Having banished all other musical instruments to the dungeon, dr. It was no great financial or critical success at the time, and so it has remained relatively unknown outside of small circles. The story follows a young boy, bart collins, and the piano lessons he must. One of hollywoods best fantasies, a musical with the mad humor of dr. Geisel originally submitted a 1200page screenplay with themes of world dominance and oppression. A young boy travels to an imaginary world where, assisted by his familys plumber, he must save other piano playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his. Available on dvd for the first time, the 1953 film unfolds with the elegant simplicity of a fairy tale, as it tells the story of a spunky, fatherless boy tommy rettig traumatized by the soulcrushing. Support the guardian available for everyone, funded by readers.
T there are thousands of older movies we could be talking about right now. By all accounts, he absolutely hated the finished film, feeling that his vision had been warped beyond recognition. T 1953 was, and is, one of a kind and the only featurelength liveaction movie to have been conceived, written. Terwilliker hans conried, plans to enslave 500 boys and force them to. Suess and simply want to know if this bluray version of dr. T is a musical from 1953 written by popular childrens author theodor seuss geisel dr. Search, discover and share your favorite the 5000 fingers of dr t gifs. Story and conception were shaped by dr seuss for the. Traditional classic status wasn t to be for the atomicage musical fantasia the 5,000 fingers of dr.
Seuss has to be the most recognizable name in childrens literature, countless kids learned to read by studying the complex nuances of green eggs and ham, so it is no surprise that his books have supplied a surplus of material to hollywood. T gets new 3cd soundtrack the beloved childrens author made just one movie a surreal musical about a. T, upas mcboing boing cartoons were a big hit when they were new. You can find more information regarding this film on its imdb page.
Terwilliker are the bane of young bart collins existence. The only thing young bart collins tommy rettig hates more than playing the piano is the tyrannical dr. T gets new 3cd soundtrack the beloved childrens author made just one movie a surreal musical about a diabolical music master with a piano so. Quotes a seuss picturebook come to life, with fanciful soundstage sets melding. Peter lind hayes, mary healy, hans conried, tommy rettig, john heasley, robert heasley, noel cravat, roy. T, a justly revered cult classic that could only have come from the mind of coscreenwriter dr. T actor, entertainer, songwriter and author, educated in high school and a vaudeville trouper with his mother, grace hayes.
T, who has a mad plan to force 500 young boys to practice at his magnificent piano 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ts fortress are as accurate as tommy rettigs freckled face and happy fingers beanie. A financial and critical failure the film has gained a cult following and remains a. T jan 08, 2014 a boy dreams he and his mother are trapped in a dream world ruled by evil piano teacher dr. However, even with the attempts to tone down the films darker and more satirical. Terwillikerwhose music academy is luring in young boys to practise their playing on an oversized piano, assembly linestyle, until the end of their days. T lures 500 reluctant little boys to perform in a colossal concert on the grandest grand piano ever built. Enjoy a rich lineup of tv shows and movies included with your prime membership. A young boy travels to an imaginary world where, assisted by his familys plumber, he must save other piano playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mindcontrols his mother.
The mad humor of dr seuss ted geisel has been captured on film in this odd flight into chimerical fiction. T 1953 is its staging of a young boys search for musical identity as an oedipal drama. Traditional classic status wasnt to be for the atomicage musical fantasia the 5,000 fingers of dr. It was the only feature film written by theodor seuss geisel dr. The only film ever scripted by theodor geisel better known professionally as dr seuss, 5,000 fingers is the delirious, surrealist tale of the 10yearold bart collins, trapped as one of 500. The imagination of a nineyearold boy vividly comes to life in this funfilled fantasy from dr. T, a liveaction childrens film based on a script by theodor geisel, better known as dr. During world war ii, he served with valor in the united states army air corps. A dismal hollywood premiere where half the patrons angrily walked out. One of the striking aspects of the 5000 fingers of dr. T was by all means, a small blip on the careers of everyone involved. Oct 30, 2009 the only film ever scripted by theodor geisel better known professionally as dr seuss, 5,000 fingers is the delirious, surrealist tale of the 10yearold bart collins, trapped as one of 500.
