The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a Disney film from 1969, starring Alan Hewitt, Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It was released by Buena Vista Distribution Company as part of "The Last Laughs of the 1960s".

It was the first in a trilogy of films made by Disney using the setting of Medfield College
Plot

Dexter Reilly (Kurt Russell) and his friends attend small, private Medfield College, which cannot afford to buy a computer. The students persuade wealthy businessman A. J. Arno (Cesar Romero) 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 receives an electric shock 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 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, however, is able to answer the final question ("What is the Geographic center of the contiguous United States?"). Medfield wins the $100,000 prize, and A. J. Arno is arrested.
Cast

Kurt Russell as Dexter
Cesar Romero as A.J. Arno
Joe Flynn as Dean Higgins
William Schallert as Professor Quigley
Alan Hewitt as Dean Collingsgood
Richard Bakalyan as Chillie Walsh
Debbie Paine as Annie Hannah
Frank Webb as Pete
Michael McGreevey as Schuyler
Jon Provost as Bradley
Frank Welker as Henry
W. Alex Clarke as Myles
Bing Russell as Angelo
Pat Harrington as Moderator
Fabian Dean as Little Mac
Fritz Feld as Sigmund van Dyke
Pete Ronoudet as Lt. Charles "Charlie" Hannah
Hillyard Anderson as J. Reedy
David Canary* as Walski
Robert Foul* as Police desk sergeant
Ed Begley, Jr.* as a Springfield State panelist
Directed by Robert Butler
Produced by Bill Anderson
Written by Joseph L. McEveety
Starring Kurt Russell
Cesar Romero
Joe Flynn
William Schallert
Alan Hewitt
Music by Robert F. Brunner
Cinematography Frank Phillips
Editing by Cotton Warburton
Studio Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Co. Inc.
Release date(s) December 31, 1969
Running time 91 min.
Country United States
Language English