Review of The Absent Minded Professor

In "Double Indemnity" and "The Apartment" Fred MacMurray proved adept at drama. In this Disney, family comedy he shows his strenght as a comedic actor. MacMurray plays Ned Brainerd, a collegiate professor who devises an invention, "Flubber" (flying rubber) which is super-bouncy and allows his car to defy gravity. A rich alumni, Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn) wishes to get his hands on the invention and the millions of dollars it is guaranteed to garner, so he uses under-handed methods to try to wrest control of Ned's spectacular discovery. Their is good humor throughout this movie, particularly when Hawk's desires become known to Ned and Ned uses "Flubber" to make Hawk bounce out-of-control. This film is one of the Disney Company's first comedies and one can only wish that their later one's are half-as-funny as this early venture. This movie gets a grade of A- and a very strong recommendation.