The Parent Trap (1961 film)
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| The Parent Trap | |
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.jpg/200px-Parent_trap_(1961).jpg) Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | David Swift |
| Produced by | George Golitzen & Walt Disney |
| Written by | David Swift |
| Starring | Hayley Mills Maureen O'Hara Brian Keith Cathleen Nesbitt |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
| Release date(s) | July 21, 1961 (USA) |
| Running time | 129 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | The Parent Trap II |
| IMDb profile | |
The Parent Trap is a film by Walt Disney Productions Corporation, about two girls who meet at camp and discover that they're actually twins. It was first screened in 1961, with a remake released in 1998.
The movie and its remake were based on a book by Erich Kästner (Das Doppelte Lottchen, or Lottie and Lisa). The 1961 film was followed by three sequels. All these sequels were TV movies.
Directed by David Swift, the 1961 movie was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Sound by Robert O. Cook, and the other for Film Editing by Philip W. Anderson. Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman provided the songs, which, besides the title song "The Parent Trap," includes "For Now, For Always," and "Let's Get Together," and these too added to the film's enormous popularity. The film was re-released theatrically in 1968, and released on video in 1984 and 1992. The studio also produced three television sequels starring Hayley Mills.
The film was shot mostly in California at various locales, including millionaire Stuyvesant Fish's 5,200 acre (21 km²) ranch in Carmel, Monterey's Pebble Beach golf course, and the studio's Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon, where Mitch's ranch was built. It was the design of this set that proved the most popular, and to this day the Walt Disney Archives receives requests for plans of the home's interior design. Of course, there never was such a house; the set was simply various rooms built on a sound stage.
The camp, Camp Inch, was based on a real girls' camp called Camp Crestridge for Girls near Asheville, North Carolina.
The careful use of double-exposure and split-screen shots, as well as a double for Hayley Mills, provided the illusion of the twins.
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[edit] Plot
Sharon and Susan are two girls who meet at summer camp, take an instant dislike to each other and are soon at war. To make them more cooperative, they are made to share accommodation, and soon discover that they are in fact twins who were separated as babies by their divorced parents.
Making up, they become determined never to be separated again, and they plot to bring their parents, Mitch and Maggie, back together. They decide to switch places and each go home to the opposing parent. Sharon (as Susan) returns to father Mitch on his ranch, while Susan (as Sharon) returns to the home of her mother and grandparents. The plan is to make the parents get together in order to switch them back.
However, they have a rival in the form of Mitch's new girlfriend, the devious Vicky, who wants to marry Mitch for his money. After getting the parents to switch the girls back and thereby encounter each other, the twins convince their father to take them on a camping trip with Vicky. During the camping trip, Vicky finds that living with the twins is not worth it and flees, leaving Mitch and Maggie to reunite happily.
[edit] Cast
- Hayley Mills — Sharon McKendrick/Susan Evers
- Maureen O'Hara — Margaret 'Maggie' McKendrick
- Brian Keith — Mitch Evers
- Cathleen Nesbitt — Louise McKendrick
- Charles Ruggles — Charles McKendrick (as Charlie Ruggles)
- Una Merkel — Verbena
- Joanna Barnes — Vicky Robinson
- Linda Watkins — Edna Robinson
- Ruth McDevitt — Miss Inch
- Frank De Vol — Mr. Eaglewood
- Crahan Denton — Hecky
- Leo G. Carroll — Rev. Dr. Mosby
- Nancy Kulp — Miss Grunecker
- John Mills — Mitch Evers' golf caddy (uncredited)
- Lynette Winter — Ursula, Camp Inch roommate (uncredited)
Directed by: David Swift
Produced by: George Golitzin
Songs by: Bob Sherman & Dick Sherman
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The screenplay originally called for only a few trick photography shots of Hayley Mills in scenes with herself; the bulk of the film was to be shot using a body double. When Walt Disney saw how seamless the processed shots were, he ordered the script reconfigured to include more of the special effect.
- The title song was performed by Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello. They were on the lot shooting Babes in Toyland (1961).
- For the scene where Maureen O'Hara and Charlie Ruggles are speaking in the bedroom, Ruggles didn't have any place to put the ashes of his cigarette so, on his own, he decided to put them in his hand.
- Susan Henning took on the role as Hayley Mills' body double for several of the twin shots in the film. As part of her contract, she signed away her rights to be credited. At the wrap party Walt Disney presented her with a small statue of Donald Duck, called the Duckster (a takeoff on the Oscar), in recognition of the "best unseen performance on film." Only two other Ducksters have ever been awarded. Ms. Henning later appeared in two movies with Elvis Presley.
- The "isolation" cabin that Sharon and Susan stay in at camp is named "Serendipity".
[edit] Sequels
[edit] See also
- The Patty Duke Show
- Double Trouble
- Sweet Valley High
- It Takes Two
- The Parent Trap (1998 film)
- Two of a Kind (TV series)
[edit] External links
- The Parent Trap (1961) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Parent Trap (1961) Vault Disney DVD Review with Pictures
- The Parent Trap I & II: 2-Movie Collection DVD Review with Pictures
- The Parent Trap (1998)
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