Starring: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson, Noah Beery Jr. Directed By: George Pal Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 03, 2000 Running Time: 100 minutes Theatrical Release Date: March 18, 1964
Description: A mysterious traveling circus unleashes a torrent of magic and mysticism in a dusty Arizona town. "In what may be the finest performance in a fantasy film" (Guide for the Film Fanatic), Tony Randall charms and spellbinds as ringmaster Dr. Lao and his multitude of faces, a virtuoso turn that earned a special Oscar for Outstanding Makeup Achievement. Step inside the tent...and marvel.
Randall at his best! Tony Randall steps away from his usual roles as a germophobic neat freak (and a bit of a dandy) and becomes the enchanting and magical Dr. Lao, a travelling showman! But Dr. Lao's circus is no ordinary circus. From the moment it appears, seemingly out of nowhere, the residents of a quiet, turn of the century western town soon find out that this circus will change their lives forever. The various acts in Dr. Lao's circus (all performed by Randall in many guises) will force the townsfolk to forget their own petty and self absorbing problems and take an insightful look inward. Good special effects for the era and some very good performances by a note worthy cast. A very enjoyable trip into the past!!!
Weird in a good way Saw this about in 1970. Pretty strange then and now. "Made" my kids watch it who are always saying "Dad, you always make us watch these old movies". They both watched it all the way through and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Some good moral teachings abound. It is tough to get kids to watch movies without all the million dollar special effects which take the place of story lines these days. This one was well received, and they didn't even complain about the "loch ness" type monster special effect which was horrendously poor. Go figure (I dream of) Jeannie falling for a Goat dude!
DR. LAO TRICKS YOU INTO REALIZING YOURSELVES Tony Randall carries the movie of course. This is a vehicle for him to display many sides of his talent: with seven different characters to go about that is quite a load to carry plus some linguistic fluency in various accent. The ingenious direction of George Pal is also to be lauded. The scene where the termegan wife was looking at the newspaper and didn't know who Medusa was and the henpeck husbank tried to explain to her and suddenly he looked at his wife's face with a head full of hair curler which resembled, you guess whom, and the expressions on his face and his wife's; if you happen to have a mouthful of popcorn while watching this, I bet you any amount of money, the corn would explode. It's just about one of the funniest scenes ever. This is a wonderful film full of fun and many wise sayings. You won't be disappointed I assure you, whether you like fables or fairy tales or not, satisfaction quarantied.
As if 7 faces is not enough for him, Randall, at the circus finale he plays himself in the audience shaking his head in disapproval of Dr. Lao's busybody maneuver.
A charmer of a movie that tugs your heart strings We first saw this movie when we were in our teens. It made such an impression on us that we never forgot it. Tony Randall is magnificent playing all 7 of the roles, & his supporting cast is equally as impressive. While the SFX are not much by today's standards, in the '60s they were really something to see. This film has something for everyone but offends no one (unless you recognize yourself in one of the flawed townspeople). It is, at one & the same time, well written, thought provoking, heart tugging, romantic, serious, a universal message, & above all...FUNNY!!! A film for the whole family to enjoy!!
Great entertaining movie! I first saw this movie as a child and I still think it's great! Very unusual characters and story!
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