The Phantom of the Opera (1943) w/ Claude Rains

My young nephews are studying The Phantom of the Opera in music class. One of them asked if Aunt Java has the film at home. I do. Yours truly grew up watching various film versions of Gaston Leroux's novel. It is the tale of a man gone mad who lives beneath a Paris opera house and secretly obsesses over a singer named Christine. He will do anything to make her a star, even murder.

At one point it time, there was Phantom-mania everywhere. Andrew Lloyd Webber was slaying Broadway; the soundtrack for Phantom with Michael Crawford and company was a commercial success; people wore sweatshirts and t-shirts with a phantom mask printed on them; every popular singer covered that haunting song, "The Music of the Night." I hadn't picked up any version of this movie since then.

It was a thrill to share with the nephews my favorite of the remakes - the Claude Rains version. 

This is a dark tale of insanity and obsession, but Universal Studios chose to keep it light and family-friendly. The 1925 Lon Cheney version is sinister and dark, lots of close-ups of the Phantom, slow turns, they really want you to drink him in; it's geared towards fans of horror films. More recent versions target adults who enjoy romance novels and desperately wish to be enveloped by the music of the night with Christine. 

On the other hand, once Claude Rains becomes the Phantom, the 1943 film keeps the title character at arms length. He's the mask in the crowd over here; he's the shadow on the wall over there. We spend more time above ground watching people react to his maneuvers. We dip only briefly into the subterranean lair of the mysterious murderer. Other versions keep you in the Phantom's world a little more.

Further, with bright and festive 19th century costumes credited to Vera West and delicious Technicolor,  this film is candy for the eye. There are also silly, comic bits as a singer (Nelson Eddy) and a police detective (Edgar Barrier) vie for Christine's (Susanna Foster) attention. All of this creates a tone that is different from that of most other versions. The tone might be annoying to many who are accustomed to the more frightening versions, but any children watching are not likely to have bad dreams after this light and frothy film.

The Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains is recommended, especially for children.

Essential Items for Classic Movie Reviews

What items help your classic movie review process ? The following items are essential for my process, but please share in the comment section below what you use to create your best classic movie reviews.

1. LAPTOP

Many people are faster at typing than writing with a pen. Since I’ll have to type it eventually, I just cut out the middleman and type the review on my laptop. Also, if the film is especially exciting (or boring) I can begin to search for behind-the-scenes trivia online while still watching the film. I also enjoy the freedom of using a laptop to watch a film anywhere.

I often type the drafts using Microsoft WORD, then copy and paste the sentences onto my blog. I do this with especially long reviews or ones with footnotes. I also type with WORD when access to the internet is limited. At other times, I type directly onto my blog.

2. NOTEPAD AND PEN (occasionally)

When watching the movie at the cinema or enjoying the stage version of a film, I’ll need the pen and paper to capture my thoughts immediately. However, typing handwritten thoughts is a step I would like to avoid as much as possible since I rarely get around to typing anything once I've written it on paper. Typing thoughts onto the computer helps.

3. THE MOVIE

Naturally, you'll need the movie to review. However, if I’ve seen a film dozens of times before (you know, the kind of familiar film you can quote in your sleep), I will start to write a review from  memory. Following up with another glance at the film might be in order before publishing the completed review. This is just to make sure I didn't miss anything salient to my point.

4. BEHIND-THE-SCENES RESOURCES

We've discussed the many credible online and offline resources which can enhance your review. Gross receipts, back stories, filming dates, what place does the film hold in the trajectory of the actor's career, filming locations, type of vehicle the character drives, interviews with filmmakers, quotes, public domain images, old newspaper articles - any of these might prove useful to your review.  Discover exactly where to find this information here: 15 Classic Movie Review Resources

5. INSPIRATION / BLOG IDEAS

(a) Inspiration is essential. Let's say you want to try something different on your blog. Other writers can inspire you. They might not write about classic movies or even have an online presence, but you enjoy how they formulate words or the fact that they share resources for further study. Whatever it is, figure out why that writer appeals to you and incorporate some of their writing model into your own.

(b) When facing writer's block, this list of blog ideas comes in handy. Find it here: 100 Classic Movie Blog Ideas.  For the future, start your own list of blog ideas. When frustrated, you can scan some of them. Even if you do not use them, they could be the catalyst for other thoughts.

