The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

You won't be disappointed!

Nice effects though.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

They messed up on the title.It's 4000 fingers and 1000 thumbs.OK, interesting movie due to Dr. Seuss back story and Svengoolie showing.Otherwise, very sad.

--SPOILERS-- Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig) is a prisoner to his piano instructor, Dr. Terwilliker (Han Conried). Terwilliker has built a castle, the Terwilliker Institute, where he's planning to have 500 boys play the the world's biggest piano for the rest of eternity. He even went as far as to ban all other musical instruments solely because they aren't the piano.Bart learns that his mother is second-in-command of the Terwilliker Institute and has been placed under Terwilliker's mind-control as well. He resolves not only to save her, but also escape the castle as well. The boy turns to the plumber August Zabladowsky (Peter L. Hayes) for an ally, but has to convince him that Terwilliker's no good first.They free Bart's mother and Zabladowsky defeats Terwilliker's conjoined twin henchmen (connected by a beard!)... but their escape is foiled and are sent to the dungeon. With hope hanging by a thread, Bart and Zabladowsky attempt to modify a bottle of Air Fix into a "Music Fix" to trap the music from the piano and ruin Terwilliker's plot.Through the magic of a hearing aid, "Music Fix" works and defeats Terwilliker. However, the concoction goes critical and destroys the castle in a nuclear blast.--End Spoilers--A really good family film, but unfortunately one that's easily overlooked. If you liked WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, you would enjoy this: a lot of vignettes in the castle wouldn't look too out of place there.Terwilliker is just the type of villain you'd love to hate: a slimy personality with a gallon of egotism on the side ("We shall play the greatest song ever written. *I* wrote it!"), easily rivaling Conried's more famous portrayal of Captain Hook. Bart is an innocent, but headstrong, boy hellbent on saving his mother from Terwilliker's influence and you want to see him succeed.The music is excellent, but seeing as Dr. Seuss himself was near- godlike when it came to poetry it comes as no surprise that so many of the songs felt fun. He also had a hand in the plot and screenplay, elevating this to a level that 2000's THE GRINCH WHO STOLE Christmas and other such pop-culture joke-laden re-imaginings of his work can't reach. In fact, the lack of such factors helps the movie's aging.If there's any weaknesses, I would have to say that the Non-Piano Dungeon sequence went on for a little too long.Other than that, it's a quirky little romp that I would strongly recommend.Five stars. Grab a cup of pickle juice and give it a watch!

Oddball fantasy about a boy escaping into dreams to avoid his tyrannical piano teacher. Trouble is his dreams are also terrorized by the same teacher and his minions.The movie's definitely not for everyone. There's little dialog and in a cast of hundreds, there's exactly one woman! Most of the time is taken up by either dance routines or little Collins (Rettig) running hither and thither to get away from his tormentors. Frankly, I fast-forwarded through some of the routines. Unlike some other reviewers, the sets and art direction impressed me as imaginative and well-done. The candy box colors also hold the eye, and I wouldn't be surprised the exotic project was intended to compete with new-fangled TV.Also looks to me like the woodenly conventional Zablodowski (Hayes) is intended as reassurance amid all the unconventional settings. Taking a child to the movie would be a risk, I think, since the material could easily come across as nightmarish, whatever the original intentions. Little Rettig does well as the average boy, while the eccentric Conreid is at his most archly sinister. And what about that chaotic scene of hundreds of little boys escaping that piano from heck. I'll bet that was a year's worth of headache trying to keep a mob of ten- year olds in line.In years of viewing, I've seen nothing quite like this production. Frankly, I'm not sure I liked the overall result. Definitely, this oddity should be approached with caution, unless you like seeing bands of men dance to no particular purpose or little boys run and run and run.

I first saw this unique movie at the tender age of about 7 or 8.....and it was about the time I was having my own recurring nightmares. After watching it, I realized I wasn't alone, and that recurring dreams were "normal." I remember afterward having a few dreams where I was being chased by men with brightly-colored, humongous butterfly nets.....dreams that were obviously influenced and driven by this movie.And like a lot of folks, I always felt I was trying to run through water....that sluggish feeling when your legs just won't move fast as you need them to move. But this is supposed to be a movie review...so let's look at a few things about "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.": First off, Hans Conried was a genius of comedy...and this role is perhaps his finest role and performance. He made "Dr. Terwilleger" into a maniacal, egocentric, hypnotic menace...the kind of pushy, abusive adult that all pre-adolescent kids dread...that parental-approved "authority figure" that kids are forced to deal with despite all protestations, usually found today in overpowering, intimidating sports-coaches, a perfectionist teachers, or any adult that looks DOWN on kids and treats them like lowly subordinates. The genius of Dr. Seuss's understanding of fears and insecurities of young children is quite evident in how he wrote Conried's role....and the sad and winsome song that Tommy Rettig sings alone as he feels abandoned by his only confidante, the plumber Zabrodowski after Terwillger entrances Zabrodowski with magic and tainted "pickle juice" is both touching and revealing of just how kids feel when they find they have no one, or no compassionate adult to turn to with their problems. Yes, Tommie, adults shouldn't ever "push us little kids around". I have always felt this movie is VASTLY underrated, and it is a darn shame that Seuss never made another movie after this one....never again had the creative license and control to bring some of his other work to the magic, Cinescopic big screen. The sets, backgrounds, costumes, and music in this movie are brilliant and imaginary, and some of the script was pretty daring, for its time. Especially notable is the song sung by the Executioner as he describes what each floor of the dungeon is used for.....watch the movie and listen to the lyrics.There are many other moments in the movie that carry a not-so-subtle message about the vagaries of American child-rearing, even some commentary about the threat of nuclear Armaggedon that was very much on people's minds in 1953. I think Seuss was also making a jab as to how so many Americans were sending their children off to "camp" to receive instruction in whatever the PARENT thought the child needed, rather than what the children themselves were proficient or interested in. Well, done, Dr. Dr. Seuss's books are a recognized, language and decade- spanning treasure, and so is this movie. Although "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T." gave me some nightmares as a 2nd-grader....it has stayed with me all these years later...and every time I pull it out of my movie collection, I am reminded of the "blissful, carefree picture of typical American life" that Hollywood was always trying to project in the mid-1950's, highlighting our sunny blue-sky days, our disposable income, our perfectly-manicured, beautifully-dressed (but overly submissive) Moms and families, and all the other post-WWII aspects of pure Americana that the sudden, burgeoning post-GI Bill Middle-Class sector of America was creating for itself. Don't miss this MOVIE!! I've rated it a 9 for one main reason: it is an utterly-unique reminder of what Dr. Seuss was really trying to tell us all in his many great books: Children are a treasure, the most-perfect gifts we receive in our short lives, and they should be loved, cherished, and respected.... Wouldn't it be wonderful if we ALL never, never, never had to grow up?