The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

The holiday season can get a little overwhelming and the world of movies can provide a welcome escape. I settled on a little known gem that I had only very recently discovered, even though it was released way back in 1953. Dr.Seuss's “The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.” is a weird musical fantasy in glorious technicolor. It was a box office flop when it first hit the theaters, but has been revived with TV screenings since 1986; and DVD issues in 2001 and 2008. I found a copy in my local library, and it was the perfect antidote to frenetic shopping mall madness.

The movie features 10 year old Bartholomew Collins (Tommy Rettig) who is getting a lesson at home from his stern and authoritative piano teacher Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried). Bart is not happy either with learning the piano, or with Terwilliker's stern teaching methods. After the lesson his mother, the beautiful widowed Eloise (Mary Healy), tells him to stay at the piano and practice his lesson while she does some shopping. The local plumber August Zabladowski(Peter Lind Hayes) is in the kitchen working on their sink. Bart falls asleep on the keyboard, and the rest of the movie plays out as his nightmare about the mad, tyrannical Dr.T.

In this surrealistic paranoid fantasy, Bart finds himself in Dr.T.'s huge prison-like institute from which there is no escape. There are many big guards and barbed wire surrounds the compound. The main room has an immense two storey piano; big enough for 500 boys to all play together. Although Bart is the first arrival, Dr.T. Intends him to be joined by 499 other ten-year-olds. They will be forced to practice together 24 hours non-stop and learn to play Dr.T.'s masterpiece creation “Ten Happy Fingers”.Bart finds tunnels throughout the institute and begins to explore the compound. He discovers his mother has been put into a sinister hypnotic trance and imprisoned by the evil doctor. He finds August hired to install sinks in the school and asks him to help him free his mother and find a way to escape. They are caught by the guards and locked in the dungeon and it starts to look like none of them will get out of there alive. Zabladowski makes Bart a magic potion that he hopes will foil the doctors grand scheme , but he warns Bart “It might be dangerous. It might even be atomic. If it starts smoking, you get away fast.”

This is not a movie for little children, but some people of all ages will enjoy it. It has a magnificent spacious set with many levels; the incredible curving two level piano; towering columns and ornate portals; and an exotic cast of guards; including Siamese twins Judney and Whitney joined by a long rope like beard; and a crowd of musical prisoners with their oddball instruments and roller skates on their feet. The colours are strong, solid and bright; reds, blues, yellows and purples. The costumes are weird and outrageous; especially on Dr. T.; and the boys wear a cute little blue beanie.

Dr. Seuss wrote much of the screenplay and all of the strange lyrics to the musical numbers.

“Search the alleys, beat the bushes, comb the turrets, shake the trees.”



“Hurray for us, we're rough, we're tough, we're on the ball.

We're gruesome one, we're gruesome all.

Unthinkable, stinkable horrible us.”



There's the “Dream Stuff” song....'grasp that world you've been to....

and also “Lullabyes For Little Criminals”



There are some great lines like Bart's “C'mon there's no time for any mush stuff.” and “Is it atomic? Yes sir, VERY ATOMIC.” There's also the very powerful 'vintage pickle juice' and the poison ivy covered walls! This movie is a rare treat.

Zambrowski and Bart

Dr. T.

Dr. Seuss

Jeff with Lassie

Hans Conried puts in a strong performance as Dr. T. (You may know him as the voice of Captain Hook in Disney's animated “Peter Pan”. Mary Healey and Peter Lind Hayes, who are romantic interests in this movie were actually a real life couple. They were married in 1940 and remained together for 58 years until Peter's death in 1998. The sad part in watching this movie comes when you recognize the young actor playing Bart, Tommy Rettig, who went on a year later to win the role of Jeff in the first “Lassie “ series on TV in 1954. He won the job when they had narrowed the casting down to three finalists. They decided to let Lassie pick the actor to play Jeff. She walked directly to Tommy. He played the part for four years until the new series, when Lassie got a new family. The sadness comes in knowing how Tommy Rettig's life turned out after he graduated from his life as a busy child actor. He never grew beyond 5'4” and had trouble landing adult film roles. He led a troubled life which included drug arrests and convictions for growing pot and importing cocaine; bankruptcy and divorce. He remained an advocate for the legalization of pot until his death in 1996. He won the part of Jeff in Lassie in '54; he grew to 5'4” and he died at the age of 54. He brought us a lot of pleasure in his work as a child actor. It.'s sad that life didn't work out better for him.

Musical prisoners

Hayes and Healey

Dr.Seuss

Dr. T.