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Although the split-screen technique had been around for a decade or so, it was usually more noted for its failures than its success, and the actor required to play dual roles usually took tremendous heat for their failure to create two physically identical but distinctly different characterizations on screen. But with THE PARENT TRAP, with the difficult dual role resting on the shoulders of an extremely young star, Walt Disney struck gold. It would be the single highest grossing film the studio had released up to that time, and even some forty years later the baby-boomers who flocked to see it in 1961 regard it as one of their favorite movie experiences.

But THE PARENT TRAP has a lot more going for it than mere nostalgia. The cast is really, really good, featuring the ever-likable Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in leading roles and a host of great character actors (including Leo G. Carroll and Nancy Kulp) in minor roles. And then there is Haley Mills. The daughter and sister of noted English actors, Mills was no newcomer to the screen when THE PARENT TRAP went before the cameras--she had even picked up an Oscar for her earlier Disney film POLLYANNA. Even so, this was no guarantee that she could pull off the feat of double roles, something that had daunted even the legendary Bette Davis. But she did.

The story has been told so often that surely every one knows it by now. A wife delivers twin daughters--but shortly afterward divorces her husband, and each wins custody of one child. The children are raised without any knowledge of each other's existence... until they unexpectedly bump into each other at summer camp, put two and two together, and devise a scheme to get their parents back together again.

Even today, and in spite of its familiarity, it's an amusing idea, and while the actual script is weak in spots the cast, and especially Haley Mills, makes the most of it. There's plenty of slapstick, lots of laugh-out-loud scenes, and enough charm to beguile all but the most cynical viewers. And Haley Mills clearly demonstrates why she was regarded as the single most gifted child actor of her era: although she plays both Susan and Sharon with the same edge of mischievous fun, they do indeed come off as completely different personalities.

Of course, digital technology has left the old split-screen technique in the dust, and today its easy to see the flaws in the technique that weren't so obvious at the time. And the quality of the film transfer is not the best: while this isn't the worst transfer I've seen, it is full of artifacts nonetheless. Even so, the appeal of the story, the cast, and most particularly Haley Mills make up for a lot, and this Disney double DVD comes complete with a host of bonuses (including a making-of documentary and an audio commentary track by director David Swift and Haley Mills) that fans will enjoy quite a bit.

If you were a fan of the film then, you'll remain a fan of it now. And if you want to introduce your family to a truly charming movie experience, you couldn't make a better choice.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Hayley Mills does a spectacular job playing twins Sharon and Susan who are split up at birth and then reunited at summer camp. Of course they plan to reunite their divorced parents before a new woman can get her hands on their father! It's not hard to see why this film has remained popular, Mills, O'Hara, and Keith all are wonderful, and even if the story isn't the most believable it is perfectly suited for younger viewers. Forget the 1998 remake, stick with the original.

This is an agreeable updating from an E. Kastner's story , it deals about two twins little girls (Hayley Mills). When they are in summer holidays and after several antics each other , discover the surprise which they are twin sisters and then they plot change characters with their different parents (Mauren O'Hara , Brian Keith) who are disjointed since the divorce and the girls have been separately raised . The father is going to marry a young woman (Joanna Barnes) and the eleven-years-old girls scheme the parents reconciliation by making impossible life of the father's bride .

The picture contains enjoyable comedy , humor , tongue-in-cheek and being pretty entertaining . This classical Disney comedy was remade in 1998 with Lindsay Lohan and previously adapted to British cinema in a movie titled : ¨Twice upon a time¨ (1954) . Hayley Mills acting is sympathetic and amusing . Hayley plays two sisters and she makes it splendidly . Hayley starred two sequels for Television (1986, 1989). Susan Henning took on the role as Hayley Mills' body double for several of the twin shots in the film , as part of her contract, she signed away her rights to be credited . The screenplay originally called for only a few trick photography shots of Hayley Mills in scenes with herself; the bulk of the film was to be shot using a body double. When Walt Disney saw how seamless the processed shots were , he ordered the script reconfigured to include more of the special effect . Mauren O'Hara and Brian Keith are magnificent as parents in similar roles later starred by Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid . Joanna Barnes as the unpleasant fiancée is very well , in the remake she played the bride's (incarnated by Elaine Hendrix) mother . The movie will appeal to family comedy enthusiasts . Rating : Amusing and enjoyable . Well worth seeing .

