The Absent-Minded Professor

"The most amazing discovery since laughter!"

1961 1h 36m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 208

ComedyFamilyScience Fiction

Synopsis

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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.

“The most amazing discovery since laughter!”

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Cast

Fred MacMurray
Ned Brainard
Nancy Olson
Betsy Carlisle
Keenan Wynn
Alonzo P. Hawk
Tommy Kirk
Biff Hawk
Leon Ames
Rufus Daggett
Elliott Reid
Shelby Ashton
Edward Andrews
Defense Secretary
David Lewis
General Singer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Stevenson
Writers: Bill Walsh, Samuel W. Taylor
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

65 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Flubber Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Edward Colman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Fred MacMurray and Nancy Olson and Keenan Wynn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The most amazing discovery since laughter!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Stevenson directs. Edward Colman behind the camera. George Bruns scores. Cotton Warburton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
265 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Flubber Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Edward Colman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Fred MacMurray and Nancy Olson and Keenan Wynn carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The most amazing discovery since laughter!".
9IMDB entry: tt0054594 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "flying car", "inventor", "professor", "basketball".

The technical file

Cinematography: Edward Colman
Original score: George Bruns
Editing: Cotton Warburton
Makeup / hair: Pat McNalley
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)

Part of

Flubber Collection

The Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 American film distributed by Walt Disney Productions based on the short story A Situation of Gravity, by Samuel W. Taylor. The title character was based in part on Hubert Alyea, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Princeton University, who was known as "Dr. Boom" for his explosive demonstrations. The film was a huge success at the box-office, and two years later became the first Disney film to have a sequel, 1963's Son of Flubber.

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Robert Stevenson

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What people are saying

John Chard2020-04-12
★ 7/10
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
r96sk2020-06-29
★ 7/10
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.