Absent Minded Professor, The (1961)
Three years before director Robert Stevenson and screenwriter-producer Bill Walsh would collaborate and receive their only Academy recognition for their work on Mary Poppins (1964) with Julie Andrews, they made this family comedy fantasy featuring Fred MacMurray in the title role, as Prof. Ned Brainard. Based on a story by Samuel Taylor, the professor finally succeeds in (accidentally, unaware of some interference by his dog) inventing a green substance that actually gains energy each time it strikes the floor. He dubs the bouncing material "Flubber" (flying rubber), and tests it on the school's basketball players' shoes, enabling them to intercept their opponents' passes and score at will, while applying it to his jalopy automobile enables it to fly! Naturally, an unscrupulous businessman (Keenan Wynn) sees the potential for profits and sets out to steal the formula. Nancy Olson plays the fiancée that the professor keeps forgetting to marry; Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, Wally Brown together again (after 15 years) with Alan Carney are among those also in the cast. The film received Oscar nominations for its Special Effects, and B&W Art Direction-Set Decoration & Cinematography.
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