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 | Invention | Shoes | Car | Antigravity

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
Alan Carney	...	First Referee
Charlie Briggs	...	Sig
Gage Clarke	...	Rev. Bosworth
Alan Hewitt	...	Gen. Hotchkiss
Raymond Bailey	...	Adm. Olmstead
Wendell Holmes	...	General Poynter
Leon Tyler	...	Basketball Player #18
Ed Wynn	...	Fire Chief
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carroll Adams	...	Basketball Player (uncredited)
Bill Baldwin	...	News Reporter (uncredited)
Paul Bradley	...	Military Man Left of Gen. Hotchkiss (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Robert Burton	...	Sam Wheeler (uncredited)
Charlie	...	Dog (uncredited)
Ralph Clanton	...	O.J. Turnbull (uncredited)
Gary Clarke	...	Boy at Dance (uncredited)
Don Dillaway	...	Defense Department Secretary (uncredited)
Sam Edwards	...	Military Radio Dispatcher (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Loudspeaker Voice / Air Force Dispatcher (voice) (uncredited)
Mike Fryer	...	Basketball Player (uncredited)
Gordon Jones	...	Rutland Basketball Coach (uncredited)
Gordon Martin	...	Basketball Player (uncredited)
Marlin McKeever	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Mike McKeever	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Henry Norell	...	Assistant Fire Chief (uncredited)
Gregg Palmer	...	Communications Man (uncredited)
Hank Patterson	...	Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
Maudie Prickett	...	Woman in Street Interviewee (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Man Throwing Rice at Wedding (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Man in Street Interviewee (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Basketball Game Spectator (uncredited)
Carole Wells	...	Girl (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
Ned Wynn	...	Boy (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Stevenson

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

Produced by
Bill Walsh	....	associate producer
Walt Disney	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
George Bruns

Cinematography by
Edward Colman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Cotton Warburton

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark

Set Decoration by
Hal Gausman
Emile Kuri

Makeup Department
Pat McNalley	....	makeup artist
Ruth Sandifer	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert G. Shannon	....	assistant director
Arthur J. Vitarelli	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound supervisor
Dean Thomas	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Peter Ellenshaw	....	special effects
Eustace Lycett	....	special effects
Robert A. Mattey	....	special effects
Joshua Meador	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gertrude Casey	....	costumer
Chuck Keehne	....	costumer

Music Department
Evelyn Kennedy	....	music editor
Franklyn Marks	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Don DaGradi	....	sequence consultant
Walt Disney	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO (1961) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Productions (1962) (France) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1975) (USA) (TV)
• Walt Disney Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen) (colorized)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

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:

Three generations of the Wynn family act in this film: Ed Wynn; his son Keenan Wynn; and Keenan Wynn's son, Ned Wynn.

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:Let's see, flying rubber... Flubber!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Hellcats (#3.9)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Medfield Fight Song

Three cheers for hokum!

I must have been eight when I saw this, since it's listed as coming out in 1961. I was an unsophisticated kid, who didn't see too many movies in my youth, and those I did see tended towards the non-controversial. I'm glad they did, there was plenty of time for me to learn about "sex, drugs, and rock and roll later in my movie-going career. MacMurray, Kirk, and Wynn (and the others) played their roles to perfection, leaving me in open-mouthed admiration. An added bonus, my Dad was a professor and for quite a while, my brother and I called him the Absent Minded Professor...