The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Roy Rowland

Writers:

Dr. Seuss (screenplay) &
Allan Scott (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The Wonder Musical of the Future!

Plot:

Bart has only one enemy in the world: his piano teacher Dr. Terwilliker. Dr. T has a mad plan to force...

Plot Keywords:

Piano | Dr Seuss | Mother Son Relationship | Dream World | Death Warrant

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Peter Lind Hayes	...	August Zabladowski
Mary Healy	...	Heloise Collins
Hans Conried	...	Dr. Terwilliker
Tommy Rettig	...	Bartholomew Collins
Jack Heasley	...	Uncle Whitney (as John Heasley)
John Heasley	...	Uncle Whitney
Robert Heasley	...	Uncle Judson
Noel Cravat	...	Sgt. Lunk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Chakiris	...	Dancer (as George Kerris)

Also Known As:

Crazy Music (reissue title)
Dr. Seuss' 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (video title)
The Five-Thousand Fingers of Dr. T. (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (Certificate No. 15928) | Australia:G | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-8

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The words Bart recites while making the blood oath with Mr. Zabladowski are word-for-word from the Scout Law of the Boy Scouts of America. (Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, etc.)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. T catches Bart, his mother and Mr. Zabladowski trying to escape (after the fight with the twins), he is wearing a lavender coat with black trim when he first appears and says, "I, on the other hand, am inclined to doubt that." For the rest of the sequence, he wears a black coat with a pink treble clef and white stripes representing the five-line staff.

Quotes:

Dr. Terwilliker: [singing] I want my lavender spats!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Pineapple Express (2008)

Soundtrack:

Ten Happy Fingers

Happy Fingers

A small boy plots to upset the grand performance by THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T. to be held in the sinister Terwilliker Institute.

The whimsical world of Dr. Seuss first saw expression in a Hollywood feature film in this fast-paced fantasy which examines a child's musical nightmare. Although it was a financial & critical disappointment when initially released, it has established itself comfortably as a nostalgic favorite for Baby Boomers who first discovered it decades ago.

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991) wrote the original story, co-authored the script and penned the lyrics in his own inimitable style. The action plays itself out over vast, curvaceous sets which will immediately seem familiar to readers of his books, while the brightly colored costumes make the players look like characters from the good Doctor's stories come to life.

Completely dominating the movie in the title role is the marvelous character actor Hans Conried (1917-1982), gleefully breathing life into the part of the mad piano teacher who schemes to force 500 little lads into performing his compositions at a gigantic keyboard. Conried is wonderfully funny, striding about, leering, snorting & chortling as he plots his nefarious plans. He attacks the role with relish, nasally enunciating every syllable with his unique diction, softening his villainy with a thin veneer of unctuous civility. This was Conried's finest on-camera performance, but 1953 would also present him in the part for which he is perhaps best remembered, voicing Captain Hook in Disney's animated PETER PAN.

The other three performers in the movie: Tommy Rettig as the much beleaguered boy attempting to thwart the evil Terwilliker; Mary Healy as his lovely, albeit mesmerized, Mom; and Peter Lind Hayes as a friendly, deadpanned plumber, all do very well with their roles, but their ordinariness, like that of Dorothy in Oz, make them pale in comparison beside Conried.

The film, which delivers perhaps an unnecessarily nasty knock to piano teachers, does come across with some fine songs, ranging from Rettig's plaintive 'Because We're Kids' to Conried's hilarious 'Dressing Song.' Also on view is the bizarre Dungeon Dance, in which kidnapped male orchestra members present one of the most unusual terpsichorean displays ever seen in a kiddie film.