Professor Popper's Problem

In a British suburban community, groundskeeper Crickle prepares for a school's re-opening after the holidays. One of its staff, Professor P. Popper, is a diminutive and bespectacled science teacher who is extremely eccentric.{{cite book|last=Shail|first=Robert|year=2016|title=The Children's Film Foundation: History and Legacy|edition=1st|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|page=113|isbn=978-1-83-871866-4}} Amid brewing potions and a crowded chalkboard, he is accompanied in his jumbled workspace by a talking bird and an affectionate dog. Popper exhibits forgetful and repetitive behaviours, misremembering names and intermittently singing a ditty about Napoleon. In an elaborate bid to eradicate world hunger, he invents a shrinking powder, which when sprayed on vast food stocks facilitates a size reduction that allows for transportation by a single airplane. An antidote would also be provided, restoring the aid to its original dimensions once deployed. Popper and his pupil protégé, Simon, accidentally consume the powder in pill-form after it finds its way into their mugs of tea.{{cite web|date=10 April 1984|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/57342e3468ab4ffbb4a969572ab41f30|title=Professor Popper's Problems|publisher=BBC Genome Project|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111043737/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/57342e3468ab4ffbb4a969572ab41f30|access-date=11 January 2021|archive-date=11 January 2021}} A wider group of Popper's student assistants—Terry, Angus, Carol, and Peter—mistakenly join the pair in their predicament after searching for them.{{cite web|date=10 June 1986|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5cd33b708b1c4baf9cdba5267a0b81c9|title=Professor Popper's Problems|publisher=BBC Genome Project|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210110163149/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5cd33b708b1c4baf9cdba5267a0b81c9|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=10 January 2021|url-status=live}} However, Liz, another of the Professor's tutees, avoids the fate of her classmates and is consequently tasked with helping them in their plight.{{cite web|date=24 April 1984|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/942e71b4a55a411da6a95cf6dfb874db|title=Professor Popper's Problems|publisher=BBC Genome Project|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807101944/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/942e71b4a55a411da6a95cf6dfb874db|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=7 August 2020}} Initially confined to Popper's chaotic laboratory,{{cite web|url=https://mubi.com/films/professor-popper-s-problem|title=Professor Popper's Problem (1974)|publisher=MUBI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110155139/https://mubi.com/films/professor-popper-s-problem|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=10 January 2021}} the affected group are now two inches tall, each the size of an insect.{{cite book|last=Willis|first=Donald C.|year=1982|title=Horror and Science Fiction Films|volume=2|location=Metuchen, NJ|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=314|isbn=978-0-81-081517-9}} Their environment is greatly altered as a result; a book is now like a cliff edge, the rotary dial resembles a carousel, pennies are the size of hula hoops and a cat's paw is as large as a Ford Transit.{{cite web|date=13 May 2009|url=https://www.tvcream.co.uk/telly/tv-a-z/n-z/p-is-for/professor-poppers-problems/|title=Professor Popper's Problems|publisher=TV Cream|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110153634/https://www.tvcream.co.uk/telly/tv-a-z/n-z/p-is-for/professor-poppers-problems/|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=10 January 2021}}

Unconcerned, the Professor is happy to sing to his students about the benefits of their newfound scale.{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Ian|last2=Kibble-White|first2=Graham|authorlink2=Graham Kibble-White|date=June 2001|url=http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/oldott/www.offthetelly.co.uk/index3170.html?page_id=1871|title=What's that Noise?|publisher=Off the Telly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608101818/http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/oldott/www.offthetelly.co.uk/index3170.html?page_id=1871|access-date=11 January 2021|archive-date=8 June 2017}} Popper's colleague, Professor Crabbit (dressed in the attire of Sherlock Holmes), meanwhile sets about investigating what has happened to the cohort, arousing the suspicion of local man Rollins.{{cite news|date=10 April 1984|title=Echo 24-hour TV guide|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19840410/160/0014|page=14|work=Liverpool Echo|access-date=11 January 2021|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}} Having misplaced the antidote to his formula, Popper's shrinking powder further becomes a prime target of theft. Covert Russian operatives bent on industrial espionage and a London gang, the latter sporting two crooks sent to miniaturise the Bank of England and sell it to the United States in a suitcase, initiate their pursuits. The danger is eventually supplemented by the Professor's group being chased by an enlarged tarantula, as well as a perilous roller skate ride through the capital. Still, the formula is protected by Popper through this trepidation, and all the villains' plans are ultimately thwarted. Having finally discovered an antidote, normality resumes for the schoolchildren and their teacher.

