Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Parent Trap

  • 1961
  • Passed
  • 2h 9m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
23K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,939
635
Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer2:14
1 Video
58 Photos
ComedyFamilyRomance

Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.

  • Director
    • David Swift
  • Writers
    • Erich Kästner
    • David Swift
  • Stars
    • Hayley Mills
    • Maureen O'Hara
    • Brian Keith
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    23K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,939
    635
    • Director
      • David Swift
    • Writers
      • Erich Kästner
      • David Swift
    • Stars
      • Hayley Mills
      • Maureen O'Hara
      • Brian Keith
    • 113User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 2 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:14
    Watch Trailer

    Photos58

    Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, and Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in Disney's "The Parent Trap"
    "The Parent Trap" Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith 1961 Walt Disney Productions
    The Parent Trap (1961)
    Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, and Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, and Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    insert
    Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, and Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Maureen O'Hara in The Parent Trap (1961)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hayley Mills
    Hayley Mills
    • Susan Evers…
    Maureen O'Hara
    Maureen O'Hara
    • Maggie McKendrick
    Brian Keith
    Brian Keith
    • Mitch Evers
    Charles Ruggles
    Charles Ruggles
    • Charles McKendrick
    • (as Charlie Ruggles)
    Una Merkel
    Una Merkel
    • Verbena
    Leo G. Carroll
    Leo G. Carroll
    • Rev. Dr. Mosby
    Joanna Barnes
    Joanna Barnes
    • Vicky Robinson
    Cathleen Nesbitt
    Cathleen Nesbitt
    • Louise McKendrick
    Ruth McDevitt
    Ruth McDevitt
    • Miss Inch
    • (as Ruth Mc Devitt)
    Crahan Denton
    Crahan Denton
    • Hecky
    Linda Watkins
    Linda Watkins
    • Edna Robinson
    Nancy Kulp
    Nancy Kulp
    • Miss Grunecker
    Frank De Vol
    Frank De Vol
    • Mr. Eaglewood
    Don Ames
    • Parent
    • (uncredited)
    Kay Cole
    • Betsy
    • (uncredited)
    Dave Goelz
    Dave Goelz
    • Teenager
    • (uncredited)
    Herschel Graham
    Herschel Graham
    • Parent
    • (uncredited)
    Barbara Hunter
    Barbara Hunter
    • Gwen
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • David Swift
    • Writers
      • Erich Kästner(book "Das doppelte Lottchen")
      • David Swift(written for the screen by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Pollyanna
    7.4
    Pollyanna
    The Parent Trap II
    6.0
    The Parent Trap II
    The Parent Trap
    6.6
    The Parent Trap
    That Darn Cat!
    6.7
    That Darn Cat!
    Swiss Family Robinson
    7.1
    Swiss Family Robinson
    The Absent Minded Professor
    6.7
    The Absent Minded Professor
    The Moon-Spinners
    6.5
    The Moon-Spinners
    Parent Trap III
    5.9
    Parent Trap III
    The Shaggy Dog
    6.4
    The Shaggy Dog
    Mary Poppins
    7.8
    Mary Poppins
    Freaky Friday
    6.3
    Freaky Friday
    Summer Magic
    6.9
    Summer Magic

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the dance party scene, where the layer cake falls off the beak of the totem pole and drops onto Miss Inch's (Ruth McDevitt's) face, writer and director David Swift originally wanted to cut the shot of the cake-fall. But when producer Walt Disney saw the rushes, he told Swift to leave the shot in, saying it would be the biggest laugh in the movie. Turns out, Walt was right.
    • Goofs
      While singing "Let's Get Together," twice Sharon's hand momentarily disappears crossing over into Susan's frame.
    • Quotes

      Charles McKendrick: [Susan starts sniffing the coat he is wearing] My dear, what are you doing?

      Susan Evers: Making a memory.

      Charles McKendrick: Making a memory?

      Susan Evers: All my life, when I'm quite grown-up I will always remember my grandfather and how he smelled of

      [smells his jacket again]

      Susan Evers: tobacco and peppermint.

      Charles McKendrick: Smelled of tobacco and peppermint.

      [starts chuckling]

      Charles McKendrick: Well, I'll tell you what. I take the peppermint for my indigestion and as for the tobacco

      [looks around]

      Charles McKendrick: to make your grandmother mad.

    • Alternate versions
      An early US laserdisc release is missing the car scene mentioned above, but not the pool transition a few minutes later. It is, on the other hand, also missing about 50 seconds at the start of the conversation between Margaret and her father as she tries to pack for the trip to CA (during which he informs her of the plane ticket, questions her choice of dress, and ponders what sort of lady Mitch might have married since the breakup). Like many Disney releases, it is also missing the distribution title card (Buena Vista) and the accompanying drummed introduction to the title song.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Magical World of Disney: The Title Makers/Nature's Half Acre (1961)
    • Soundtracks
      The Parent Trap
      by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

      Sung by Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello

    User reviews113

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Sassy, warm and genuinely funny
    "Family" movies usually make me cringe. Saccharine plots, cloying kiddie actors, goopy dialogue...no, thank you! But "The Parent Trap" succeeds admirably as both children-friendly fare and reasonably witty, sophisticated comedy.

    The high-class production values don't hurt, and neither does the superb cast, right down to the character roles. The ever-dependable Una Merkel is a gem as the smart-talking maid, having lost none of her streetwise timing since her brassy blonde days in the 1930's. Charlie Ruggles is extraordinarily lovable as the grandfather, and Cathleen Nesbitt plays wonderfully against type as the domineering grandmother. Leo G. Carroll once again benefits a film simply by his appearance, and even Nancy "Miss Hathaway" Kulp is on board as a butch camp counselor (quite a stretch).

    Of course, at the heart of it all, is the bravura performance of Hayley Mills as twins Susan and Sharon. She's never revoltingly sweet--there's a winning streak of spice in her personality that separates her from all other child stars. Plus, her kicky pre-Beatles British accent and snub-nosed beauty lend her a more worldly air than her contemporaries.

    The ravishing Maureen O'Hara, in one of her last major roles as the twins' mother, Maggie, begins the film as a nondescript cipher, but her glamorous metamorphosis in the latter half of the film shows just how funny and sexy she can be. Mitch, the twins' father, is played by the ruggedly handsome Brian Keith, who generates the right mixture of roughneck toughness and paternal warmth.

    And the criminally-overlooked Joanna Barnes plays Vicki, the predatory golddigger looking to sink her claws into Mitch. Vicki's verbal duels with Maggie and the twins are surprisingly catty for a children's film, and delivered with perfect villainy.

    The very 1961 flourishes are priceless: the hopelessly tone-deaf Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello "singing" the theme song; the "formal" dance, with the girls all decked out in crinolines and laces; Susan plastering her bungalow wall with pictures of her favorite pin up boys (Rick Nelson!); and, my personal favorites, Sharon and Susan showing each other their parents' photos: hyper-posed, glamorous Hollywood 8x10 glossies!

    The plot actually plays like a highly sanitized Rock Hudson/Doris Day bedroom farce, except that Susan and Sharon direct the course of action. You know what the ending will be even before you watch the movie, but it doesn't really matter. This is a delicious bon-bon of a flick, as irresistible to adults as to their children.
    helpful•57
    3
    • TJBNYC
    • Oct 2, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 21, 1961 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Disney's Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Petticoats and Bluejeans
    • Filming locations
      • Bluff Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Walt Disney Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $25,150,385
    • Gross worldwide
      • $29,650,385
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 9 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.75 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap (1961)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Parent Trap (1961) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.