Merlin Jones - Der Mann, der zuviel wußte

Who wouldn't want to read the minds of everyone around you?!! Merlin Jones does this and more in this hysterical film! Annette sings the title song,but its lacking a bit in enthusiasm. It's a real 60's production,but it's great for kids!!

Sleepy, over-the-hill "teenager" Tommy Kirk isn't really the ideal actor to carry a movie set on a mythical college campus, one wherein everyone is relentlessly energetic and colorful. Kirk is supposed to be wacky and wonderful too, but he's the most normal of the bunch, bland and grounded. Still, there are some chuckles in this Walt Disney production about a nerdy college whiz, and love-interest Annette Funicello is lively doing the same love-means-a-wedding-ring thing she perfected in the concurrent "Beach Party" flicks. Much preferable to its immediate sequel, "The Monkey's Uncle", which--despite an opening featuring Annette on stage with The Beach Boys!--just didn't have the heart or spirit of this one. *** from ****

It's difficult to write one of the normal pithy little plot summaries I come up with. I have no firsthand knowledge, but The Misadventures of Merlin Jones smells suspiciously of two different television episodes (perhaps from The Wide World of Disney) cobbled together to create a feature length movie. In the first half, brainiac Merlin Jones accidentally develops the ability to read minds and almost immediately suspects the local judge of being a criminal mastermind. In the second half, Merlin uses hypnosis to force the same judge to actually commit a criminal act. None of it rises much above average as far as entertainment goes. I grew up on live action Disney movies like The Love Bug and The Snowball Express. The Misadventures of Merlin Jones pales in comparison. It's neither written as cleverly as it needs to be nor are Merlin's antics madcap enough to generate laughs. It's all safe (perhaps too safe) Disney fare.

Some of the supporting cast deserves mention. I always enjoy watching Leon Ames. Here, he does the most with what he's given to work with. Ames is easily the best actor in the bunch. I also got a kick out of seeing (and hearing) Dal McKennon. The name might not be overly familiar, but if you grew up watching cartoons in the 70s like I did, you'll definitely recognize the voice.

5/10

Reading about the history of this film, I discovered (as other reviewers pointed out) that this film was produced as a two-part production which was then stitched together and released theatrically. While this explains how disjointed it is, it really is two separate stories in one piece of media, as a viewer neither narrative is fully explored and feels unfinished.

These days, we're more likely to see one story cut into two feature-length films, so to see the opposite feels a bit jarring. There are plenty of films which feel like separate stories, such as Downsizing.

As for the two stories, I'm not sure 'misadventures' is the right word. The premise is classic Disney: what can go wrong when an inventor tries his whacky invention? The first half is enjoyable, where Merlin Jones exposes a court judge's life of crime. But the second half, which explores hypnotism, seems to lose the plot (so to speak).

It's interesting enough for fans of classic Disney, Tommy Kirk, and Annette Funicello, but for casual viewers, give it a miss.

This 1964 Disney film, like many other of it's era have been long forgotten except by certain aficionados such as myself. The Misadventures of Merlin Jones stars Tommy Kirk as the title character and the unforgettable Annette Funicello in the female lead.

For those of you with short attention spans this movie actually wraps up one story line and continues to conclude another one...not only that, it's left open for a sequel called The Monkey's Uncle! Merlin Jones is the college campus genius who's wacky "scientific" experiments land him in more trouble than any good kid deserves. As a result of one experiment he gets his driver's license revoked, as a result of another he can suddenly read minds...including the mind of the judge that took his license away...and it seems that the good judge isn't all that good. Yet a 3rd experiment gets the judge himself into the same hot water that Merlin is usually in! Just as the title indicates this movie is one misadventure after another.

Don't try to analyze this movie, just sit back and enjoy it. This is the kind of movie whose sole purpose is to celebrate life's little absurdities. If you enjoy being silly then you'll enjoy this Disney gem.