El profesor distraido

It has been years since I have seen this movie! I am glad to see that it is still fun and my girls really enjoyed (4 & 6). What was kinda neat was that the Alonzo Hawk character also returns in Herbie Rides Again (same actor, same personality). Small coincidence, because the movie was also directed by Robert Stevenson.

So, if you are looking for a film that will not offend, and offer a few chuckles and will captivate your child's attention, check out The Absent Minded Professor.

Also, IMHO, do not wast time with the Flubber remake.

Cheers

C

The Absentminded Professor was the second film that Fred MacMurray in his second career rebirth with Walt Disney as the midwife. He scored an enormous success in The Shaggy Dog and Disney films together with his My Three Sons TV series established MacMurray as the quintessential family father figure which would endure for the rest of his life.

I do remember seeing this in the theater back as a youngster and back then the younger ones in the crowd were looking at Tommy Kirk who was at the height of his Disney popularity.

Nevertheless MacMurray gives a delightful performance as science professor Ned Brainerd who's accidentally invented a variation on rubber which has a great deal more bounce to it.

He's so wrapped up in his experiment that he's even forgetting his wedding day to Nancy Olson, AGAIN. She's about had it with him and ready to fall for the wolfish English professor Elliott Reid.

MacMurray has his own troubles. Other than helping his college win a basketball game with a team that they are way overmatched against, he's not quite decided what use this stuff he calls flubber is good for. But wealthy Keenan Wynn sure wants to get his hands on it.

Funniest sequence in the film is Keenan Wynn after MacMurray and Olson trick him into wearing flubberized shoes is seeing bounce slowly into the stratosphere before a quick thinking Tommy Kirk devises a way to counteract his flubberized dad.

The AbsentMinded Professor was so popular with audiences that Disney did another version with almost the entire same cast in Son of Flubber.

That one was almost as funny, but this still has a lot of laughs even after almost fifty years.

The Absent-Minded Professor is directed by Robert Stevenson and adapted to screenplay by Bill Walsh from a story by Samuel W. Taylor. It stars Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olsen, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames and Elliott Reid. Music is by George Bruns and cinematography by Edward Colman.

Out of Disney, we get the kind of wacky family friendly comedy that serves a purpose on a miserable real life day. MacMurray's professor has invented flying - gravity defying - rubber, which he christens Flubber. It can make you bounce up to incredible heights, make the prof's car fly and naturally it draws the attention of evil business man Alonzo Hawk (Wynn). A bunch of nutty scenarios ensue (the basketball match is a pure joy) and the prof has to win back the girl he keeps forgetting to marry (a radiant Olson). It's a creative piece of writing and it saw Disney take note for continued success in live action pictures. 7/10

I must have been eight when I saw this, since it's listed as coming out in 1961. I was an unsophisticated kid, who didn't see too many movies in my youth, and those I did see tended towards the non-controversial. I'm glad they did, there was plenty of time for me to learn about "sex, drugs, and rock and roll later in my movie-going career. MacMurray, Kirk, and Wynn (and the others) played their roles to perfection, leaving me in open-mouthed admiration. An added bonus, my Dad was a professor and for quite a while, my brother and I called him the Absent Minded Professor...

This is probably one of the best live action films Disney has ever released. Fred MacMurray once again proved how great a comedic actor he was and this film is just a confirmation of it. Also, Nancy Olson was great as his frustrated fiancee, Betsy. However, the real scene stealer in this film is Keenan Wynne as old man Hawk. Mr. Hawk was probably one of the biggest weasels in cinematic history and Tommy Kirk is also great as his son Biff.

Also, the best scene in the whole film is the basketball game. That scene alone is what makes this film a classic comedy.