Les 5000 doigts du Dr. T

Little Bartholomew Collins (Tommy Rettig) hates his piano teacher and having to play the piano. He falls asleep and slips into a fantasy world. Here he is ruled by Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried) who is a tyrannical piano teacher. He runs the Terwilliker Institute of Happy Fingers. Here 500 little boys will be forced to play the piano...for some reason. Bart tries to escape and with the help of plumber August Zabladowski (Paul Lind Hayes) tries to help his mom Heloise (Mary Healy) who is under Dr. T's spell.

One of a kind fantasy. It was written by Dr. Suess himself and the actors talk like they came out of one of his books. The sets are incredible...they look EXACTLY like the drawings in Suess' books. It's shot in blazing color and most of the actors wear very interesting costumes. All the sets are larger than actor Rettig but it fits...this is a child's view of a fantasy world where the adults are in charge. For whatever reason there are some musical numbers (and songs) shoved in. They're intrusive and bring the story to a screeching halt...but they're so inventive visually that they're lots of fun. There's a long musical number in a lower dungeon that's a jaw dropper! The acting is as good as it can be. Rettig is good in his role but Healy and Hayes are pretty bad--but they're given little to work with (especially Healy). Conried, on the other hand, REALLY chews the scenery and has a whale of a time playing the evil Dr. T. He's WAY too over the top but he's lots of fun.

This was a bomb when it was released and was trashed by critics. It's easy to see why--this was WAY ahead of its time. Well worth catching. I think this is a perfect movie for adults AND children. This should be rediscovered. An 8 all the way.

An alienated boy misunderstood by his parents at home rebels against an exacting piano teacher whom he finds out has a sinister plot to rule the world.

I remember it best for its plaintive song "You Have No Right to Push Us Kids Around" later revived by Jerry Lewis in his TV appearances. The song is a cry about the angst of childhood. Part of the lyrics goes something like this: "Just because you have hair on your chest doesn't mean you're the best. Just because you have stayed longer on this planet doesn't mean you own it. You have no right to push us kids around just because we're closer to the ground." Under the megalomaniac piano teacher's plan, all children would be condemned to an eternity of piano practice trying to catch up with the ever increasing beat of a metronome. Spectacular "blow up" endings such as in James Bond movies satirized by Don Adams (Maxwell Smart) or even Mike Myers (Austin Powers) must have taken inspiration from this very early attempt at such.

Much belatedly did I find out that this story is by the revered "Dr." Seuss (he is not a real doctor you know) famous for witty, whimsical stories written in cute rhyming verses about outlandish animals (Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in a Hat)but praised by educators for their effectiveness in getting children to read. Seuss deserves Ph.Ds in education, psychology and literature even posthumously.

The rich imagination of Dr. Seuss and the suburban daydreams of the early 1950s combine to make this one-of-a-kind musical fantasy more than just a perverse novelty item: rarely has a film captured so well the unique perspective and peculiar logic of childhood. Kids will no doubt identify with the young hero, an unhappy piano student who dreams of liberating, with the help of a handsome plumber, 500 boys held captive at the mile long keyboard of his maniacal music tutor, Dr. Terwillicker (played by Mr. Fractured Flickers, Hans Conreid). But only adults will appreciate the shear strangeness of it all: the surrealistic architecture; the outrageous and colorful costume designs; and the improbable song and dance numbers, with nonsensical lyrics only Dr. Seuss could have written. At times it almost resembles a nightmare vision of child anxiety, but the passing years improve the film by restoring to it the innocence of the age in which it was made.

Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, the wonderful writer of children's books, wrote the story in which this movie is based on. Allan Scott translated it for the screen and Roy Rowland directed the gorgeous Technicolor production that was shown recently on cable. This 1953 film relied on the use of color, which still shows crisp and sharp, something that other films using the technique didn't achieve.

The story reminds us a bit of "The Wizard of Oz", since it involves the vivid imagination of a young boy who is terrorized by his piano teacher. Since Bartholomew Collins doesn't have a father, his mother is the most important figure in his young life, until August Zabladowski, the best plummer in town, comes to the rescue and becomes a male role figure in the young boy's eyes.

The musical numbers, while not magnificent in comparison to MGM standards, are still well staged and the music by Frederick Hollander is tuneful to the ears. The amazing color cinematography by Franz Ploner gave this movie a great look and Al Clark's editing helped the story immensely.

The principals in the film do good work under Mr. Rowland's direction. The sweet looking Tommy Rettig, wearing his saddle shoes and beanie, steals the heart of the viewer with his earnest approach to the role of Bartholomew. Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy are seen as Mr. Zabladowski, and Mrs. Collins. Hans Conried's villainous Dr. T is one of the best assets of the film.

"The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T" is rarely seen these days, but it's worth a viewing for the sheer pleasure of the use of color and Dr. Seuss' wonderful timeless story.

It's sad that this enormously entertaining children's fantasy film goes almost unseen today. It is the only live action feature film that the late great Dr. Suess was involved in. The story involves young Bart, a free spirited little boy who is forced into piano lessons dictated by the pretentious, snobby Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried at his nasally best!) In his dreams, he imagines this horrible teacher runs a prison like institute where prisoners are forced to play a silly, large piano meant for 500 piano players all at once. The film has wonderful dialog, crazy musical numbers with great lyrics. Two of my favorite songs in this film is the baratone executioner, and Dr. T's gleeful song about dressing up. Oh, and there's a reference to the atomic bomb that is just too gosh-darned funny! This loopy classic has a nice message, mostly aimed at adults- take children more seriously, and let them be children. The last shot of the film has Bart running off to play sports. A perfect happy ending.