bkoganbing The Five Thousand Fingers Of Doctor T I supposed is dedicated to all the untalented kids who were forced to take music lessons back in the day. So very few possessed any musical gifts, so many like Tommy Rettig in this film preferred to be playing baseball.Rettig who at the insistence of his mom Mary Healy is taking piano lessons from the tyrannical Dr. Terwilliger or Doctor T as he's known. He's played by Hans Conreid who is given a once in a lifetime leading role in a film where he can just ham it up like all get out. There's more pork product on the hoof in Conreid's performance than in all those hogs Gary Cooper tried to corral in The Story Of Dr. Wassell. Rettig dozes off and finds himself in a fantasy world where he is sort of test kid for the biggest piano in the world. Soon there will be 499 more little boys forced to take piano lessons and will be playing a grand concerto composed by Conreid and it will be 5000 fingers on those keys. His mother is in a trance under Conreid's spell and he's got a Snidely Whiplash like gleam. The only one Rettig can trust is the plumber Peter Lind Hayes.I kind of like the idea of the plumber. Even a paradise like Conreid rules has to have working plumbing. In this case, the place springs a terrible leak.The story is written by Theodore Geisel better known as Dr. Seuss. The sets might have been designed by Salvador Dali. The costumes that Conreid wore made what Liberace wore seem like rags.Supposedly Dr. Seuss had something more ambitious in mind, but Columbia Pictures edited it down considerably in those blacklist years. In fairness to Harry Cohn and Columbia Pictures they were making a kid's film not a message picture.Despite Mr. Geisel's objections the film does hold up well after over half a century and family audiences can still enjoy it.

Scott LeBrun From the fertile mind of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel comes this charming, funny, wacky musical-fantasy. Young Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig) is once again suffering through the infernal piano playing lessons that his mother Heloise (Mary Healy) insists he take. It might not be so bad if his instructor, Dr. Terwilliker (the well cast Hans Conried), weren't such a demanding individual. Overcome by the dreariness of these lessons, Barts' mind begins to construct an elaborate vision: a colorful, tuneful kingdom that Dr. T rules with an iron fist. Among the touches: people who play instruments other than the piano are confined to dungeons.At its best, this is a fun diversion that does play like a Dr. Seuss book come to life. The choreography is most impressive, with a large cast of dancers & musicians dressed in the Seuss tradition. The songs are catchy and performed with gusto by this talented cast, also including Peter Lind Hayes (Healy's real life husband) as easygoing plumber August Zabladowski, who becomes a father figure to Bart. The production design by Rudolph Sternad is first rate, and there are some ingenious sets. Funny visual gags add to the fun, such as a pair of henchmen who share one single extra long beard. The script by Geisel and Allan Scott is worth noting, as it has humor for both adults and children alike.The whole cast is appealing, but Conried is a special treat as the highly theatrical Dr. T.If modern viewers are looking for something different to show their kids, they could do a lot worse than this.Eight out of 10.

SnoopyStyle Bart Collins is haunted by Dr. Terwilliker's piano lessons. Even in his dreams, he's haunted by Terwilliker who has built a fanciful piano that will have 500 children or 5000 fingers playing it. He must save his widowed mother Heloise Collins from under Terwilliker's spell. The only person who might be able to help is the Collins' plumber August Zabladowski.Written by Dr Seuss, this has all his original visual styles. It is imaginative, creative, and hypnotic. The style is definitely 50s even with songs of sounds of the era. The acting has that childlike broad feel that is so fitting for a movie that takes place almost entirely in a child's imagination. The best is Hans Conried as the evil Dr. Terwilliker. His unique voice adds depth to his performance.

Michael Neumann The rich imagination of Dr. Seuss and the suburban daydreams of the early 1950s combine to make this one-of-a-kind musical fantasy more than just a perverse novelty item: rarely has a film captured so well the unique perspective and peculiar logic of childhood. Kids will no doubt identify with the young hero, an unhappy piano student who dreams of liberating, with the help of a handsome plumber, 500 boys held captive at the mile long keyboard of his maniacal music tutor, Dr. Terwillicker (played by Mr. Fractured Flickers, Hans Conreid). But only adults will appreciate the shear strangeness of it all: the surrealistic architecture; the outrageous and colorful costume designs; and the improbable song and dance numbers, with nonsensical lyrics only Dr. Seuss could have written. At times it almost resembles a nightmare vision of child anxiety, but the passing years improve the film by restoring to it the innocence of the age in which it was made.