Of course, when writer's block hits,  you can also free write, which is to think of a topic and just write whatever comes to mind for a couple of pages or for a limited amount of time (Here's an online 25 minute egg timer, if you need it: e.ggtimer.com/pomodoro ). You'll come out with a seed of something blog worthy.


(c) To prevent last minute posts and to always have inspiration, you can use a blogging calendar and map out every topic or movie you want to review in advance. I have used these in the past, and still do for major holidays, but I have yet to discover how best to use the blogging calendar on a weekly basis without feeling bored and confined. [See? There's a blog post right there waiting to happen.]

6. FUN

I don't know about you, but yours truly tends to take things too seriously and wipe the fun right out of it for the reader. I'm so busy trying to get everything right.

Someone recently said, "Do it and then do it right." Meaning start first, then correct as you go. But start. And remember what made you so excited in the first place about the movie you're reviewing.


What are your necessary items for a classic movie review?

For more Classic Movie Blog Tips, click here:TIPS.

The Heiress (1949) | My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon

William Wyler directed some of the greatest, sweeping adventure moments ever captured on film, such as those in Ben-Hur or The Big Country. However, Wyler would often create excitement in internal crises. The Heiress –a drama from 1949-is a case in point.

 It stars Olivia de Havilland who plays a timid and wealthy lady of 19^th century New York City who must determine whether her beau –Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift) - loves her or her money. The heiress’ father, Dr. Sloper  (Ralph Richardson), tends to believe the latter – that Catherine has nothing to offer but her inheritance. What is the truth?

The mystery, the ambiguity, will bring you back to this film again and again.

Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted the popular Henry James novel, Washington Square,  into a hit Broadway play - The Heiress. Olivia de Havilland saw the play and campaigned to have it adapted to film.

Wyler, de Havilland and the rest take advantage of the subtleties offered by the film medium, adding layers of complexity. 

Some of the subtlety includes physical changes in our heroine. In public and around her domineering father, Catherine speaks almost in a whisper, wringing her hands, second guessing her own decisions.

In private and with her Aunt Lavinia, (Miriam Hopkins),  the shy young lady speaks at a normal volume and gives  definite opinions. 

When we first meet Morris, Aunt Lavinia stands up and leaves the two alone. Morris takes the vacated seat and eventually becomes the new person in her life who encourages the opinionated, independent woman inside Catherine. With Morris, the heiress unfolds her petals and blossoms. 

 

But can Morris be trusted? Sometimes the script gives lies to the people you like and truths to the characters that you dislike. The audience is placed in the same predicament as Catherine – whom should she trust?

The Heiress makes the internal struggle so vivid that the New York Times critic Bosley Crowther was compelled to say that, 

“…Mr. Wyler has taken this drama, which is essentially of the drawing-room and particularly of an era of stilted manners and rigid attitudes, and has made it into a motion picture that crackles with allusive life and fire.”

You don't need chariot races and big, broad, Western landscapes to create an epic film. This film creates an epic tale in intimate spaces, not the least of which is that inside the human mind.

We could discuss the accolades and awards lavished on this movie, including Olivia de Havilland’s second Academy Award for Best Actress. We could discuss the fact that a prominent song in this film was later revamped and turned into a hit song for Elvis Presley. But all of that is merely the cherry on top. What makes The Heiress great is brilliant storytelling, source material, acting, directing, editing, the score… Everything comes together to bring you a film you will never tire of revisiting. The Heiress should become your next favorite film.

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This post is a contribution to the My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon  at the Cafe of Film and TV.

6 Pinterest Tips to Boost Traffic to Your Classic Movie Blog

You have a blog. Now you want to spread your reach and classic movie authority on a social media platform.  Pinterest.com might be useful to you.

Pinterest - a portmanteau of "Pin" and "Interest"-  allows you to create visual bookmarks.  You gather all the internet images you like (or upload them), keep them in one place and share your findings with the rest of the world (or keep a few private boards). (Learn  About Pinterest here.)

According to the Pew Research Center, 28% of all adult internet users use Pinterest. That's a big chunk of traffic. It's greater than the adult internet user traffic for Twitter or Instagram, according to the same study.

To top it off, humans process the information of images faster than they do text. Pinterest - or any other image-heavy social media platform- can potentially get your point across pretty fast and to a wider audience.


