Les mésaventures de Merlin Jones

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!!

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.

Bit of a disappointment by the end. It starts off very good, but sharply declines from the midway point.

'The Misadventures of Merlin Jones' is practically split into two stories, one about the ability to read minds and one about hypnosis. The former is entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the latter is extremely stagnant and slow paced. The film loses all of the promising momentum that it previously builds.

Onto the cast, this is arguably Tommy Kirk's best performance to date with Disney. He is excellent as the titular character, adding a strong and fitting demeanour to the role. Annette Funicello (Jennifer) and Leon Ames (Holmsby) are noteworthy too.

Overall, it's a shame the production didn't finish how it started - I'd be rating this higher if it had. Still, this is one that is worth a watch.

Merlin Jones was intended to be two episodes of Walt Disney's Sunday night hour long anthology series "The Wonderful World of Color." For some reason, they decided to release it theatrically instead. Disney produced some very good films for his TV series like the 3 part Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and the Gallagher Boy Reporter episodes which were very highly rated. Merlin Jones was a theatrical hit for some odd reason, though far less entertaining than aforementioned programs. One can never predict what the American public will buy but even at the time this was pedestrian entertainment. I realized that even at 10 years old when I saw it at my local movie house.

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.