7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Infobox Film
name = 7 Faces of Dr. Lao


image_size =
caption = film poster by Joseph Smith
director = George Pal
producer = George Pal
writer = Charles G. Finney (book)
Charles Beaumont
narrator =
starring = Tony Randall
Barbara Eden
music = Leigh Harline
cinematography = Robert J. Bronner
editing = George Tomasini
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = 1963
runtime = 100 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:43844
imdb_id = 0057812

"7 Faces of Dr. Lao" is a 1963 film adaptation of the 1935 fantasy novel "The Circus of Dr. Lao" by Charles G. Finney. It details the visit of a magical circus to a small town in the southwest United States, and the effects that visit has on the people of the town.

The novel was adapted by Charles Beaumont, directed by George Pál and starred Tony Randall in the title roles. Randall also appears as Pan, Apollonius of Tyana, a borderline-senile Merlin and even Medusa and the Abominable Snowman. He also provides the voice for a stop-motion animation "Giant Serpent", but because the serpent "looks" like Randall's castmate Arthur O'Connell, the seventh "face" of the title could be said to be a make-up free appearance Randall makes as a townsman in the audience of the circus finale, slowly shaking his head at the scene before him.

The movie is currently available on DVD, from Warner Brothers.

Plot

It is the dawn of the 20th century, and an elderly Chinese man rides a jackass into Abalone, Arizona, his only visible possession a goldfish bowl occupied by an innocuous-looking fish. This magical visitor, Dr. Lao, visits Edward Cunningham's newspaper and places a large ad for his traveling circus, which will play in Abalone for two nights only.

Though quiet, Abalone is not peaceful; wealthy rancher Clint Stark has inside information that a railroad is coming to town, and he is scheming to buy up the place while the land is cheap. Stark is opposed in this power grab by Cunningham, who is also romantically pursuing the town's librarian, Angela Benedict, a repressed but lovely woman still grieving the death of her husband.

As Lao puts up posters around town advertising his circus, he is assisted by Angela's young son Mike, who learns that the mysterious wanderer is thousands of years old. After doing some research, Cunningham visits the circus site which has sprung up at the edge of town, and confronts Lao with the fact that Lao's alleged hometown vanished centuries ago. Lao deflects Cunningham's questions.

The circus opens its doors, and the townsfolk flock in. Along with the main cast, the gawkers include a shrewish wife and a self-absorbed matron who clings to her self-image of a young beauty. Lao uses his many faces to offer his wisdom to the visitors; only some of them take heed of this advice. Stark has disquieting meetings with both Apollonius of Tyana and the Great Serpent, Mike befriends the pathetic Merlin and Angela is aroused from her emotional repression by Pan's intoxicating music. After Medusa turns the disbelieving shrew to stone, Lao calls an end to the proceedings and Merlin restores the now-reformed woman.

Meanwhile, Stark's two thuggish henchmen destroy the newspaper office. Cunningham and his pressman discover the devastation, go drown their sorrows, then stagger back to learn that the damage has been magically repaired by Lao. They rush out a new edition of the paper, which Cunningham delivers in person to Stark.

Mike visits Lao and tries to get a job, displaying his novice juggling and conjuring skills. Lao instead offers some advice which Mike doesn't understand, and Lao claims to not understand either.

The next night, Lao stages his grand finale, a Magic Lantern show in which the mythical city of "Woldercan", populated by doubles of the townfolk, is destroyed when it succumbs to temptation personified by Stark. The show ends in explosions and darkness but as the house lights gradually come back up, the townsfolk find themselves now in a town meeting, voting on Stark's proposal. They reject it, and a redeemed Stark tells them about the coming railroad. A duststorm blows up, and as the townsfolk scatter, Angela opens up to Ed.

The only people not happy about this are Stark's henchmen, who decide to trash Lao's circus. Unfortunately, they break Lao's goldfish bowl, and the inhabitant is revealed to be a sea serpent which balloons to enormous size when exposed to the open air (this is "not" the same Serpent who talks to Stark). After it chases the two thugs into the storm, Mike alerts Dr. Lao, then helps conjure up a cloudburst to wet and thus shrink the beast.

Morning comes and the circus is gone, leaving a circle on the desert floor. Mike chases after what he thinks is Lao, but only finds three wooden balls. He is able to juggle them, and Lao's voice reminds the viewer what he told Mike: the Circus of Dr. Lao is life itself, and everything in it is a wonder.

