts recounting his own dreams as anecdotes as an attempt to stop his wife from constantly correcting him on the details. A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ...
The Unicorn in the Garden is a short story written by James Thurber. ...
An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. ...
In his 2001 book The Man Who Was Walter Mitty: The Life and Work of James Thurber (ISBN 0-930-75113-2), author Thomas Fensch suggests that the character was largely based on Thurber himself. This is consistent with Thurber's self-described imaginative interpretations of shapes seen with his "two-fifths vision" in his essay The Admiral on the Wheel". Aspects of both Thurber and Mitty can also been found in the lead character of the 1969 television series My World and Welcome to It. Named after another of Thurber's henpecked characters, John Monroe (played by William Windom) shares many of Thurber's biographical details (e.g. as a writer-cartoonist for a New York magazine) but exhibits strong Walter Mitty tendencies as a distracted daydreamer. See also: 2000 in literature, other events of 2001, 2002 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
My World and Welcome to It was a half-hour situation comedy based on the writings of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber. ...
William Windom (May 10, 1827–January 29, 1891) was an American politician. ...
Mitty's exaggerated heroics recall the exploits found in pulp fiction of the era. Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ...
Wordplay Thurber's love of wordplay can be seen in his coining of several nonsense terms in the story, including the pseudo-medical jargon "obstreosis of the ductal tract", "streptothricosis" and "Coreopsis has set in"; and the recurring onomatopoeia of "ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa". For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ...
For the supervillain, see Onomatopoeia (comics). ...
1947 film -
The story was made into a 1947 movie starring Danny Kaye as a young daydreaming editor for a book publishing firm. The film was adapted for the screen by Ken Englund, Everett Freeman, and Philip Rapp, and directed by Norman Z. McLeod. It was filmed in Technicolor, a rarity at the time. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 1947 movie, loosely based on a short story of the same name by James Thurber. ...
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events. ...
This article is about motion pictures. ...
Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ...
Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ...
The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ...
Norman Z. McLeod (b. ...
Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ...
Thurber reportedly offered Samuel Goldwyn and MGM $10,000 not to make the film, and was very unhappy with the final result. Goldwyn had the writers customize the film to showcase Kaye's talents, altering the original story. The studio was more interested in making a financial success for Kaye's singing and comedic abilities, rather than what Thurber had intended.[citation needed] Samuel Goldwyn (July 1882 (some sources say 17 August 1882, others 1879 [1]) – 31 January 1974) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning producer, also a well-known Hollywood motion picture producer and founding contributor of several motion picture studios. ...
MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ...
2009 film -
At one time, producer-directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, with a host of screenwriters, and Kevin Anderson as Mitty, were originally to remake the film, but it fell through. A different production is instead underway at 20th Century Fox, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., his brother John Goldwyn, and Richard Vane, with director Mark Waters. Mike Myers has been cast as Mitty. The screenplay is by Jay Kogen. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an upcoming film being being produced by Paramount Pictures, written by Richard LaGravenese, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. ...
For other people named Ron Howard, see Ronald Howard. ...
Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ...
Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ...
Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. ...
John Goldwyn (born August 10, 1958) is an American film producer, also the brother of film director Tony Goldwyn. ...
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Michael Myers can refer to: The Rt Hon Sir Michael Myers was the sixth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. ...
Jay Kogen is an American comedy writer. ...
Stage adaptation "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" was adapted to the stage by Thurber as part of the 1960 Broadway Theater revue A Thurber Carnival. The sketch, which closed the show except for "Word Dance Part II", was nearly identical to the short story, except that at the end he cleverly avoids being shot. The original cast for the sketch was as follows: Note on spelling: While most Americans use er (as per American spelling conventions), the majority of venues, performers and trade groups for live theatre use re. ...
A revue is a type of theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches that satirize contemporary figures, news, or literature. ...
- Peggy Cass as Mrs. Mitty
- Tom Ewell as Walter Mitty
- Paul Ford as Mr. Pritchard-Mitford and The Leader
- John McGiver as Dr. Renshaw
- Wynne Miller as Nurse
- Peter Turgeon as Narrator, Lt. Berg, and Dr. Remington
- Charles Braswell as Dr. Benbow
Mary Margaret (Peggy) Cass (May 21, 1924 - March 8, 1999) was an Academy Award-nominated actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer. ...
Tom Ewell ( April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American actor. ...
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 - September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made many appearances in television and motion pictures. ...
In popular culture William Windom (May 10, 1827–January 29, 1891) was an American politician. ...
My World and Welcome to It was a half-hour situation comedy based on the writings of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber. ...
The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty took the concept of James Thurbers popular book (and later movie) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and parodied it with anthropomorphised dogs and cats. ...
For other uses, see Peanut (disambiguation). ...
Snoopy is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. ...
The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ...
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy is an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the fourth episode of the sixth season. ...
Ian Dury, in a look combining Gene Vincent with a Cockney pearly king. ...
Information Nickname(s) The Old Man (in one fantasy) Occupation unknown; various fantasy occupations Title Commander, Doctor (in fantasies) Spouse(s) unnamed except as Mrs. ...
References - ^ Walter Mitty (http://www.answers.com/topic/walter-mitty). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.. Houghton Mifflin Company (2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-13.
- ^ Walter Mitty. Who2. Who2, LLC (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-13.
Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also Information Nickname(s) The Old Man (in one fantasy) Occupation unknown; various fantasy occupations Title Commander, Doctor (in fantasies) Spouse(s) unnamed except as Mrs. ...
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