The AbsentMinded Professor (1961)

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay)
Samuel W. Taylor (story)

Release Date:

16 March 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi | Sport

Tagline:

The funniest discovery since laughter!! [1976 re-release UK]

Plot:

A college professor invents an anti-gravity substance which a corrupt businessman wants for himself.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Shoes | Invention | Nutty Professor | Locker Room

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Fred MacMurray	...	Prof. Ned Brainard
Nancy Olson	...	Betsy Carlisle
Keenan Wynn	...	Alonzo P. Hawk
Tommy Kirk	...	Biff Hawk
Leon Ames	...	President Rufus Daggett
Elliott Reid	...	Prof. Shelby Ashton
Edward Andrews	...	Defense Secretary
David Lewis	...	Gen. Singer
Jack Mullaney	...	Air Force Captain
Belle Montrose	...	Mrs. Chatsworth
Wally Brown	...	Coach Elkins
Wally Boag	...	TV Newsman
Don Ross	...	Lenny
Forrest Lewis	...	Officer Kelley
James Westerfield	...	Officer Hanson

Also Known As:

The Absent-Minded Professor (Australia)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #19680) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1974) | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Renwick Gym, Pomona College - 333 N. College Way, Claremont, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

At the height of the film's popularity, Time Magazine printed the Disney Special Effects Department's recipe for Flubber, as used in the movie. It read as follows: "To one pound of salt water taffy add one heaping tablespoon polyurethane foam, one cake crumbled yeast. Mix till smooth, allow to rise. Then pour into saucepan over one cup cracked rice with one cup water. Add topping of molasses. Boil till lid lifts and says 'Qurlp'." It is not recorded whether this also carried the standard warning "do not try this at home".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Alonzo Hawk is talking to Ned and Betsy about 'merging together', Betsy is putting on his flubberized shoes. Right before Alonzo gets up you clearly see that the soles of the shoes do not have Flubber applied, although he jumps as if he did. He never changes shoes.

Quotes:

Prof. Ned Brainard: Corners beautifully, doesn't it?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Disneyland: Disney Goes to the Oscars (#30.8)" (1986)

Soundtrack:

Medfield Fight Song

The Original 'Flubber' Is A Bit Dated But Has Its Moments

Some parts of this are very funny, some parts are silly stupid and all parts are very dated and make little sense. Maybe that's why someone figured a re-make was appropriate. That, and the fact that it's still a very entertaining movie, almost a classic. The re-make was done in 1997 with the movie, "Flubber."

Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk.....wow, there are some familiar names from the '50s and '60s Olson had lost her youthful looks from "Sunset Boulevard," but that had been a decade earlier. MacMurray didn't look a whole lot different from his 1944 film noir classic of "Double Indemnity," proving once again how much better men age than women.

Kids of today would still laugh at this film, although they have dead spots in here which are not prevalent in modern-day films.