Son of Flubber

Son of Flubber

Fred MacMurray returns to his famous role of a wacky, absent-minded professor who invents a strange substance that he calls "flubber." In this sequel (the strangely named "Son of"), he does little but jump through the same hoops.

Entertaining, but not fresh.

2.5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer

Perhaps it's just the vivid memories from my childhood, but this is a far underrated Disney film from the 60s. Is it moving? Not really. Is it groundbreaking? Not really. Is it the best Disney film ever made? Not even close. But something about this film entertains me even as an adult.

There are a few sequences in this film that are comedy gold. I laughed hysterically as a kid. But even now that I'm a grown man, I can't help but find these sequences still hilarious.

It's a really whacky film with whacky characters and whacky scenes. But you know what? It's also a unique film. It's a snapshot of 1960s Americana that's very, very special, in my opinion, and even better than the first installment The Absent Minded Professor.

There is no disguising that this is an obvious attempt on Disney to cash in on the success of "The Absent Minded Professor" made 2 years earlier. No one can fault them for that - however, there seems to be little originality in this version. You would think they would have made a greater attempt at new gags and originality. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

There is the same sports scene set-up. In AMP it was a basketball game. In SOF it is a football game. There is the same romantic rivalry between Brainard (Fred McMurray) and Professor Shelby Ashton (Elliott Reid), over Brainard's wife, Betsy (Nancy Olsen). They do throw in a 4th party in this film for good measure -Desiree de la Roche (Joanna Cook Moore) - as Brainard's old flame who has her sights set on him again. There is another prank on Professor Shelby while he is driving in his car (this time its filling with water from a Brainard created rain cloud inside the car). You still have Alonzo Hawks (Kennan Wynn) trying to destroy Medfield College by calling in their overdue loan. You have the same cops from the prior moving getting their new squad car destroyed again. So as you see, not a lot of originality here.

The worst scene in my opinion is the ending of the court room scene. The giant fruit and the marching band were way over the top. I did like the stunts on the football field, however. Some of the jumping and flying ball players looked very realistic. I also liked the closing shot of the satellites, the flying football, and earth in the background. Pretty good special effects.

It is interesting that McMurray was an accomplished saxophone player, so look for him playing the actual music during the Halloween party. Also, Paul Lynde makes his film debut in this movie. I liked seeing William Demarest (later to be Uncle Charley on "My Three Sons") in a small role that matches him up with McMurray. He doesn't begin "MTS" until 1965 which is 2 years after this film. Also, you may remember Joanna Cook Moore as the actress that played Andy's girlfriend Peg on "The Andy Griffith Show" for 4 episodes in 1962. Perhaps it helped her land this role. She has another claim to fame - she married Ryan O'Neal in 1963 and is the mother of Tatum O'Neal.

Overall, this sequel doesn't play quite as well as the first. It is still entertaining in places and has a host of noteworthy supporting players.

this sequel to The Absent Minded Professor is actually a better movie.i found it funnier,more entertaining and it had a better story.the character were expanded a bit more,which makes sense,since it is a sequel.unlike Professor,this one doesn't have any slow or boring moments.it's much better paced.i like the fact that the wife had more to do in this one.the movie is just as silly,but it's meant to be,and if you keep that in mind going in,you'll probably enjoy it more.it's not high art or anything,but it will keep you entertained for 102 minutes or so.and it's fun for the whole family.my vote for The Son of Flubber:6.5/10

Fred MacMurray is back as the wacky science professor. Due to the absurdities of government, such as taxing him for Flubber profits before he's made a dime from it while waiting for "appropriations", he goes in search of other applications for his discovery, leading to comic complications such as creating an indoor thunderstorm, breaking windows, and growing enormous vegetables. The most hilarious application is "Flubber gas", used in a football game that's even funnier than the basketball game from the first film. Every time I saw this film, I laughed so hard at the sight of the Flubberized football player that my sides hurt. The great supporting cast from the first film is back, with the addition of Paul Lynde as the sportscaster doing the incredulous play by play of Flubber football.