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The film's cast comprises:

{{div col}}

• Charlie Drake as Professor P. Popper
• Adam Richens as Simon
• Debra Collins as Liz
• Philip da Costa as Terry
• Todd Carty as Angus
• Karen Saunders as Carol
• Eric Holloway as Peter
• Milo O'Shea as Professor Crabitt
• Sydney Bromley as Crickle
• Richard Caldicot as headmaster
• Alan Curtis as Grainger
• Leo Maguire as Rollins
• Keith Smith as Police Constable Whitby
• Ruth Kettlewell as meter maid

{{div col end}}

File:Elstree Studios, Borehamwood-6230643248.jpg in Hertfordshire (pictured in 2011)]]

Filmed in 1974 at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, Professor Popper's Problem was serialised into six colour episodes suitable for television. Eventually bought by the BBC in 1984, each run between 14 and 16 minutes for a total viewing time of 91 minutes.{{efn|Stored on Eastman film, these shorts are, in narrative order: Into the Unknown (15 minutes), Descent to Danger (16 minutes), The Monster (16 minutes), Pursued (15 minutes), Follow that Skate (15 minutes) and The Magic Powder (14 minutes). Sandra Brennan of AllMovie incorrectly notes a collective running time of 90 minutes.}} The picture was made by Mersey Film Productions for the Children's Film Foundation (CFF), with Roy Simpson as producer, Roy Parkinson as associate producer, and Peter Woodley as production executive. Assisted by David Bracknell, Gerry O'Hara directed, likely re-hired by the CFF owing to his success on their earlier project Paganini Strikes Again (1973). One of O'Hara's chief responsibilities was to oversee Charlie Drake's well-being throughout production, recalling a daily routine that involved driving to Elstree and back from Drake's flat near Leicester Square and lunching with him.Shail 2016, p. 114. The picture turned out to be the entertainer's last, as well as the only one which he did not write or co-write while holding a major role.Bannister 2012, p. 1. Released on 1 January 1975, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) deemed the film "Universal" (U) and thus suitable for all viewers. The Motion Picture Association's (MPA) film rating system, however, has not yet classified the film, and it is therefore listed as Not Rated (NR).

The screenplay was written by Leo Maguire, based on an original story by Richard Loncraine. Maguire previously worked with producer Simpson on CFF film Kadoyng (1972), "demonstrating the Foundation's preference for familiar faces".Shail 2016, p. 77. Ian Millsted of Infinity magazine notes that CFF screenplays of the 1970s—including Professor Popper's Problem—remedied critiques of its features of the 1950s and 60s, which suggested "that they seemed to be set on an alien world where all the children spoke the Queen’s English [...], behaved with impeccable morals and were routinely smarter than any adult".{{cite news|last=Millsted|first=Ian|year=2017|title=When Children Ruled the World|work=Infinity|issue=6|url=http://file.magzdb.org/ul/5998/Infinity%202017%20006.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112022537/http://file.magzdb.org/ul/5998/Infinity%202017%20006.pdf|access-date=12 January 2021|archive-date=12 January 2021|page=64}} According to Millsted, this was achieved by deploying "noticeably more regional accents and working class characters", relegating science-fiction elements to jovial plot points rather than intrinsic storylines. Notwithstanding, "gadgets and gimmicks became the order of the day".Millsted 2017, p. 65. In this Professor Popper's Problem was typical, using special effects by Tom Howard and deliberately oversized props on a "very small budget" of £250,000.{{efn|£250,000 in 1974 equated approximately to £2,625,000 in 2019; this figure accounts for the increase in Retail Price Index (RPI) percentage between the two years.{{cite web|url=https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/relativevalue.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=WAGE&year_early=1974£71=250000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=250000&year_source=1974&year_result=2020|title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present|publisher=MeasuringWorth|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210110133145/https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/relativevalue.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=WAGE&year_early=1974£71=250000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=250000&year_source=1974&year_result=2020|archive-date=10 January 2021|url-status=live}}}} O'Hara remarked that many props were borrowed since "nobody minded really as it was a CFF film", also praising Howard, "who was really talented at making the money go a long way". Edited by James Needs, Ken Hodges was responsible for the picture's photography, joined by George Provis as art director and Tony Hart on title design.

