The Absent-Minded Professor The Absent-Minded Professor The Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 American comic science fiction family film produced by Walt Disney Productions based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity" by Samuel W. Taylor. The title character was based in part on Hubert Alyea, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Princeton University, who was known as "Dr. Boom" for his explosive demonstrations. The film stars Fred MacMurray as Professor Ned Brainard. The film was a huge success at the box-office, and two years later became the first Disney film to have a sequel, 1963's "Son of Flubber". The original 1961 film
Tranby Croft Tranby Croft Tranby Croft is a large Grade II listed Victorian country house and estate at Anlaby, near Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The house is now the co-educational, independent day school, Hull Collegiate School. The house is built in white brick with ashlar dressing in three storeys with a nine bay frontage. Tranby Croft was built by Hull shipowner Arthur Wilson (1836–1909). In 1890 the house was the location of the royal baccarat scandal, which involved accusations that Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet, had cheated at illegal card games attended by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.