"Family" movies usually make me cringe. Saccharine plots, cloying kiddie actors, goopy dialogue...no, thank you! But "The Parent Trap" succeeds admirably as both children-friendly fare and reasonably witty, sophisticated comedy.

The high-class production values don't hurt, and neither does the superb cast, right down to the character roles. The ever-dependable Una Merkel is a gem as the smart-talking maid, having lost none of her streetwise timing since her brassy blonde days in the 1930's. Charlie Ruggles is extraordinarily lovable as the grandfather, and Cathleen Nesbitt plays wonderfully against type as the domineering grandmother. Leo G. Carroll once again benefits a film simply by his appearance, and even Nancy "Miss Hathaway" Kulp is on board as a butch camp counselor (quite a stretch).

Of course, at the heart of it all, is the bravura performance of Hayley Mills as twins Susan and Sharon. She's never revoltingly sweet--there's a winning streak of spice in her personality that separates her from all other child stars. Plus, her kicky pre-Beatles British accent and snub-nosed beauty lend her a more worldly air than her contemporaries.

The ravishing Maureen O'Hara, in one of her last major roles as the twins' mother, Maggie, begins the film as a nondescript cipher, but her glamorous metamorphosis in the latter half of the film shows just how funny and sexy she can be. Mitch, the twins' father, is played by the ruggedly handsome Brian Keith, who generates the right mixture of roughneck toughness and paternal warmth.

And the criminally-overlooked Joanna Barnes plays Vicki, the predatory golddigger looking to sink her claws into Mitch. Vicki's verbal duels with Maggie and the twins are surprisingly catty for a children's film, and delivered with perfect villainy.

The very 1961 flourishes are priceless: the hopelessly tone-deaf Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello "singing" the theme song; the "formal" dance, with the girls all decked out in crinolines and laces; Susan plastering her bungalow wall with pictures of her favorite pin up boys (Rick Nelson!); and, my personal favorites, Sharon and Susan showing each other their parents' photos: hyper-posed, glamorous Hollywood 8x10 glossies!

The plot actually plays like a highly sanitized Rock Hudson/Doris Day bedroom farce, except that Susan and Sharon direct the course of action. You know what the ending will be even before you watch the movie, but it doesn't really matter. This is a delicious bon-bon of a flick, as irresistible to adults as to their children.

I first saw this movie on Sunday night TV Wonderful World of Disney in 1979 and was hooked. I bought the book at the school book fair and reread it a dozen times.

My older sister had seen Parent Trap in the theater and knew all of the parts that 1970s TV had edited out.

In the 1980s I finally got to see the whole film uncut on the Disney cable channel and finally got to figure out "the little dolls signing the parent trap song" my sister spoke of (there was 15 minutes I'd never get back)....

Dorky animated cupids aside, as a kid I loved the movie's cross country saga. The camp cabin sabotage, the twins joining forces to prank dad's girlfriend.

Although most kids will still enjoy the original movie's favorite kid moments of the punchbowl splashing into a chaperon, the timeless cake falling on Miss Inch's face, and Vicky's hissy fit, the movie's long pace might bore todays kids.

Although some purists don't like the new remake of Parent Trap, I thought the remake kept the essence of the original story and updated it to match todays global travel, destigmatization of divorce, etc.

I love the movie, always have. But then, why wouldn't I? Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara, and Hayley Mills? Excellent cast. My parents took me to see this movie when I was a kid -- [I was born in 1955] so I wasn't too old and I totally loved it. I own the VHS and will probably have to buy the DVD, if I can find it.

Joanna Barnes is the woman you love to hate -- god wasn't she just wicked and terrible in this movie? You just hate her!!! Calling Hayley - pet, in that exaggerated way. UGH!

Brian Keith, god I just loved this man! Loved him in Family Affair too! Always such a good actor. [Some other favorites; Those Calloways, The Pleasure Seekers, Nevada Smith, and especially, With Six you get Eggroll.] Maureen O'Hara, what a wonderful actress. I loved her in this movie, but then love her in any and everything she's done really [some other favorites are; McLintock! and Spencer's Mountain].

Cute, cute movie.

The Parent Trap is one of those ageless family movies. It is light-hearted and filled with down-to-earth humor. Without a doubt you will see this listed as one of those Disney classics.

This is a must see for the whole family but especially for those children with the vivid imagination.

Steve Kaden

Wow. I cant get enough of this film. Im not going to compare it with the 1998 version, because even though they have the same name and same basic plot, they are two different styles so how people can say one is better than the other is beyond me. But, the 1961 version IS better.