The short subject doesn t seem very funny now, but unlike dr. Tomorrow, down below me, i will have 500 little boys, 5,000 little fingers and theyll be mine, all mine. T, its that it at least better than the overproduced ron howard film from last christmas. T is a 1953 american film that is noteworthy of being the only film written by theodore geisel, better known as dr. Bart is the only hope to save these boys from being enslaved. The most noticeable flaw is a recurring problem with damage throughout the film that appears as intermittent flashes of bright blue running vertically in areas of the frame. A financial and critical failure the film has gained a.
Mar 30, 2015 the film is entitled the 5,000 fingers of dr. However, the original cut of the film, which had a darker tone and included twice as many musical numbers, is completely lost, as even sony pictures hasn t been able to find a copy of it. Fleeing bart tommy rettig has come upon the dungeon for scratchy violins etc. It was the only feature film written by theodor seuss geisel, who wrote the story, screenplay and lyrics. Terwilliker, who has a mad plan to force 500 young boys to practice at his magnificent piano 24 hours a day, 7 days a week directed by roy rowland. T remains one of the most surreal films to come out of hollywood. Terwilliker hans conried, the man barts mother mary healy has hired to teach him. T is a technicolor fantasy mostly the extended dream sequence of a boy who doesnt want to practice the piano. T is determined to prove that his happy fingers method of teaching piano is the best method in the world. Aaaas movies ever made, and this trailer certainly proves it. Terwilliker, who has a mad plan to force 500 young boys to practice at his magnificent piano 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. T was directed by roy rowland and produced by the great stanley kramer and remains the only movie written for the screen by dr.
Sep 16, 2012 a dismal hollywood premiere where half the patrons angrily walked out. Possibly the most important song in the movie is about why adults dont have the right to push children around just because theyre bigger. If theres something to be praised about 5,000 fingers of dr. Being a cinephile outside of places like new york or chicago is a very different experience than what peter is used to, so he treks to northfield, minnesota for this conversation with blogger andreas stoehr. Multiple links are listed since a different versions exist and b many scripts posted become unavailable over time.
Seusss wild technicolor fantasy, a little boy is whisked to a weird land, where a cruel music teacher forces the 5,000 fingers of 500 kids to play his milelong double decker piano. The wizard of oz is the model, though the opening fantasy olivesuited villains wielding searchlights and multicolored nets shows that the true kinship is with menzies invaders from mars. T is a 1953 film about a boy and his piano teacher dr. Now known mostly as a cult novelty item than it should be, the 5000 fingers of dr. T 1953 was, and is, one of a kind and the only featurelength liveaction movie to have been conceived, written and designed by the illustrator theodor geisel. T, and tells the tale of an allamerican lad trapped in the clutches of the nefarious dr. Seuss, refused to have the very film mentioned in his official random house biography before his death.
Seuss, wrote and helped design this eccentric fantasy about a young boy named bart. With this 3cd release, film score monthly has lovingly recreated the authors complete original conception of the musica painstaking restoration effort that involved many years of scouring the globe for the bestsounding copies of rare acetate discs the only surviving music masters. Seuss based the story on memories of his own boyhood piano lessons from a tyrannical. Coscreenwriter theodore geisel, more famously known as dr. T is a brilliantly clear and snappily technicolored show. One day, bart falls into a musical dream world of imprisonment in the terwilliker institute, where his teacher turned madman dictator forces him and 499 other boys hence, 5,000 fingers to play a ginormous piano. The story pits two men as competitors for the boys widowed mother. Fatherless bartholomew collins tommy rettig dreams that his nefarious piano teacher, dr. Oct 25, 2017 written by dr seuss the 5,000 fingers of dr. It was directed by roy rowland, with many uncredited takes directed by.
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