Cast

*Tony Randall . . .Dr Lao, the Mysterious Visitor
*Barbara Eden . . .Angela Benedict, the Widowed Librarian
*John Ericson . . .Ed Cunningham, the Crusading Publisher
*Arthur O'Connell . . .Clint Stark, the Ruthless Tycoon
*Kevin Tate . . .Mike Benedict, the Orphan
*Noah Beery, Jr. . . .Sam, the Loyal Pressman
*Eddie Little Sky . . .George G. George, the Friendly Indian
*Royal Dano . . .Casey, the Brutal Henchman

Changes from the novel

The movie is only loosely based on Finney's novel, which is essentially a series of loosely-connected vignettes centered around the circus's visit, without the overarching plotline of Stark's scheming and redemption. The novel is also far more biting and cynical in its depiction of average Americans' inability to accept magic and wonder into their lives; this attitude climaxes in the Woldercan sequence as originally staged, which ends with the townsfolk being physically scattered to the winds.

Influences

The "Woldercan" spectacular that Dr. Lao presents as the grand finale of his circus contains much footage from an earlier George Pal production, 1961's "Atlantis, the Lost Continent" as well as some footage of flowing lava from "The Time Machine".

Outside of Appollonius of Tyana's can be seen the hourglass used by the Wicked Witch of the West in 1939's 'The Wizard of Oz'; the prop had previously been used as part of a fortune teller's paraphernalia in the 1956 film 'Diane'.

Production

According to notes on the Leigh Harline soundtrack CD released by Film Score Monthly, Pal's first choice for the role was Peter Sellers who was strongly interested in the role. MGM decided that they wished an American in the lead role.

William Tuttle received an honorary Oscar for his makeup work on this film. It was the first of only two honorary Oscars awarded for makeup; the other went to John Chambers in 1968 for "Planet of the Apes". As part of Tuttle's work, Randall had his head shaved, not only to play the bald Dr. Lao, but also to make it convenient for the "appliances" which he had to wear. The studio publicity department arrived at the barber too late to photograph the process, so they had a make-up artist glue hair back on Randall's head and the barber once again removed it, this time for the cameras.

References in other media

"Before Sunrise"

An almost-direct quote from Appolonius of Tyana, who tells Mrs. Cassan's fortune in "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao", is voiced by Ethan Hawke in "Before Sunrise", after Céline has her fortune read in Vienna.

In "7 Faces of Dr. Lao", Appolonius of Tyana says:

"Tomorrow will be like today, and day after tomorrow will be like the day before yesterday. I see your remaining days each as quiet, tedious collections of hours. You will not travel anywhere. You will think no new thoughts. You will experience no new passions. Older you will become but not wiser... When you die, you will be buried and forgotten..."

In "Before Sunrise", Jesse (Ethan Hawke's character), says:

"I mean, just once, I'd love to see some little old lady save up all her money, you know, to go to the fortune teller, and she'd get there, all excited about hearing her future, and the woman would say, 'Tomorrow, and all your remaining days will be exactly like today--A tedious collection of hours. And you will have no new passions, and no new thoughts, and no new travels, and when you die, you'll be completely forgotten. 50 shillings, please. Now, THAT I would like to see!".

"Mystery Science Theatre 3000"

A quote from the movie was used in an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". In Joel Hodgson's last episode as the host (#512, "Mitchell"), his final message to the 'bots is engraved on a plaque that reads, "The world is a circus if you look at it the right way. Every time you pick up a handful of dust, and see not the dust but mystery, a marvel, there in your hand. Every time you stop and think, 'I'm alive. And being alive is fantastic.' Every time such a thing happens, you are part of the circus of Dr. Lao." The 'bots are confused. According to the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide", the writers/performers of the show had the quote engraved on a real plaque and given to Hodgson.

"The Flip Wilson Show"

In the early 1970s, as acupuncture became popular in the United States, Randall made a guest appearance on "The Flip Wilson Show", dressed in Chinese garb, as "the Doctor". In a highly-memorable skit, the Doctor offered Wilson his choice: "Do you want slooooooowwwwwww in and fast-out? Or do you want fast-in and sloooooooowwwwwwww out . . ?" to which the reluctant patient responds "How about NO in and NO out?!"

"Duckman"

An episode of the animated TV series "Duckman" featured Tony Randall using Lao-like magic to banish a clutch of evil tobacco executives. Randall was voiced by an impersonator; the show includes a sub-caption explicitly noting this fact, adding that the actor never returned the producers' phone calls.

"South Park"

In the "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" episode of the adult cartoon "South Park", the disappearance of Big Gay Al at the end of the episode is a spoof of Dr. Lao's disappearance.

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"

An upcoming film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus", has a similar plot: a traveling showman conducts audience members on journeys into their imagination.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0057812|title=7 Faces of Dr. Lao
*amg title|id=1:43844|title=7 Faces of Dr. Lao