People use Pinterest as inspiration boards for their weddings, recipes, travel, fashion and home decor. Some even scroll through for movie recommendations. That's where you come in.

1. Pin Images From Your Classic Movie Blog

Java's Journey's main page on Pinterest

The images that you use on your blog can be placed on your account on Pinterest. You can pin it to your own digital boards using a handy Pinterest Browser Button. Once that is finished, a button marked "Visit Site" is near each photo and leads back to your blog. This is the crucial traffic booster.

The kind of seamless integration that we've come to expect with Twitter and Facebook is not currently available with Pinterest. There is no way to pin your content automatically when you publish your blog post. For now, you must pin every image manually. Here's how to do it:

1. Visit a page whose image you like.  The url of that page will become the address that people will use on Pinterest to go back to your blog.
2. Click your Pinterest Browser Button.
3. Click the image you want to Pin.
4. Change the description, if you prefer.
5. Choose which board to use.
6. Click "Pin It."
7. Click "See It Now," if you prefer.

You can do the same on other websites. You can also upload images to Pinterest from your hard drive.

In addition, other people can visit your blog and pin your images to their boards. If you wish to make it easy for them, you can create a little "Pin It" button which will pop up on each picture. Go to the Pinterest Widget Builder for instructions.

For technical questions in general, visit the Pinterest Help Center. Their answers are usually spot on; you just have to dig for them.

2. Pinterest Content Has Longevity

One great thing about Pinterest, something that recommends it above many other social media platforms, is the longevity of content.

Other platforms have a time-sensitive, vertical timeline system. On Twitter, for instance, the newest post or picture is at the top of the page. The older ones are pushed down until they are off the front page.  A Twitter post has a few seconds of longevity, which means any image will be right there in someone's face for a very brief amount of time. Facebook posts have a longevity of minutes or hours.

A Pinterest image might grab attention for months. Why?

Pinterest has far less emphasis on when a thing is uploaded; more emphasis is on what is uploaded. It organizes images across the page. Plus, it is easy to search for an image via keywords despite its upload date.

Example
I logged on to Blogger, looked at my statistics and found that Pinterest sent traffic to Java's Journey today.

  

Java's Journey- Blogger Statistics Section

I clicked on the link and discovered that people had traveled from my Pinterest boards to this blog using the "Visit Site" button near a poster of Diamond Horseshoe with Betty Grable that I pinned over a year ago.

Java's Betty Grable Poster on Pinterest

With Pinterest, you have just as much chance to garner traffic from images pinned long ago as you do from more recent images that you've pinned.

3. Remember: Pinterest is Not a Community; It's a Billboard

Be aware that Pinterest is not a community site like you may be accustomed to using. On Blogger, Wordpress or Facebook, for instance, someone posts an image and hordes of people discuss it in the comment section below the image.

On Pinterest, there is a space for comments, but few people use it. This may be due to the lack of emphasis on when an image is uploaded to Pinterest. You may never get a response if you ask a question.

Thus, use Pinterest as a billboard for what you're discussing on your blog; it is not chat time with classic movie fans.

4. Use Tall Images on Pinterest

Pinterest makes vertical images larger and easier to see; horizontal ones tend to be squished.

I learned this the hard way after uploading some great shots from widescreen movies like How To Marry a Millionaire with Marilyn Monroe.

So what do you do? Crop the image into a vertical rectangle on your computer and re-upload. Or simply choose long images from the start.

5. Remember: Text is Important on Pinterest

Pinterest is mostly about images, but remember to use its description box to help people find your pictures. Below each image is a description box. The Pinterest search feature uses your description to find images for other members. The name of the classic movie star helps, name of the movie, year, the words "classic movie," etc.

You can go one further, if you have time, and create one sentence plot lines in your descriptions. I usually get a number of re-Pins and "Likes" when I describe how the scene in the image I've chosen fits into the plot. I also use the words, "Read More" followed by a direct link to the specific blog page. It's another way of ensuring that people come to the blog.

6. Is Pinterest Right For You?

Whether Pinterest can help you depends on your goals. What would you like your classic movie brand to be?

