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. A wider group of Popper's student assistants—Terry, Angus, Carol, and Peter—mistakenly join the pair in their predicament after searching for them. However, Liz, another of the Professor's tutees, avoids the fate of her classmates and is consequently tasked with helping them in their plight. Initially confined to Popper's chaotic laboratory, the affected group are now two inches tall, each the size of an insect. 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. 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. 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. ==Cast==

The film's cast comprises: • 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 ==Production==

Development and direction in Hertfordshire (pictured in 2011) Filmed in 1974 at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, 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. Released on 1 January 1975, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) deemed the film "Universal" (U) and thus suitable for all viewers. 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". 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". 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. The lead "affected his best nasal upper-class vibrato", they observe, "cementing an otherwise unremarkable theme in the heads of a generation of viewers". ==Response==

Leading up to release, Associated Television's Clapperboard, a children's cinema program, covered the film in November 1974. 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". 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". 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. 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". ==References==