It has everything, comedy, romance, sadness, the acting is superb, not just from Hayley Mills, but you have Brian Keith as Mitch, and Rev. Mosby, 'Bourbon, Double, On the rocks'. I cannot fault this film and cant wait to watch it again.

One of the best films ever made.

This movie is one of the best sixties one out there. It is much better than the 1998 version. Haley Mills plays both characters to perfection (as always), and it has a great plot with unexpected twists and turns. You really should see this!!!

~Jen

The other reviewers have already well defined the out-of-time charm of this nice Disney production. Most important to me is the fact that it stays a light movie with good characterization and fine dialogue.

However, at over two hours this is way too long for a comedy. The prologue at the camp where the girls meet sets the pedestrian (family?) rhythm. Then, there are very few twists and turns but each are stretched for long sequences.

Had the movie been any less good on other accounts - cast & characters, dialogue, settings and production values at large - it would surely look tedious.

Pretty short-haired Hayley Mills (as Susan Evers) and pretty long-haired Hayley Mills (as Sharon McKendrick) meet at camp and discover they are twins who were separated at birth by divorcing parents Brian Keith (as Mitch) and Maureen O'Hara (as Maggie). At first, the thirteen-year-old girls don't get along, but they soon become fast friends. It doesn't take too much thinking to figure out the plot from here. The twins decide to switch places and bring their parents back together, since neither remarried. But, they must first stop Mr. Keith from marrying gold-digger Joanna Barnes (as Vicky Robinson)...

After looking at Maureen O'Hara, I'd consider marrying her. After looking at Mr. Keith's California estate, I'd consider marrying him, too. So, I guess these parents stayed single because, at Ms. Mills deduces, they really do love each other. They sure fight like an old married couple. Why they separated their daughters, and hid them from each other, is inexplicable. While it's never revealed, the daughters must have spent many years in British finishing schools, without running into each other. The "split-screen" is very good, but Mr. Keith's hairpiece does not match properly. Okay, I'm marrying Hayley Mills.

***** The Parent Trap (6/12/61) David Swift ~ Hayley Mills, Brian Keith, Maureen O'Hara, Joanna Barnes

This is one of the best Disney movies ever made. It is funny, warm, and it is something everybody can enjoy. To watch this in the twenty first century is a wonderful trip back in time. This movie is very 60's, but that does not make it out of date, the tricks and gags are timeless. I loved this movie when I saw it for the first time many years ago. Therefore, when the new 1998 remake came out, I had to see that too. The new one is also sweet and warm, but the original version is the best. If you see this version first and then all or some of the new afterwards (as I tried, for fun, one was on TV and I have the other on DVD), the new one reveals itself as being superficial and a bit cheasy compared to the original.

'The Parent Trap' is a Disney film about a set of twins who have never met each other because their parents are divorced, but they meet at camp. The two become inseparable while at camp and decide to meet the parent that they never knew and to try to get their parents back together. Both children lead completely different home lives, and they do a lot of work pretending to be who they are not. This is a fun film, and Haley Mills does a wonderful job portraying both young girls. It is highly enjoyable, although it may be a little dated. Great characters and amusing situations make this film a fun and forgotten gem. I give this a 6/10, a little better than average.

Part of the joy of Christmas is all the surprises that come with it. What neat things will I find in my stocking as I sneak downstairs to look in it? What will be in the next present that I open? Will I or won't I glimpse Santa sneaking around my living room? The greatest surprise of all is realizing that the little babe born in the manger is really the creator of the cosmos and of the very manger he is sleeping in.

The Parent Trap is like Christmas. It brings smiles, joys and surprises. Imagine going away to summer camp when you discover someone who looks exactly like you standing in the lunch line. Who are they? And why do they have your face? You mean we have the same birthday? You mean we have the same parents? WERE SIBLINGS!!! What would you do in a situation like this? Why switch places with your newly discovered sibling of course.

This film has as much intrigue as a James Bond film and as much mystery as an Agatha Christie novel, as the twins plot to get their divorced parents back together. It's great to have a film so blatantly say 'Divorce Really Sucks (the life out of families) And the Sixth Sense style surprises continue to show up throughout the film as the parents and those in the households on each side of the continent realize that the person they thought was one twin really was the other one.

