![]() ![]() What we get is an overblown homily on the virtues of self-actualization-James Thurber by way of Dale Carnegie. Ben Stiller’s 2013 portrayal of Walter Mitty veers from Thurber even more, as the repressed hero decides to give up daydreaming to search out adventures worthy of Indiana Jones. The 1947 version starring Danny Kaye includes a subplot in which the real-life Mitty tangles with jewel thieves-a revision that, in juicing up Walter’s humdrum existence, destroys the interior logic of Thurber’s source material. ![]() Hollywood has adapted the story twice, getting it wrong each time. First published in 1939, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” follows the title character, a henpecked husband, as he daydreams more dramatic versions of himself, either as a military pilot, star surgeon, or defendant in a murder trial. ![]()
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