The film's music was organised by Kenneth V. Jones, providing audio alongside sound recorder Laurie Clarkson. Drake sang the film's theme, "I'm Big Enough for Me", opined by writers Ian Jones and Graham Kibble-White to be a quintessential "celebrity sing-a-long [...] the blessing of a star-led knees up".{{cite news|last=Easlea|first=Daryl|date=19 July 2018|title=Another Me: Peter Gabriel's Gap Year 1975–1976|work=Prog|issue=89|url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/prog/20180719|access-date=12 January 2021|page=45|via=PressReader|url-access=subscription}} The lead "affected his best nasal upper-class vibrato", they observe, "cementing an otherwise unremarkable theme in the heads of a generation of viewers". The song was also significant insofar as it became the B-side to Drake's track "You Never Know", released on 21 November 1975, notably featuring backing vocals by Peter Gabriel. Sandy Denny also sang a section in this latter tune, with instrumentals by Robert Fripp, Keith Tippett, Phil Collins, and Percy Jones.Easlea 2018, p. 44.

Leading up to release, Associated Television's Clapperboard, a children's cinema program, covered the film in November 1974. This was followed in 1975 by two appearances on BBC quiz show Screen Test.{{cite web|date=14 July 1975|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0abce8b8d8f747069be11c5d92fc48c5|title=Screen Test|publisher=BBC Genome Project|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112030854/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0abce8b8d8f747069be11c5d92fc48c5|access-date=12 January 2021|archive-date=12 January 2021}}{{cite web|date=1 September 1975|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/eee914da59304b77b5a45cf0a042fc5b|title=Screen Test|publisher=BBC Genome Project|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107173707/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/eee914da59304b77b5a45cf0a042fc5b|access-date=12 January 2021|archive-date=7 January 2017}} Most journalistic assessments in the 1970s and 80s presented it as an amiable comedy without profundity. Sidney Williams, Show Business Reporter for the Daily Mirror in May 1974, wrote that "[Drake] expresses the modest hope that audiences will be reduced only to laughter. In short, it's fun". Come February 1980, the pseudonymous "Professor Bullseye" had a similar view in the Acton Gazette & Post, simply recommending the film as "good entertainment". In a balanced retrospective review, AllMovie's Sandra Brennan awarded Professor Popper's Problem 2.5/5 stars without extra comment.

More modern reviews have been somewhat sceptical. TV Cream affords a cynical synopsis: "[Drake] notes a worrying hole in his pension plan and promptly accedes to star in this tatty affair". Indeed, most commentary on the picture has focused on the seemingly waning career of Drake as a result of his participation. A popular entertainer in Britain throughout the 1960s, he was perhaps best known for starring in the original run of ITV series The Worker (1965–70).Bannister 2012, pp. 80–81. Williams noted accordingly that Professor Popper's Problem was, while a "minor peak" for Drake, "without question the smallest thing he ha[d] ever done". Media historians Brian McFarlane and Anthony Slide, listing the feature, disapprove of Drake's venture into films more generally: "short of stature, outrageous of demeanour and bizarre of accent, he is clearly an acquired taste; cinema audiences never acquired it in great numbers".{{cite book|editor-last1=McFarlane|editor-first1=Brian|editor-last2=Slide|editor-first2=Anthony|editor-link2=Anthony Slide|year=2016|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film|edition=4th|location=Manchester|publisher=Manchester University Press|page=2007|isbn=978-1-52-611196-8}}

Conversely, in an interview piece with Drake issued in April 1984, the Liverpool Echo opined the supposed triviality of the film to be a "red herring", the actor having targeted more theatrical roles.{{cite news|date=14 April 1984|title=Charlie–happy at playing it straight|work=Liverpool Echo|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19840414/048/0006|page=6|access-date=12 January 2021|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}{{efn|1983 saw Drake earn critical acclaim for playing Davies in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.Bannister 2012, p. 23. This prompted the BBC to cast him as Smallweed in their 1985 television adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. With this, Bannister opines Drake "was well on the way to successfully reinventing himself as a dramatic actor".Bannister 2012, p. 236.}} Drake nonetheless defended the movie's sincerity: "Popper is a serious character, not really a comedy man. It is a serious subject, although in a comedy setting". In this vein, film scholar Robert Shail favours Professor Popper's Problem for compensating unsubtle humour with "settings around council estates and comprehensive schools [that] were often realistically observed and facilitated audience identification", also commending the inclusion of "authentic working-class accents".Shail 2016, p. 28.

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190425140258/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b393ce0 Professor Popper's Problem] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
• {{IMDb title|0295537}}

{{Portalbar|1970s|Comedy|Film|London|Science fiction}}

Category:1975 films

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Category:Children's Film Foundation

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Category:Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios

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Category:1970s English-language films

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Category:1975 science fiction films

Category:English-language science fiction comedy films