The Parent Trap

The Parent Trap

The Parent Trap is a family fun movie that tells a story about two twins who are split shortly after being born. Their parents Maggie and Mitch, played by Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith, divorced shortly after their birth. They each took custody of one of the girls and went their separate ways. The girls Sharon and Susan, played by Hayley Mills, later met up at a summer camp. The two eventually become closer, realize their shared identity, and create a master plan to reunite their parents.

 What fascinated me about this one hundred and twenty eight minute 1961 movie was how they were actually able to put it together and get it on the big screen. There was so much less technology then related to now. The fact that they were actually able to split the screen and put two different shots into one just astonished me. The technology these days is so much more than what is was then. It was heavier then, it is lighter now. There was not as much color then, there is so much more now. Special effects are so much more complex than they were in the 1960’s. It’s just amazing to know the director, actors on the movie, and the rest of the crew were able to put all of this together as well as they did.

 There was also a couple things that I noticed about certain actors and actresses in the movie. Mitch’s girlfriend, Vicki, seemed much older than I would have expected her to be. By some of the lines she said, it seemed to me that they were looking for a lady of slightly younger age to be shown in her part. By her looks, she just didn’t seem to fit the part in my opinion. Another thing was there were some scenes where I noticed, and paused the movie to get a better look, that the twins had slightly different hairstyles. Whether one’s hair was longer or shorter, I could tell a difference every now and then. It made me think maybe they really had two actresses that were nearly identical, but not quite exact playing the parts.

On a personal note, this movie really struck me in a way because my parents are divorced. Even though my story is not identical to the one shown in this movie, my sisters and I have taken intentional steps into keeping both of our parents in the same picture and in our lives. Whether it be having them at a homecoming pictures or at one of our sports events, it’s always, in my opinion, good to have them at the same place at the same time.

I was actually very happy that I watched the 1961 version of The Parent Trap. It was just so different from everything that you see these days. It definitely made me think more about the challenges that movie makers faced in the 1960’s. I would very much recommend this movie to other people of my age who see watching it as an opportunity to compare and contrast the advances of technology from then to now.