Not even bad in a good way

A Masterpiece!

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I was stunned to watch this awful piece of amateur garbage after hearing the glowing introduction on TCM. What was that host thinking? What are all these reviewers on IMDb thinking? Could they really be watching the same movie I watched?Where to start? You have to start with Tony Randall playing a "Chinese gentleman." That's bad enough just to watch, but when he opens his mouth you know you're in for something beyond the bounds of bad taste and beyond high-school amateurishness. His voice is pitched high and thin, and he speaks in the worst stage-Chinese, the kind of phony accent some idiot everyone hates would put on at a party--"So solly,"Please to ask question," Velly good." That alone pretty much makes the movie unbearable.But the writing! Who wrote such clunky drivel? Something happens, then eight people stand in front of the camera, as if posing for a group photograph, to react. Spectator A makes Comment A. Spectator B makes comment B. Spectator C makes Comment C. Clunk-clunk-clunk. If a machine could write a play, it would write like that. There's often something clunky, too, about the transitions to close-ups.Another example of amateurish writing. One scene is supposed to establish that an attractive young widow is burying herself from The Joy of Life, turning down the advances of a handsome young suitor. But the handsome young man is made so aggressive, even clutching at her against her will, so utterly without charm, that it is perfectly understandable that the widow would not want to go out to dinner with him. The scene was meant to show her as repressed and unable to respond to love; instead she seems spirited and perfectly right in turning away the loutish suitor.The movie is peppered with touches of "humour." Every 30 seconds or so there's a so-called funny bit of business--a man bending over and being hit on the ass by a tossed newspaper (Ha ha!), a woman stepping onto her porch in her bloomers (Ho ho!). None of it is funny, and the steady stream of such bits is truly annoying.Yes, this was made back in the sixties, but even that doesn't excuse the pathetic costume of the Abominable Snowman. Spare us, please.Oh, and will I ever forget Tony Randall's big dance number? He plays Pan, the half-man, half-goat satyr, the ancient symbol of lust. Lord help us, there is Tony with his shirt off, turning and twisting (that passes for dancing), leering at the woman over a set of pan pipes held to his mouth. It verges on the ridiculous, if it weren't quite so yukky. Yet the camera shows her getting hot and bothered, her clothes loosening, her hair coming undone, her breath an erotic panting. And, please, producers, since this was Pan, couldn't the music play some real pan pipes instead of the flute?I could go on all night. There's nothing to redeem this wreck of a movie. Even the casting is bad. The villain, a wicked businessman man who wants to buy up the property of everyone in town. who thinks human beings have no redeeming qualities, is played by Arthur O'Connell, that nice character actor who specialized in lovable, easily confused, old guys like Virgil who tries to rein in the young buck in "Bus Stop" or Elvis Presley's Pappy in "Kissin' Cousins"No, you'd have to go a long way to find a worse movie than this one, something that fails on as many levels as this. All I can think of to explain the positive reviews on IMDb is that people are turned to goo by the smarmy messages the movie paints in huge block letters over the junk canvas of this movie.

Wow.....I First Saw This Movie On A Army Troop Ship Headed To Vietnam In 1965. As The Ship Neared A Typhoon, The Small Movie Room Vacated. After A While, It Was Me & The Projectionist, Then Only Me As The Ship Tossed & Turned. Thankfully He Left The Projector On So I was Able To See The Entire Movie. I Found This Movie Very Entertaining, Fun & Enjoyable To Watch. Took My Mind Off Where I Was Headed & What Was In Store. Gave Me A New Take On Tony Randall As An Accomplished Actor & Comedian. It Has Left A Lasting Impression As I Can Remember More Of This Movie Than Others Since, With Maybe The Exception Of "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly". In Fact I Will Now Order This Movie From Amazon.com

'7 Faces of Dr. Lao' is one of those movies after you watch it and wonder "You know, why are more people not talking about this?" 'Dr. Lao.' is the story of an old Wild West town where nothing exciting ever seems to happen until one day an old mysterious Chinese man, the titular Dr. Lao, arrives wanting to show the citizens his circus with many wonderful creatures and people such as Merlin, Pan, Medusa etc. However it's not all fun and games as these attractions show some of the less likable townsfolk their true colours and makes them think twice about what their lives are like.Tony Randall plays Dr. Lao and his many 'faces' and is nothing short of fantastic, giving a wide range of performances from the quiet and harshly honest fortune teller to the wise and eccentric doctor himself. I also should mention that the rest of the cast isn't half-bad, especially the child who befriends Dr. Lao who really captures that sense of wonder and curiosity.The fantastic lines in this movie are enough to make anyone crack a smile and even get a little emotional, especially Lao's speech about the magic of life we experience every day.The sets, effects and music are all great too. The great puppet work with the snake, the fantastic stop motion monster near the end, the atmosphere of the circus really makes you feel like you've entered another world, the music ranging from bright and cheery to somber and subtle much like the film itself.If there's anything bad I could say about the movie, it's that it is pretty racist that Dr. Lao, a Chinese character, is played by a white guy. It doesn't help that he does put on a hilariously offensive accent but you got to think back to when the movie was made back when it was probably more acceptable and even the accent I just mentioned is actually just an act put on by the character as he is shown to speak perfect English. Also, most of the townsfolk are some of the biggest skeptics you will see in any movie. Medusa petrifies a woman at one point and Merlin manages to change her back as well as making her a nicer person than she was yet the townsfolk STILL don't think it's real. It's frustrating to watch sometimes to say the least.But the good outweighs the bad in almost any regard and this movie is a must-see for anyone, reminding us that no matter what we might experience, being alive is fantastic. Do me a favour and see it soon.

