The Parent Trap (1961 film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Parent Trap |
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Theatrical release poster by Reynold Brown
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| Directed by | David Swift |
| Produced by | Walt Disney George Golitzen |
| Written by | David Swift |
| Starring | Hayley Mills Maureen O'Hara Brian Keith |
| Music by | Songs: Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman Score: Paul Smith |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Editing by | Philip W. Anderson |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
| Release date(s) | June 21, 1961 |
| Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Money made | $25.1 million |
The Parent Trap is a 1961 Walt Disney Technicolor romantic comedy film directed by David Swift. It stars Hayley Mills (in a dual role), Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. The Parent Trap is a story about teenage twins on a quest to reunite their divorced parents. The screenplay by the film's director David Swift was based upon the 1949 book Lottie and Lisa (German: Das Doppelte Lottchen) by Erich Kästner. The Parent Trap was nominated for two Academy Awards, was broadcast on television, saw three television sequels, was remade in 1998 with Lindsay Lohan, and has been released on digital stereo LaserDisc format in 1986 as well as VHS and DVD in 2002.
The Parent Trap was Hayley Mills's second film in the series of six for Disney.
Plot
Teenagers Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers (Hayley Mills) meet at Miss Inch's Summer Camp for Girls. Their alike appearance initially causes resentment and a rivalry in which they continually pull pranks on each other, ultimately disrupting a dance with a neighboring boys camp. As punishment, they must room together in the isolated "Serendipity" cabin and have all meals at the "Isolation Table" for the remainder of the camp season. They eventually overcome their mutual dislike, then discover they are identical twin sisters. Their parents, Mitchell "Mitch" Evers (Brian Keith) and Margaret "Maggie" McKendrick (Maureen O'Hara), divorced shortly after their birth, splitting physical custody between them. Eager to meet the parent they never knew, the twins decide to switch places by having the same haircut and undergoing a crash-course on each other's life.
In Boston with her mother and grandparents, Susan poses as Sharon, while Sharon, as Susan, goes to Mitch's California ranch. Sharon learns that Mitch has since become engaged to a beautiful and much younger woman named Vicky Robinson (Joanna Barnes), a gold digger who intends to send Susan to boarding school after the wedding. Sharon secretly calls Susan with the news. Susan tells her to break up the couple, but failing that, they decide to prematurely end the charade and bring their mother to California. The next morning, Susan reveals the truth to Maggie and her grandparents. After a happy reunion, Maggie and Susan fly to California. Mitch, still unaware of the switch, is upset by Maggie's unexpected arrival until he learns the truth and is reunited with both daughters. Vicky, however, is furious that the glamorous Maggie is staying at the ranch.
The girls scheme to reunite their parents by recreating Maggie and Mitch's first date. The former spouses are gradually drawn together, then argue over why they divorced. They make up before Maggie and Sharon are to leave the next the morning, and Maggie wishes Mitch well with Vicky. To delay the return to Boston, the twins dress alike so their parents are unable to tell them apart. They will reveal their identities only after returning from a family camping trip. Mitch and Maggie reluctantly agree, though Vicky is furious. Maggie then tricks Vicky, who loathes the outdoors, into taking her place, saying Vicky and the twins can become better acquainted.
The twins take every opportunity to exploit Vicky's camping ineptitude, pulling one prank after another on her. Exasperated, Vicky finally has a shouting tantrum, ending in her angrily slapping one twin before storming off and fleeing back to the city for good. Mitch finally sees Vicky's true nature.
Back at the house, the twins apologize for their actions. Maggie and Sharon prepare to return to Boston the next day, the twins now resigned to only seeing each during visits and shuttling back-and-forth between parents. Later, Mitch tells Maggie everything he misses about her and their marriage. Both realize they still love each other and do not want to grow into old, lonely people. Susan wakes up during the night and tells Sharon about a beautiful dream she just had where they were bridesmaids at their parents' wedding, a dream destined to come true.
Cast
- Hayley Mills as Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers, identical twins who were separated shortly after birth when their parents divorced. They don't even know the other exists until they meet at a summer camp.
- Brian Keith as Mitchell "Mitch" Evers, Sharon and Susan's father.
- Maureen O'Hara as Margaret "Maggie" McKendrick, Sharon and Susan's mother.
- Joanna Barnes as Vicky Robinson, a child-hating gold digger who is planning to marry Mitch just for his money.
- Charlie Ruggles as Charles McKendrick
- Cathleen Nesbitt as Louise McKendrick
- Una Merkel as Verbena the housekeeper
- Leo G. Carroll as Reverend Dr. Mosby
- Linda Watkins as Edna Robinson
- Ruth McDevitt as Miss Abbey Inch
- Crahan Denton as Hecky the ranch foreman
- Nancy Kulp as Miss Grunecker
- Frank De Vol as Mr. Eaglewood
- Susan Henning as Sharon McKendrick/Susan Evers (body double) [uncredited]
Musical numbers
Richard and Robert Sherman provided the songs, which, besides the title song "The Parent Trap", includes "For Now, For Always", and "Let's Get Together". "Let's Get Together" (sung by Annette Funicello) is heard playing from a record player at the summer camp; the tune is reprised by the twins when they restage their parents' first date and that version is sung double-tracked by Hayley Mills (Hayley's own single of the song, credited to "Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills", reached #8 on the US charts). The film's title song was performed by Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello, who were both on the studio lot shooting Babes in Toyland at the time.
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: one for Sound by Robert O. Cook, and the other for Film Editing by Philip W. Anderson. The film and its editor, Philip W. Anderson, won the inaugural 1962 Eddie Award of the American Cinema Editors.
See also
In Spanish: The Parent Trap (película de 1961) para niños
