Son of Flubber

This sequel to “The Absent-Minded Professor” can’t claim the same degree of “fresh concept” as the original, but it compares well in total comedy content. All the major actors are back, although Ed Wynn appears as a different character.

Professor Ned Brainerd (Fred MacMurray) is working on new derivatives of Flubber. Meanwhile his original invention has been sold to the government, but the payment is tied up in bureaucratic red tape; so the Brainerds are being taxed on unreceived income, and loan shark Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn) is again threatening to bulldoze the college. Some of the funniest sequences are an ad agency’s imaginary uses of Flubber including “Flubberoleum,” and the fixing of a football game using Flubbergas.

Unlike the original, there are a few vaguely risqué references. When the ad agency finds out that Flubber is not for sale, they take back their gifts to Betsy including a fur coat, and begin to take off her dress as well. And even though Ned and Betsy are now married, rival Shelby Ashton (Elliot Reid) still pursues Betsy and even manages to dig up an old girlfriend of Ned’s to further muddy the waters. All this is very mild compared to modern films, and younger children hopefully won’t get the whole drift; but I do fast-forward some of these sequences when watching this with my daughter. As a whole, it’s still clean fun.