Sometimes when the revelation is revealed in a story, the interest level seems to flatten in the storyline, but not in this film. It maintains a high level of interest throughout the film. It's also interesting to note that in that the high quality special effects that were used in the picture were done in an age before computers were as sophisticated as they are today. It is really convincing that there are two Hayley Mills on the screen at the same time. I once did shot the same person on tape using two different hair styles and made it look like she was talking to herself as a different person. It's way cool to do if you know how to do that sort of thing. I also shot myself doing the 'Who's on First' routine.

The movie has few flaws if any. At times I had trouble telling the two characters apart but that may be me and is not enough to mention as a real flaw. Some of the characters smoke cigarettes in plain view of children. I mean the horror of it. Overall I think cigarettes stink and are bad for children but I am not a smoking Nazi who would sponge all cigarettes from older films. There are some who would actually do this.

Another neat little thing is how they talk about sexuality without actually talking about it. The innocence of a family friendly film is still intact with the reality of the meaning of sexuality and martial love weaved into the seams of the film. All of the actors are a delight to spend two hours with especially Hayley and the guy who played the minister. You also get to witness Hayley kicking the crap out of herself. It's rare you see a good girl fight on film. It's sexist that only men kick the crap out of each other and never women.

Part of the reason I loved this film as much as I did in my reviewing of it, is because I was impressed and pleased that Disney could produce such a high quality, mature looking film. This film is not just good for Disney, its' a good film in general. Any Disney slapstick happens as a result of the story and not as a result to just get laughs.

This is not worth a rental, it's worth buying and keeping and sharing with loved ones. Rent it by all means if you don't have the money to buy it. This film is Pure Movie Magic. Disney Gold: A warning: Don't be tempted to watch the sequel that is on the same DVD disc, it's bad as the original is good. If the original is Charismas, the sequel is Tax Day eve.

I saw the 1998 version a long time ago, and I quite liked it as a kid.

Now, this older version is as good. Specially because of the cast! The mother's father, the Priest, everyone is simply delightful. The story is great (based on a German book, I think), but it's the delivery and the emotions portrayed that sell it. A great Disney adaptation, as they made them back then. I would highly recommend it to people of all ages, specially if you are a fan of Disney productions or the Lohan version. Even has a musical number! A "yeah yeah yeah" song before the Bettles?

And for a 60s movie, the effect is almost seamless, as Walt intended. From what I understand, Disney was one of the first to use the "travelling matte" process to use the same actress twice on screen. There is also a double (which you can actually see after they fight with cake on her face). I can imagine it impressing anyone that saw it.

My first exposure to this movie was seeing previews on TV. My response was along the lines of "What a stupid, silly, comedy; I'm not going to go see that movie". Soon thereafter, my parents and I visited for a week with relatives in another city. One day they took us to see; you guessed it; "The Parent Trap". Fortunately, I was open-minded enough to pay attention to it. I discovered that, instead of stupid and silly, the comedy was clever, original, and most of all, very funny. And, of course, I fell in love with Hayley Mills. She was so much more spunky and feisty than any girl I knew. I loved that line "We submarined her". Then there was that darling face with, still to this day, the cutest nose I have ever seen.

I've had the video for years and watch it fairly often. Being nearly 40 years older now, I find Maureen O'Hara as the real beauty of that movie. And my favorite scenes now are those near the end where she and Brian Keith realize that they need to get back together again.

But Hayley still does, and always will, occupy a small corner of my heart.

You already know this: this is great family fun. Get the gang together, throw a couple bags of popcorn in the wave, sit back and have a good time.

The Big Surprise of "The Parent Trap" (1961) is that Maureen O'Hara is can be pretty unlikable through most of the picture. She's pretty much the same hellaciously feisty and fighting Irish witch that married John Wayne in "The Quiet Man" and who often only argued and fought with the poor guy.

However, when she has her sane, loving moments with ex-hubby Brian Kieth, she lights up the screen and "The Parent Trap" blossoms.

Bu of course, the film belongs to delightful little Haley Mills, who didn't stir any romantic feelings in me until three years later in Disney's "The Moon Spinners" which was her first romantic adolescent role when she fell for dashing young adventurer Peter McHenry and visa versa.

In "The Parent Trap," Haley pulls of the minor miracle of playing to herself (delightfully) as twin sisters separated at age one, with each of them going to one divorced parent.

IMPORTANT FUN NOTE: Of course, the fact that Haley's totally British accent is undisguised in two girls who have lived all their lives in the US (one in California, the other back east) is to be blissfully ignored.

Vets Una Merkel, Charlie Ruggles, Nancy Kulp, the always wonderful Ruth McDevitt, loopy composer/band leader Frank "Happy Kyne" DeVol and Leo G. Carroll add a special zing to the festivities.

