7 Faces of Dr. Lao: Difference between revisions

'''''[[Seven Faces of Dr. Lao|7 Faces of Dr. Lao]]''''' is a 1964 fantasy film from [[Metro Goldwyn Mayer|MGM]], [[Film of the Book|based on]] the 1935 novel ''[[The Circus of Doctor Lao]]'' by Charles G. Finney, directed by George Pal, and starring Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson, Kevin Tate, and Tony Randall in a ''tour de force'' [[Double Vision|performance]] as the eponymous Chinese showman, the [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti|Abominable Snowman]], [[Blind Seer|Apollonius of Tyana]], the [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|Giant Serpent]], [[Classical Mythology|Medusa]], [[King Arthur|Merlin the Magician]], [[Classical Mythology|Pan]], and [[Previous Player Character Cameo|an unmade-up, anonymous, and silent member]] of his own audience.

 

To the dying Arizona town of Abalone comes the mysterious Dr. Lao (Randall) to announce in the local newspaper the advent of his wonderful circus. The editor, Ed Cunningham (Jon Ericson) is engaged in a double struggle: to gain the affections of repressed young widow Angela Benedict (Barbara Eden) and to convince the townspeople not to give up and sell out to cynical local magnate Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell). Nevertheless, he is also intrigued by the mysterious Lao and his circus, which seems at first to consist only of the doctor, his yellow jackass, and a fish in a bowl -- but which hours later has mushroomed into an entire carnival of marvelous exhibits.

 

 

The townspeople, shaken by what Lao has shown them, vote not to sell out to Stark -- who thanks them for restoring his faith in humanity, and reveals that a new railroad will soon come through, bringing prosperity back to Abalone. With Stark and the town redeemed, and Ed and Angela now safely a couple, Lao's work is done, and he vanishes, only his voice remaining to remind Mike that life itself is the truly wonderful thing.

 

The film greatly altered the plot and softened the mordant tone of [[The Circus of Doctor Lao|the original novel]], opting rather for a sense of whimsy and wonder, reflected in the score by Leigh Harline, best known for scoring [[Disney]]'s ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs]]'' and ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]''. Unfortunately, despite an extraordinary performance by Randall and some (though not all) of the other cast (Kevin Tate as Mike is a stand-out), and the admirable visual effects -- for which SFX artist Jim Danforth received an [[Academy Award]] nomination and makeup artist William Tuttle an Honorary [[Academy Award|Oscar]] -- the film has something of the feel of a made-for-TV movie, exacerbated by the use of stock footage from ''Atlantis, the Lost Continent'' and ''[[The Time Machine]]'', with unconvincing interspersed shots of the cast in ancient costume. It did not do well when it came out, but as the years have gone by, it has come into its own, and is now widely regarded as a fantasy classic.

 

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* [[All Asians Are Alike]]: As emphasized thus:

{{quote|'''Fat Cowboy:''' ...[[All Asians Are Alike|Looks like a]] ''[[All Asians Are Alike|Jap]]'' [[All Asians Are Alike|to me]].