The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
| The Misadventures of Merlin Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Robert Stevenson |
| Produced by |
Walt Disney Ron Miller |
| Written by | Story: Bill Walsh Screenplay: Alfred Lewis Levitt Helen Levitt |
| Starring |
Tommy Kirk Annette Funicello Leon Ames |
| Music by | Buddy Baker |
| Cinematography | Edward Colman |
| Edited by | Cotton Warburton |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
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Release date
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March 25, 1964 |
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4,000,000 (US/ Canada) |
The Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a 1964 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. Kirk plays a college student who experiments with mind-reading and hypnotism, leading to run-ins with a local judge. Funicello plays his girlfriend (and sings the film's title song written by brothers Robert and Richard Sherman).
This film led to a 1965 sequel called The Monkey's Uncle.
Midvale College student Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk), who is always involved with mind experiments, designs a helmet that connects to an electroencephalographic tape that records mental activity. He is brought before Judge Holmsby (Leon Ames) for wearing the helmet while driving and his license is suspended. Merlin returns to the lab and discovers accidentally that his new invention enables him to read minds.
Judge Holmsby visits the diner where Merlin works part-time, and Merlin, through his newly found powers, learns that the judge is planning a crime. After informing the police, he is disregarded as a crackpot. Merlin and Jennifer (Annette Funicello), his girlfriend, break into Judge Holmsby's house looking for something to prove Holmsby's criminal intent but are arrested by the police. Holmsby then confesses that he is the crime book author, "Lex Fortis," and asks that this identity be kept confidential.
Merlin's next experiment uses hypnotism. After hypnotizing Stanley, Midvale's lab chimp, into standing up for himself against Norman (Norm Grabowski) - the bully student in charge of caring for Stanley, Merlin gets into a fight with Norman, and is brought before Judge Holmsby again. Intrigued by Merlin's experiments, the judge asks for Merlin's help in constructing a mystery plot for his next book.
Working on the premise that no honest person can be made to do anything they wouldn’t do otherwise – especially commit a crime – Merlin hypnotizes Holmsby and instructs him to kidnap Stanley. Shocked when the judge actually commits the crime, Merlin and Jennifer return the chimp, but are charged for the theft themselves. The judge sentences Merlin to jail, completely unaware of his own role in the crime. Livid at the injustice, Jennifer persuades Holmsby of his own guilt, and the good judge admits that there might be a little dishonesty in everybody.
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Wikipedia