I'm always a bit surprised by how little talk I hear about this absolute gem of a fantasy movie. Perhaps it's because Tony Randall's star doesn't shine as brightly as it once did, or perhaps overzealous guardians of morality are offended by his ethnic portrayal, despite the fact that he is playing with stereotypes as opposed to playing to them. For instance I love how Lao either drops or emphasizes his accent depending on the circumstance; indeed a lot of the point of the story is to upend our expectations of the diminutive Chinese man, and to make us conscious of the fact that possibilities are never so limited as we at first imagine them to be, and to that end the film deceives us initially into thinking that we are looking at a "typical" Chinese man in the Old West. At any rate, whatever the reason for this film dropping off the radar it deserves more acclaim. Charles Beaumont, writer of many of the best episodes of "Twilight Zone", poured his tortured heart and soul into this movie, and I think it is a masterpiece for Beaumont, director George Pal, and star Randall.The essential idea of Dr. Lao's Circus is that you only get at the Circus (or, in life) what you bring into it yourself. What you see will have whatever value to you that you want or need it to… perhaps more than you would ask for since we all hide our feelings from ourselves at times, afraid to acknowledge our weakness. Dr. Lao's Circus functions as a mirror, and in a general sense it lives up to the qualities of what Professor Tolkien calls "High Fantasy" or the world of Faerie – the Circus has its own rules and logic that seem magical or alien to "regular" people like those in the town of Abalone but which 7,000 year old Dr. Lao himself is perfectly comfortable with. In turn, our "normal" world appears to Dr. Lao as a world of magic and endless beauty, as he describes the joy of a single handful of dust to the young boy (Kevin Tate). He is blessed with the desire and ability to share that perspective with the rest of us. Dr. Lao is kind of a savior for the town, but only in the sense that he forces them – in the end inspiring them with fear of self-destruction – to see clearly the huge difference between their actions and their true desires. People come to the Circus and they may find something horrible and depressing or something sexy and exciting or something humorous and awe-inspiring depending on what they bring with them – for all the faces of Dr. Lao are nothing but different aspects of the same reality. Dr. Lao doesn't actually have to do anything to save the town from the villain Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell), but some people take more of a kick in the pants than others to get them to face their fears and realize just how much hope and possibility there is in the everyday world.What really makes this a great film is the way that the story is designed and executed to perform exactly the same function for us. Viewers will be surprised and delighted by the moments of horror, sexual excitement, and existential angst that the Dr. Lao unveils in his Circus. And in the people of Abalone we will find ourselves. Isn't there a little boy out there in the dark theater who doesn't just want to believe in magic… but that he can do magic too? Isn't there a young woman who wants to see some romance but is afraid if it gets too sexy or personal? And isn't there a cynical man who, like our complex villain, expects to be let down by the "magical experiences" but desperately "wants to lose" and find wonder and peace of mind in Dr. Lao's Circus? Whatever it takes, Dr. Lao's Circus will provide. By the end, we not only want to believe but we DO believe that Dr. Lao can catch a fish in a dry creek bed – and why not? This great film will make a lot of people feel the same way about their own deceptively mundane lives – it is the purpose of this film as with all great fantasy to take us away from the "normal" only to help us realize just how special our "real" lives are.Great credit for the film's success goes to Mr. Randall, who delivers a chameleon performance worthy of comparison to the great cinematic shape shifters like Lon Chaney and Alec Guinness. As good as he is, we might overlook the really extraordinary work of Arthur O'Connell, in the very well-written role of the robber-baron. We really feel how he's actually embarrassed to be such an intelligent man living such a crude life, and his conversation with the serpent is one of the most striking sequences in all of fantasy film. There's no melodrama involved in his "conversion" from bad to good, which makes it very convincing – he's not concerned with the little boy or her mother or anything like what you would see in most Western melodrama (even the recent re-make of "3:10 to Yuma" relied on a family melodrama to illuminate the bandit's character). This is really all about his character and his feelings of self-worth, his ruined idealism being resurrected by exposure to the Circus. He succeeds where his friends – physically perfectly cast Western veterans John Doucette and Royal Dano – fail because they run from their fears instead of facing them. This is also one of Barbara Edens' best roles, and John Ericson is remarkable in the kind of suave noble leading role that you barely see any more on the cynical silver screen.A great family fantasy that never ceases to entertain while it lifts our spirits.