The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap
G | 21 June 1961 (USA)
The Parent Trap Trailers

Two identical twin sisters, separated at birth by their parents' divorce, are reunited years later at a summer camp, where they scheme to bring their parents back together. The girls, one of whom has been living with their mother and the other with their father, switch places after camp and go to work on their plan, the first objective being to scare off a gold-digger pursuing their father.

Reviews
Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
RyothChatty ridiculous rating
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
HotToastyRag The darling Hayley Mills plays twin sisters in the original The Parent Trap! Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith get divorced when the girls are babies, and in a bizarre custody settlement, the twins are split up between the parents. Each girl grows up with only one parent and with no knowledge of their twin's existence. Until summer camp. . . Hayley and Hayley notice a slight resemblance and put the pieces together. Then, to play a trick on their parents and, well, trap them into getting remarried, the girls switch places! In true Disney fashion, the pranks are pretty harmless and sweet, and the Maureen and Brian catch onto their kids' plans. But in true Disney fashion, the story manages to capture your heart anyway.I grew up watching the remake, so I think one's preference depends on the generation. The 1961 version is cute, but I remember seeing the 1998 version in the theaters, and it'll always be my favorite. If you didn't grow up in the nineties, you might like the sixties one better, so give it a whirl and see which one you like!
A_Different_Drummer It is hard to see or discuss the 61 version without comparing it to the second version with Lindsay Lohan that came almost 40 years later.So let's do this in reverse and start with the later version (although if you have seen neither, I advise you start with the earlier one.) The second version is a polished gem, about as slick as it gets, and while the supporting cast is solid, that film is 99% about Lohan and how cute she is. In other words, a star turn.This film is not so clearcut. At first you think it is about Mills (who, typical of the era, never provides any sort of backstory for her clearly Brit accent) but, as the film progresses, you suddenly realize that Mills is merely part of a larger ensemble cast.An ensemble cast that includes Brian Keith (about as stereotyped as a "dad" you can find in that era) and Maureen O'Hara.O'Hara, on closer examination, is not merely the "mother" in the piece, she is the star. She lights up all her scenes in a way that is obvious only when you consider the scenes she does not appear in.When the film takes a bold run at pure situation comedy (about the halfway point) it is O'Hara that makes that work, too.In short, this is a film which is neither as perfect nor as polished as its successor, but still has an awful lot to offer.Recommended.
kennethtownsend-97230 The movie The Parent Trap starts off with your main characters Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick. You first meet the two girls at a summer camp. From the most they set eyes on each other they hate each other, it might have been because they look so much alike. After pulling several pranks on each other the girls end up stuck in a cabin together! One stormy day they start to talk to each other and find out that Sharon only has a Mom and Susan only has a Dad! They put it together that they are twin sisters! They decide to switch lives so they can meet there other parent. They then try and pull there parents back together.The Parent Trap was a very family friendly movie. There were several times to laugh during the movie, but it definitely had a deeper meaning. This is definitely a movie to watch with the whole family. It was a very interesting story, that kept you not wanting to see it end. It is nice to know that they are bringing their family back together. It really shows the importance of having families together helping each other. I would definitely give this movie a good rating.
Lee Eisenberg For the most part, I watched "The Parent Trap" just so that I could heckle it like Mike, Servo and Crow do the movies that Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank send them on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I'm most proud of referring to the woman with the surname Robinson as the character in "The Graduate".But what this movie really represents is what was thought of as "acceptable" and "decent" entertainment. Before too long, the Beatles arrived, causing a torrent of movies and music that old-school people didn't consider "acceptable" or "decent". It got to the point where the "unacceptable" and "indecent" stuff got accepted as a general part of popular culture (good old parable of the leopards!). As in my parents' era, so in my era. "Acceptable" and "decent" culture used to be movies like "Home Alone", but soon it was "American Beauty".The point is, this is the sort of movie at which I roll my eyes. I see that there was a remake starring Lindsay Lohan. We all see what a wreck Lohan became.