And the knockout Joanna Barnes is a particularly nasty Harpy who manages to get herself engaged to Keith, much to the dire consternation of the twin Haley's and O'Hara. Will the engagement lead to marriage? Have fun: watch and see.

The Parent Trap is a wonderful Walt Disney comedy. It allows us to benefit (in part thanks to the then revolutionary "split screen" technique) from a great performance by two Hayley Mills instead of one! The story of twin sisters discovering each other at a summer camp and trying to rebuild their "broken home" is very endearing. Yet, the emotion is well balanced with refreshing humor and quid pro quo situations. The cast is superb and it is worth mentioning the magnificent acting by the ever beautiful Maureen O'Hara and masculine Brian Keith. There is also a great appearance by Hitchcockien Leo G. Carroll in the role of a really funny Reverend. Still, center stage is Hayley Mills, 15 years old when the film was released, always funny, witty and really enchanting. Eventually, looking back at it now, The Parent Trap also, in my opinion, send us a feeling of nostalgia, like a frozen time capsule of the early 1960's.

I loved this movie when I was a kid in the 80s, and it was already old fashioned.

I just watched in again in 2021, and man... it is fantastic. Even by modern standards, the special effects really stand up. They did a masterful job turning Hailey Mills into two people.

The movie has a number of genuinely great plot points, fantastic acting, great dialog, and a fun score.

Not the Lindsay Lohan 1998 remake but the original Disney bonanza starring Hayley Mills, re-teamed with director David Swift from her breakout POLLYANNA (1960) one year prior, it is a wholesome family jewel that can appeal to kids and adults alike.

But, there is a catch here, in order to pull off the identical twins separated at birth premise, a logical reason behind their parents' seemingly cruel decision of keeping a lid on the truth as if they never give a toss about another half of the twins, must be propounded, only the result is not quite satisfactory, temperamental incongruity is a way-too-facile occasion of their failed marriage, especially both parents lead a well-to-do and respectable life, respectively, severing their consanguineous tie is not something of their ilk's disposition.

Anyway, enough of this reviewer's caviling about the set-up, 14-year-old twins Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers (Mills, with the help of Susan Henning as her body double), meet for the first time in the summer camp, after latching onto the fact (in a cabin named Serendipity!), they decide to switch places, Sharon visits California to stay with her father Mitch Evers (Keith), while Susan is hot to trot to meet her mother Maggie McKendrick (O'Hara) in Boston, by impersonating each other.

Their tricks work wonderfully to warm the cockle of one's heart, belated union larded with heartfelt embraces and affections, only Mitch's housekeeper Verbena (Merkel, having a ball with her hilarious tight-lipped loquaciousness, but not without astuteness) senses something iffy when Susan's dog refuses to approach Sharon. But time is running out for the twins who are spoiling for getting their parents back together, as Mitch is bewitched by a sultry gold digger Vicky Robinson (Barnes), and soon they will tie the knot. The hurdle is inevitably, stemmed from a man's inanity, it doesn't need a keen eye to discern the motive of Vicky and her mother (Watkins, sporting a perfect hag voice), and truth to be told, a magnificent Maureen O'Hara is simply out of the league of a bungling David Keith (although he has a terrific comic bent to make Mitch somewhat more than tolerable, bar an incredulous pratfall that is too slapdash for Disney's standard).

After Susan letting on the whole switch scheme, she and Maggie blow in at Mitch's domicile, and the girls will do anything to sabotage their father's pending wedding, but it is Maggie's guile that does the trick, and the rest is par for the course. But as soon as the girls' appearances are unified (by way of a simple haircut in the camp), their disparate personalities built ebulliently in the first half-hour (Mills proffers a convincing yet very subtle dual personae indeed) also harmonize into a sameness, for shizzle their parents cannot tell them apart, so does the audience, quite a misstep to erase their individuality and the zippy city-versus-ranch upbringing clash at that stage, plus, encouraging playing elaborate-looking pranks might partially and insidiously incubate the heinous bully culture which would have been rampant for decades and then some.

In a nutshell, from Richard and Robert Sherman's chirpy titular song accompanied by its dainty opening credits and title cards scenes (two chubby Cupids sharing a kiss steals my heart), to its seamless construction of two Mills in the same frame, THE PARENT TRAP proves to be a delightful confection when Disney is very much in its winsome wheelhouse.