Critic's Grade: A+

Disney's original version of "The Parent Trap" has survived over the decades, earning itself a classic status through television viewings and new generations of movie lovers discovering films of yesteryear. It's a simple film, told with wit, sophistication, and warm-heartedness by the best in the business, Walt Disney, whose films have long since been the penchant for family entertainment.

Following up on her sublime success in "Pollyanna," which was released one year earlier, Hayley Mills once again brings her tenacious charisma to the screen as not one, but two characters, twins who, through chance, discover that they are sisters separated from one another when their parents divorced twelve years ago. Sharon and Susan cross paths at a summer camp, and spend the first half of their stay bickering and quarreling until they are put in isolation with one another as their sole company.

With nothing else to do, they begin talking about their parents, Sharon about her wealthy, aristocratic mother in Boston, Susan about her down-to-earth, best friend-type father in California. Soon enough, they make the discovery of their kinship, and devise a plan to switch places after summer camp in order to become better acquainted with the parent each never knew they had, which they will later use as a ploy to get the two of them back together once again, and hopefully once and for all.

Playing the two characters fluidly and with incredible ease, Mills exacts a warm brand of charm that keeps the film light and airy. She is required to play different traits, such as the mannerisms and voice differentiations between the two girls, and she does it so well that it actually feels as if there were two completely different actresses playing the parts. Essentially, she makes the movie, and carries it to great heights.

The parents are played by Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith, who share such a great chemistry onscreen that even without the patented Disney happy ending syndrome, it seems inevitable for them to end up together in the end. As Maggie, O'Hara is warm and comfortable in the role; it's easy to see why she landed the role of the mother in "Spencer's Mountain" two years later. As Mitch, Keith builds a wall of confidence that convincingly comes down when he and Maggie must accept the fact that their feelings for one another never really dissipated.

The story itself is well-told, filled with delightful moments of humor and romance. The subplot involving the gold-digging soon-to-be second wife Vicky provides for much of the second's half humor, as Sharon and Susan come up with various methods of making her look completely foolish while ruining her resolve to put up with them. The camping trip sequence of events is still as funny and enlightening as it ever was, and the character of the priest is an absolute riot when Maggie arrives in California to unknowingly stir up some good-natured trouble. In the end, we have come to care for the characters, and want nothing more than to see that promised happy ending.

Surviving three made-for-TV sequels and a remake that actually manages to capture the spirit of the original, this "Parent Trap" still is, and always will be, one of Disney's most delightful and cherished films. A true classic, in every sense of the word.

Copyright @ Hauntnut.com

All Reviews by David Litton [Home page]
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.