BBB
(out of 5)
Disney could have found no better use for Hayley Mills after her Oscar-winning performance in Pollyanna than to come up with a film that features her twice. While spending the summer at a camp she has no desire to be at, Mills meets a young lady who is her exact height, weight, face and age (thanks to far-out trick photography, of course). Upon examining each other’s lives more closely, they soon discover that they are twin sisters who were separated when their parents (Brian Keith, Maureen O’Hara) divorced and went their separate ways. Now they concoct a scheme to get their parents back together, switching places in each other’s homes and putting their plan into action. The delights of this film are many for the young and young at heart, and it still manages to charm the pre-teen set to this day despite two remakes coming along in its wake (one under the same name and another called It Takes Two, a vehicle for the ever-popular Olson twins). Stick with the original: it’s no classic, but its naivete likely suits its time better.
Walt Disney Productions
USA, 1961
Directed by David Swift
Screenplay by David Swift, based on the book Das Doppelte Lottchen by Erich Kastner
Cinematography by Lucien Ballard
Produced by Walt Disney
Music by Paul J. Smith
Production Design by Carroll Clark, Robert Clatworthy
Costume Design by Bill Thomas
Film Editing by Philip W. Anderson
Academy Awards: 1961
Golden Globe Awards: 1961