• If you would prefer long discussions with other classic movie fans, Pinterest is not the place to do it. [Although, it could lead to those in-depth dialogues if someone travels from that website to your blog.]
• If you simply want your presence out there as an authority on one of the most popular websites online, Pinterest might be what you are looking for.  
•  If your target demographic includes lots of women, Pinterest is your place. According to the Pew studies, Pinterest users are over 3 times more likely to be female than male.
• If you want your rare images to remain exclusively within your control, Pinterest is not the place for you. Anything you share there is potentially out in the ether forever even with private boards; there is no reigning it in.
• If you do not have time to to add any more tech stuff to your social media arsenal, then don't do it, even though it's fairly easy to do.
• If you want a social media platform that does not need constant updating ,yet still draws readers to your blog, Pinterest works.

Do you use Pinterest? Has it helped your online classic movie presence?

Mother's Favorite Classic Films (and TV Shows)

It's great to share a movie with your mother. Here are a few of the films and television shows that I watched with both my parents growing up, but were also the particular favorite of mom (after all, it was her house and she controlled the remote).

1. The Bad Seed (1956)

My mother loves a good laugh. Few movies bring several, long chuckles out of her like The Bad Seed (1956).  This film stars Nancy Kelly as Christine Penmark, the mother of a little girl named Rhoda (Patty McCormick) who murders people.

The plot of this thriller may not sound like a laugh fest, but there are moments of hilarity throughout the movie - some intended, others not-  that might leave you winded with laughter.  Mother loves to run this film whenever guests arrive at her house. My family has a sick sense of humor sometimes.

2. Columbo (ABC, 1971-2003)

It's a classic, but not a film. My mother and her sisters introduced me to this TV detective with no first name who wears a wrinkled trench coat as he solves crimes. Criminals always believe that Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is incompetent, but of course he's not and captures them in the end.  My mother often champions the underdog or the misunderstood and she loves a good mystery. 

3. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (NBC, 1993-1998)

A female physician (Jane Seymour) faces the challenges of balancing work and raising children in the Wild West; this story parallels my mother's life in many ways.  The whole family enjoyed  the show enough to ask an aunt to record it once while we were on a vacation.

We lived in an area where you get "snow" on the screen, the cause of very poor reception. I recently tried to re-watch one of the tapes that my aunt recorded for us; it's filled with snow. I can't believe we watched it so intently with such poor visual quality, but we loved it.

4. The Fugitive (1993) [or any other Harrison Ford film]

Watching films like The Fugitive -when a man's life -and that of his
family- is threatened and he must catch a villain alone - is as risky as this family gets, sometimes.

Mother is an adrenaline junkie only vicariously through films. In real life, she must handle the aftermath of humans doing unwise things to themselves.  It's understandable that she would like to live as long as she can, thank you very much.

5. The Great Escape (1963)

My mother's father fought during WWII. Like his son, grandpa didn't talk about his war days very much. Movies like The Great Escape help mother to understand a little bit what those days were like for her father. Plus, it's filled with action.

The story follows members of the Allied Forces who are grouped together in a POW camp. They plan an elaborate escape. It boasts an all-star cast, including some of mother's favorites -Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Garner.

6. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1964)

Here's another of Mom's favorites that has her in stitches - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  It's an all-star cast of comedians -including Milton Berle and Sid Caesar- who dash after hidden treasure somewhere in California.

Mother runs this one for her guests less often than The Bad Seed due to its long run time. Still, its brilliant cameos and constant hijinks always has our family in tears.

Further Resources

• Java's Journey has written a review of  The Bad Seed (1956). Read it here.
• 15 Classic Movies for Mother's Day - These are all easily accessible on DVD, on TCM, the Warner Archives or online streaming.
• The Heiress (1949): Her Mother's Presence - A shy young lady (Olivia De Havilland) is haunted by the seeming perfection of her late mother.
• Tomorrow is Forever - A great war drama with Claudette Colbert as a WWI widow who must face the idea of losing her son to WWII. Orson Welles also stars.

What are your mother's favorite films?

The Orson Welles Centenary

May 6, 2015 is Orson Welles' 100th birthday. Let us revisit the life of this enormously talented director, actor and producer with bits of trivia.

via sightandsound.org

• February 8, 1940 - The Milwaukee Journal reports that the citizens of Kenosha, WI dislike a magazine portrayal of their native son, Orson Welles. The piece shows him as extravagant and spoiled, but  Kenoshians set the record straight.

