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The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1969 Disney comedy film starring Kurt Russell, Alan Hewiit, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It's released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. It was the first in a trilogy of films made by Disney using the setting of Medfield College.

Plot[]

Dexter Reilly and his friends attend the small, private Medfield College, which cannot afford to buy a computer. The students persuade wealthy businessman A.J. Arno to donate an old computer to the college. Arno is the secret head of a large illegal gambling ring, which used the computer for its operations.

While installing a replacement part during a thunderstorm, Reilly is zapped and becomes a human computer. He now has superhuman mathematical talent, can read and remember the contents of an encyclopedia volume in a few minutes, and speak a language fluently after reading one textbook. His new abilities make Reilly a worldwide celebrity, and Medfield's best chance to win a televised quiz tournament with a $100,000 prize.

Reilly single-handedly leads Medfield's team in victories against other colleges. During the tournament, a trigger word ("applejack") causes Reilly to unknowingly recite on television details of Arno's gambling ring. Arno's henchmen kidnap Reilly and plan to kill him, but his friends help him escape. During the escape, Dexter suffers a concussion which, during the tournament final against rival Springfield State, gradually returns his mental abilities to normal; one of Reilly's friends, Richard Schuyler however, is able to answer the final question ("A small Midwest city is located exactly on an area designated as the geographic center of the United States. For ten points and $100,000, can you tell us the name of that city?"). Medfield wins the $100,000 prize, and Arno is arrested.

Cast[]

Production Notes[]

The setting of this film (as well as its two sequels), was the fictitious Medfield College, first used in the 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor and its sequel Son of Flubber.

This is one of the extremely rare on screen appearances of voice actor Frank Welker.

A copyright renewal for the film was registered on February 12, 1997.[1]

Gallery[]

Video[]

Trivia[]

  • This film was one of Frank Welker's early roles and his second live-action appearance.
  • This was the first Disney film to star Kurt Russell.

Sequels[]

References[]

Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
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