Instead of LIFE magazine and a journey dealing with life reaffirmation, the forties 'Mitty' instead has our hero as a daydreaming author of cheap pulp stories, and engaged to a vapid airhead with a snappy dog and overbearing mother. One day however, Mitty's life gets turned on its head when the mysterious blonde from his daydreams actually enters his life, protecting the secrets of an elderly collector from a villainous mastermind known as The Boot. Misunderstandings, hijinks and Mitty's bumbling-turned-heroics ensue.
For all its earnesty and warmth, the '47 'Mitty' ends up feeling bloated. This is in part due to an overuse of the daydream gimmick, here all taking cues from the character's pulpy background; sailing on stormy seas, ww2 ace, Southern Gentleman Gambler and Western showdown among others. Each one is colourful, and the actors all embrace the archetypes, but after the third vignette, the daydreams loses any story function and feels more like a showcase for Danny Kaye's comedy talents, and the pacing is irreparably crippled. What should be as straightforward as a fish out of water/unlikely hero story for 'Mitty' keeps getting interrupted by these daydreams, despite the rest of the narrative having enough momentum, and it gets really grating. If you are one of those people who thought the new 'Mitty' had padding/filler, the older version will have you ripping your hair out.
A shame, as we have buckets of amusing gags within and around these bits, as well as charismatic performances spearheaded by the sadly forgotten Kaye who is able to go from goof to suave smoothly, and even has decent singing chops. Heck, we even get the always magnificent Karloff as a secondary villain, a killer doctor, and he's just as much fun as you'd think he would be in this role. What's more, because of the choice of vignettes and occupation, this film also serves as a fun little spin/capsule on 40s popular culture, and even little jabs at it, especially with the character of Mitty's boss, the Publisher.
In the end, the '47 'Mitty' is by no means a bad or even horribly dated film, but honestly, I have to give the point to the newer version. Yes, it may have had some sap in it, but it flowed much more tightly and smoothly as a narrative, and the daydreams served a story purpose as opposed to being a cheap gimmick like here. If you want to get into more fantastical 40s comedies, I recommend Kaye's other film, 'Wonder Man' (1945) instead.
For all its earnesty and warmth, the '47 'Mitty' ends up feeling bloated. This is in part due to an overuse of the daydream gimmick, here all taking cues from the character's pulpy background; sailing on stormy seas, ww2 ace, Southern Gentleman Gambler and Western showdown among others. Each one is colourful, and the actors all embrace the archetypes, but after the third vignette, the daydreams loses any story function and feels more like a showcase for Danny Kaye's comedy talents, and the pacing is irreparably crippled. What should be as straightforward as a fish out of water/unlikely hero story for 'Mitty' keeps getting interrupted by these daydreams, despite the rest of the narrative having enough momentum, and it gets really grating. If you are one of those people who thought the new 'Mitty' had padding/filler, the older version will have you ripping your hair out.
A shame, as we have buckets of amusing gags within and around these bits, as well as charismatic performances spearheaded by the sadly forgotten Kaye who is able to go from goof to suave smoothly, and even has decent singing chops. Heck, we even get the always magnificent Karloff as a secondary villain, a killer doctor, and he's just as much fun as you'd think he would be in this role. What's more, because of the choice of vignettes and occupation, this film also serves as a fun little spin/capsule on 40s popular culture, and even little jabs at it, especially with the character of Mitty's boss, the Publisher.
In the end, the '47 'Mitty' is by no means a bad or even horribly dated film, but honestly, I have to give the point to the newer version. Yes, it may have had some sap in it, but it flowed much more tightly and smoothly as a narrative, and the daydreams served a story purpose as opposed to being a cheap gimmick like here. If you want to get into more fantastical 40s comedies, I recommend Kaye's other film, 'Wonder Man' (1945) instead.