• January 1941 - The director sends out a press release explaining Citizen Kane.

• September 1943 - The star puts on a magic act for the troops. Rita Hayworth and Joseph Cotton are on hand.

• October 1, 1963 - Welles fights bulls in Spain for charity.

• November 1972 - Orson Welles stars in The Man Who Came to Dinner for a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Also stars Joan Collins, Lee Remick  and Don Knots as the doctor.

• May 1985 - Bob Thomas catches up with the filmmaker for his birthday. The star isn't talking to press but his companion does. The article describes Welles' projects, including the status of The Other Side of the Wind, and Welles' method of dieting, which includes having someone taste fatty foods and describe them to him.

• October 10, 1985 - Orson Welles dies. It's a huge front page news event.

• October 15, 1985 - The last appearance of Welles on film airs. The star introduces a noir episode of the TV show, "Moonlighting," starring Bruce Willis.

• On his birthday in 1987, the American director's daughter, Beatrice, buries his ashes in a dry well on the private property of his friend, retired toreador, Antonio Ordoñez.

• Orson Welles' last, unfinished film, The Other Side of the Wind,  which was slated to be released on  the director's centenary (May 6, 2015), is still in production, according to Wellesnet. There is a funding issue which still needs sorting. The film, shot in the 1970s and starring any number of celebrities, including Natalie Wood, follows the decay of Hollywood.

• Wellesnet shares an extensive list of  Centennial events for the director. This includes the celebration by TCM. Turner Classic Movies airs Welles' movies every Friday during the month of May. 

Quote

"I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time."

Further Resources:

• Review of the sensitive war film Tomorrow is Forever, starring Welles and Claudette Colbert
• Review of The Long, Hot Summer, starring Welles and Paul Newman
• Would Welles have been an internet star today?

Enjoy the Movie

Being a clumsy idiot, I tripped and sprained my ankle the other day, leading to swelling. After realizing I will not be able to run very fast in an emergency, I remembered James Stewart in a wheelchair fighting off a villain in Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW (1954).

TCM Presents hosted the Hitchcock movie a few weeks ago. I went to see it, loved it, loved the audience, but I didn't bother reviewing it. (Fellow CMBA member Laura did. You may read her review here: Laura's Misc. Musings )

Sometimes you want to enjoy a film as it was intended and leave it at that. No notes. No review. Just appreciate the thrill of geniuses performing on command. I've recently watched a film wherein a photojournalist has trekked thousands of miles to capture the image of the elusive snow leopard on film. When the creature appears, the man doesn't take the photo; he just savors the moment. It's a crazy thing to do to his career, but I understand what prompts this.

As a classic movie blogger, you have enjoyed these films and you want to share that excitement. You realize the tremendous effort that was put into these classic movies, and you want them to be appreciated for the gems that they are.

You pour over pages of old newspapers and countless books, you interview people, you try to showcase the relevance of these films today, try to scrub away the dust of time and say, "Look at what I've found! Isn't this great?" Sometimes you feel you owe it to all those famous and nameless people who have brought you hours of pleasure and information not to allow their work to be forgotten.

But sometimes you need to just sit back in awe and let the film take you through its paces. Remember why you like these films in the first place and just enjoy. It'll make for better reviews later if you relax a little more instead of trying so hard to dot every "i" and cross every"t" and take these films so seriously you knock the fun out of it for yourself and your audience.

That's why I didn't review Rear Window. It's a great film. So great this reviewer just watched it and nothing more.

What films have you enjoyed and never bothered to review?

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: 1947 and 2013

 

 James Thurber's short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty follows a milquetoast husband who escapes his nagging wife and dull life through day dreams.

In 1947, The Samuel Goldwyn Company brought Thurber's story to the screen with Danny Kaye as the title character. Kaye's classic twitches and tongue twisters draw you in to his make believe world of heroes of many kinds: cowboys, RAF pilots, sea captains and surgeons who save lives with a knitting needle and sock stretcher. Mitty makes himself the star of each dream. In real life, Mitty is a vital part of a novel publishing company, but is seldom given recognition for his ideas. Everyone belittles him: his boss, his mother, his fiancée and his fiancée’s poodle.

