Mitch and Maggie reluctantly agree, though Vicky is furious.
They will reveal their identities only after returning from a family camping trip. To delay the return to Boston, the twins dress alike so their parents are unable to tell them apart. They make up before Maggie and Sharon are to leave the next morning, and Maggie wishes Mitch well with Vicky. The former spouses are gradually drawn together, then argue over why they divorced. The girls scheme to reunite their parents by recreating Maggie and Mitch's first date. Vicky, however, is furious that the glamorous Maggie is staying at the ranch. Mitch, still unaware of the switch, is upset by Maggie's unexpected arrival until he learns the truth and is reunited with both daughters. After a happy reunion, Maggie and Susan fly to California. The next morning, Susan reveals the truth to Maggie and her grandparents. Susan tells her to break up the couple, but failing that, they decide to prematurely end the charade and bring their mother to California. Sharon secretly calls Susan with the news. Sharon learns that Mitch has since become engaged to a beautiful and much younger woman named Vicky Robinson ( Joanna Barnes), a gold digger who intends to send Susan to boarding school after the wedding. In Boston with her mother and grandparents, Susan poses as Sharon, while Sharon, as Susan, goes to Mitch's California ranch. Eager to meet the parent they never knew, the twins decide to switch places by having the same haircut and undergoing a crash-course on each other's life. Their parents, Mitchell "Mitch" Evers ( Brian Keith) and Margaret "Maggie" McKendrick ( Maureen O'Hara), divorced shortly after their birth, splitting physical custody between them. They eventually overcome their mutual dislike, then discover they are identical twin sisters. As punishment, they must room together in the isolated "Serendipity" cabin and have all meals at the "Isolation Table" for the remainder of the camp season. Their alike appearance initially causes resentment and a rivalry in which they continually pull pranks on each other, ultimately culminating in a fight that disrupts a dance with a neighboring boys camp. Teenagers Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers ( Hayley Mills) meet at Miss Inch's Summer Camp for Girls.
The Parent Trap was Hayley Mills's second of six films for Disney. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, was broadcast on television, saw three television sequels, was remade in 1998 with Lindsay Lohan, and has been released on digital stereo LaserDisc format in 1986 as well as VHS and DVD in 2002. Produced by Walt Disney Productions, The Parent Trap was released on Jby Buena Vista Distribution, and grossed $25.1 million at the box office. Based upon the 1949 book Lottie and Lisa ( German: Das Doppelte Lottchen) by Erich Kästner, The Parent Trap follows two teenage twins on a quest to reunite their divorced parents. It stars Hayley Mills (in a dual role), Maureen O'Hara, and Brian Keith. The Parent Trap is a 1961 American romantic comedy film written and directed by David Swift.