 | The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao |
A stranger enters an old western town on the verge of extinction as a greedy businessman, Clinton Stark, buys up the land from desperate citizens who have lost sight of what they have to lose. As the final town meeting approaches when the few remaining land owners will have their opportunity to sell out or retain their homes, one man leads a seemingly hopeless crusade to save the town of Abalone, even if it doesn't want to be saved. Reporter and publisher of the only paper in town, Edward Cunningham has a steel determination to outwit Stark, but his larger challenge lies in convincing the young widow Angela Benedict to receive his advances. The Chinese stranger Dr. Lao buys up an expensive full page ad to promote his circus, an event that seems frivolous but is in fact the answer to all of Abalone's woes.
Dr. Lao's circus tent appears to promise a distraction before the looming vote and inside its deceptively small outer frame houses all manner of marvels including a blind seer, a massive talking serpent, the genuine Medusa, Pan- god of joy, the great Merlin and a Yeti handyman.
Based loosely on the novel The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney, the MGM film is a family movie with fantastical elements. I am only familiar with Tony Randall from his days on the Odd Couple, so I was shocked to see him performing so many drastically different character roles in one movie. The stereotypical character of Dr. Lao had me feeling very uncomfortable at first, but as he began to exhibit other broad accents from Scots to Southern gentleman and Frenchman, I grew more relieved that the film was aware of the generalization and chose to use it as a part of the fantasy.
Randall of course steals the show in a role that is as magical as Willy Wonka and every bit as deserving as Gene Wilder's career-defining part. A consummate professional, Randall spans the gamut of light-hearted comedy to heavy drama and even sinister danger quite well, even the Yeti is an interesting character!
The supporting cast is made up of signature actors of the period such as Arthur O'Connell (of The Reluctant Astronaut and Gidget fame) and of course the ravishing Barbara Eden, alias the title character from I Dream of Jeannie.
As this is a George Pal movie (the same man behind the Time Machine and The War of the Worlds), the special effects are astounding. Both Time Machine and War of the Worlds are more direct with their effects, making the creatures and camera tricks all the more impressive in the 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, in my opinion. The conclusion of the film may seem like a typical Disney resolution (and drastically differs from that of the novel), but it also delivers one of the most impressive monsters outside of a Sinbad movie!
I recall learning about the 7 Faces of Dr. Lao in a George Pal documentary that promoting it as the director's finest work. As I was in deep infatuation with both the Time Machine and War of the Worlds, I was skeptical... but wrong. It really is a fantastic movie. Corny, yes, but incredibly entertaining.
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