The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
d. Roy Rowland, 1953
Easily one of the greatest of all children's movies, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T also happens to be the only feature film written by Dr. Seuss, and it shows. The visual spectacle that the film provides is nearly unparalleled, especially when one compares it to the films kids are watching these days (Shrek is one that automatically comes to mind). The 5,000 Fingers is the kind of film that all children should enjoy, but anyone older should be able to recognize the technical genius if not connect with the glorious entertainment the film provides. It tells the story of a young boy, Bartholomew Collins, who "has only one enemy," his piano teacher Dr. Terwilliker, a European tyrant that makes Collins work like there was no tomorrow. One of the early sequences of the film shows him falling asleep, and most of the film is composed of Collins' Freudian fantasies as he deals with Terwilliker. In the dream, he's a madman with a plan to open an institution for 500 children (each having ten fingers, hence the title), where he will make them play and treat them like slaves. Not only that, but he plans to marry Collins' mother, who alrady is under Dr. T's spell. Through a series of wonderfully imaginative scenes, Collins and his plumber friend August Zabladowski have to find a way to stop Dr. T's plan. If this sounds like a standard kid movie, trust me, it isn't. Not only are the set designs and costumes completely out of a Seuss book, but the film's musical numbers - also of Seuss' lyrics - are quite astonishing (the dungeon scene alone is worth the ticket price). In short, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is one of the most glorious movies ever made.
In honor of the fantastic musical numbers of The 5,000 Fingers, here are my personal favorite musicals, in chronological order:
Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932)
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (Roy Rowland, 1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1967)