 The 2013 Mitty is an archivist and film negatives processor for Life Magazine. He's an analog man in a digital world and the new boss is there to transition the magazine into an online phase. The first half of the film feels like the movie Desk Set with Katharine Hepburn, where everyone fears being replaced by computers. Mitty might be able to keep his job if he can locate a missing negative of an image taken by the roving star photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn). This could mean crisscrossing all over the planet, something Mitty has only done in his extensive day dreams.

 Wives and Mothers

Mitty comes to the screen without a wife so that Kaye can pursue popular Goldwyn Girl, Virginia Mayo, with whom he made more than one successful film.  Mayo plays a lady whose life may be in danger from a few crooks left over from WWII. Encountering her means Mitty is forced to deal with buckets of blood, sudden death and real villains. It's almost straight out of the novels his company produces.

Fast forward to 2013. Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. and his son co-produce another version of the story with Ben Stiller as fellow producer, director and star. Mitty is still wife-less, but this time, his would-be girlfriend and his mother are caring people played, respectively, by Kristin Wiig and Shirley MacLaine (who does not get nearly enough face-time). The only one haranguing him is a new boss (Adam Scott).

Day Dreams

The Danny Kaye version allows the dream sequences to be tiny, separate capsules of entertainment.  When Kaye's Mitty dreams, there is sometimes an endless void in the background and all the action occurs in the foreground where Mitty and the woman of his dreams share an adventure. He's always hilariously nonchalant in the dreams (e.g. "It's nothing. Just a broken arm. I set the bone myself.").



In the Stiller version, the dream sequences are seamless with reality. You don't always know you are in a dream until someone does or says something odd. For example, Mitty is on the phone and someone asks whether he's ever done anything noteworthy. Mitty then casually jumps off a bridge and dives into the window of a burning building to save a dog. On the way out of the building, he has time to fashion a prosthetic leg for the animal and place it safely into the arms of its owner. I laughed heartily several times with both films.

Impact of Mitty's imagination on his real life

Both Mittys are seen as odd balls because they do not function at all during these extended dreams, causing lots of irritation for those around them. However,  Mitty's wild imagination in Kaye's version helps his work. The novels he promotes fuel his imagination which in turn fuels his promotion ideas; it's a symbiotic relationship. His creativity is presented as something to be moderated.

 
The Stiller version of Mitty sees this vivid imagination as something to be eradicated, something to shed like a second skin. There is a symbolic shedding. During his quest to find Sean and the missing film negative, Mitty must change out of his ruined office suit and borrow clothing from someone who lives a more adventuresome life.  As his reality gradually becomes as epic as his day dreams, Mitty dreams less frequently.

Another major difference in the storylines is that Kaye’s Mitty apparently has always possessed an active imagination. This is part of what makes him unique. This is part of what makes him highly qualified for the job he enjoys. Mitty and a keen imagination are inextricably linked.

Stiller’s Mitty is adventuresome as a child, has a crisis which causes him to play it safe for the rest of his life and to escape boredom or fear through day dreams. In his darkened archival office, Mitty's windows to the outside world are photos that Sean sends. This makes Mitty's new adventures cathartic as an adult. As he begins to shape his life around his true self, the day dreams are no longer needed to survive.

Color plays a part 

In Kaye’s version, Technicolor is used to get those of us in the audience to buy tickets to see the movie. From Mayo’s stylish costumes to Danny Kaye’s rich, auburn hair, this film has a bright and varied color palette throughout. Whether in a dream or not, the imagery is straight off the bold cover of a paperback novel.

 

Stiller’s version uses color to show progression in the character. During Mitty’s introduction, there are plenty of frosted neutrals – grey, black, white- on his person, in the buildings, all around him. This is to showcase the idea that he thinks his life is mediocre. (Though how he thinks working at LIFE Magazine on some of the most iconic images in the world is average, I don’t know.) As Mitty’s real adventure unfolds, you’ll see lots of saturated colors on him and all around, starting with the maroon cable knit sweater he borrows from a fisherman. It’s as if Dorothy comes back to reality but the colors from the land of Oz are still with her. (One of the characters remarks how surprised he is with Mitty’s appearance, “I pictured you as a little grey piece of paper.”  This is how the filmmakers view Mitty as well.)


The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a great story for the entire family to watch together. I recommend watching both in a marathon and comparing the two. You’ll enjoy both versions for different reasons.

Have  you seen these films? What did you think?