The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)

★ 6.5 1h 36m IMDb

Comedy Sci-Fi Family

Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

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Cast

Fred MacMurray as Ned Brainard Died 1991 · Kankakee, Illinois, USA Fred MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor and musician. He was educated at Carroll College, Wisconsin, and played with a Chicago orchestra for more than a year. Then he...

Nancy Olson as Betsy Carlisle Age 97 · Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Nancy Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American screen, television, and stage actress. She was an Academy Award Best Supporting Actress nominee for her portrayal of Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard...

Keenan Wynn as Alonzo P. Hawk Died 1986 · New York City, New York, USA Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead...

Tommy Kirk as Biff Hawk Died 2021 · Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 − September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Ro...

Leon Ames as Rufus Daggett Died 1993 · Portland, Indiana, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Leon Ames (January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films a...

Elliott Reid as Shelby Ashton Died 2013 · New York City, New York, USA Elliott Reid was born on January 16, 1920 in New York City, New York, as Edgeworth Blair Reid. He was an actor and writer, known for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Inherit the Wind (1960) and The Ab...

Director Robert Stevenson

Cast Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, Elliott Reid, Edward Andrews, David Lewis, Jack Mullaney, Belle Montrose

John Chard 7/10 Apr 12, 2020

Substance X, we dub thee - Flubber!

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

r96sk 7/10 Jun 29, 2020

An amusing film regarding Professor Brainard, a character I've always associated with Robin Williams having seen the 1997 remake first back when I was younger.

Fred MacMurray plays the aforementioned in this, the original. He is pleasing here, giving a more than satisfying performance - even if it is pretty similar to the one he gives in <em>'The Shaggy Dog'</em> back in 1959. Elsewhere, Keenan Wynn plays Alonzo Hawk - he is perfect for that role. Nancy Olson (Betsy) and Tommy Kirk (Biff) are also recognisable Disney faces, though it's MacMurray and Wynn who are the standouts by quite some distance.

The special effects haven't aged well at all but I can forgive that. However, the editing is very choppy when the Flubber is in use. I get why, of course, but I feel they could've sharpened the edits up a tad.

The main part that I'll remember from this is the humour, which is nicely crafted. There's a lot of set pieces with the Flubber and basically all of them give laughs to some degree. If it wasn't for the fun, I'd be rating this lower - especially after the somewhat out of place ending.

I prefer the remake with Williams, though that one leaves a similar impression - with the previously mentioned actor elevating that film up tremendously. This, for a special effect-filled production from 1961, is solid.