The Parent Trap (1961 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.
This article has been tagged since September 2006.

The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap DVD cover
Directed by	David Swift
Produced by	George Golitzen
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.
Language	English
IMDb profile

This is the first film in a series. For the series see The Parent Trap Series. For the 1998 remake, see The Parent Trap (1998 film).

The Parent Trap is a film by Walt Disney Productions Corporation which was first screened in 1961 with a remake released in 1998. They were based on a book by Erich Kästner (Das Doppelte Lottchen, or Lottie and Lisa). The 1961 film was followed by three sequels.

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 careful use of double-exposure and split-screen shots, as well as a double for Hayley Mills, provided the illusion of the twins.

Directed by David Swift, the movie was awarded with 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 later produced three television sequels starring Hayley Mills.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Sequels
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This story introduces twins Sharon and Susan (both played by Hayley Mills), who were separated as babies by their divorced parents. The girls accidentally meet at a summer camp, Camp Inch (by all apparent accounts, Camp Inch was based on a real girls' camp called Camp Crestridge for Girls near Asheville, North Carolina). Determined never to be separated again, the sisters decide to bring their parents, Mitch and Maggie, back togetherby switching places and going home to the opposing parent, making the parents have to 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 both parents to switch the girls back and meet each other, the twins convince their father to take them on a camping trip with Vicky. During the camping trip, Vicky finds living with the twins is not worth it and flees, leaving Mitch and Maggie to reunite happily.