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Movie Reviews: 7 Faces of Dr. Lao/20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Barb Lien-Cooper

7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
Starring Tony Randall

I've always been a sucker for works about strange carnivals and fairs. Put it down to reading SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES as a teenager. Or maybe put it down to living in a small farm town as a kid, with the only excitement being the traveling circuses and carnivals that would come to town every year. There was always something sort of scary and exotic about these "here one day and gone the next" forms of entertainment. Where do they come from and where do they go when the season is over?

So, I've been curious about "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao" for a long time. But I've also been a little put off by the title, too. Tony Randall is a great actor in light comedies, sure, but I wasn't sure if he could pull off multiple roles. Mostly, I was scared that the film would be overwhelmingly cute or unbearably
sweet.
Finally, I bit the bullet and watched the film...

And was totally enchanted by the work.

If you haven't heard of the film before, it goes something like this. Tony Randall plays Dr. Lao, the Asian carnival master of one of the freakier carnivals ever to hit a small town. While SOMETHING WICKED plays its fantasies dark (see the film of the work if you want to make comparisons), "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" plays its magical world for humor about the foibles of the human condition. The lives of the small townspeople are, not surprisingly, transformed by the wisdom of Dr. Lao and his amazing exhibits.

The script is witty without being so funny as to make the film into nothing but a light comedy. There are some weird ass images here, such as Tony Randall playing a bizarre worm-like creature that wouldn't look too out of place in the classic dark fantasy film "Freaks". The make up is top notch. You will probably blink twice a couple of times, wondering if that's really Felix Unger under all that pancake make up.

The special effects are effective, albeit charmingly outdated in today's world of CGI. If you let yourself get into the fictional dream of the film, however, the lack of CGI won't bother you in the least.

There is a small but somewhat nagging problem in this world of political correctness that I do have to warn you about, however. The character of Dr. Lao himself speaks in such a way as to really jar modern audiences. Sometimes, his dialect isn't much better than "me likee rots and rots". If you can get beyond this initial problem, you will see that the wise, humorous, and knowing way that Randall chooses to play the lead character elevates Dr. Lao up from a stereotype. Plus, without giving too much away, Dr. Lao is not quite what he seems in terms of personal identity. He's a construct, of sorts, intentionally playing into the white small town's perception of Asians. Or, at least that's what I tell myself to get over the discomfort I felt hearing him speak.

As to whether this is a family film, I'm not sure. I mean, it depends on the type of kids you have. If they're easily freaked out by nutty images or they have an overactive imagination prone to nightmares, I probably wouldn't show this to kids. I'm mentioning this because I've known a lot of kids that have been freaked out by, say, the flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz". I've always found that a lot of things that we wouldn't thing would affect kids sometimes do. For instance, I was totally freaked out by the illustrations in ALICE IN WONDERLAND as a kid.

Frankly, this is more a movie for adults that kids will probably like for the "eye candy" than a children's film adults will enjoy, too. There are passages in the film that might make more hyperactive kids squirm a bit. Keep the "fast forward" ready if you want to enjoy it with your family.

But for the adults in the audience who want something completely different, something intelligent but not depressing, something light but not inane, something that's fantasy without having been done to death, you might like "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao". At least you will have the interesting experience of seeing something a bit unlike any other movie of its era.



20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, James Mason

I first saw this film as a little kid and it was like stepping into another world. It was my first Kirk Douglas film, my first Peter Lorre film, my first James Mason film, as well as one of my first live-action Disney films (I think). I've been a fan of all of them, as well as Disney's live-action films, ever since.

The set up: Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas are rescued from certain death by James Mason's Captain Nemo, who has this submarine that looks like its design might have influenced the 1960's version of the Batmobile. As Kirk and Peter soon learn, Nemo has "issues". I'm not kidding. He makes Captain Ahab in Moby Dick look like the poster boy for mental health. In short, Mason's Nemo is the classically obsessed, doomed nutter with a dark adapted eye that the audience can't help but feel has more life to him than the more sane members of the cast. You know, that whole tragic hero thing that people like Shakespeare do so well.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" has that typical Disney "oh, look, literature that's entertaining for kids, let's make it even more so" feeling to it. You constantly feel as if you're experiencing LITERATURE, but you're having such a good time of it that you really don't care that much. However, if you think you're getting the real McCoy literal adaptation of the story the way I did when I was a kid, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. I don't think Jules Verne had a rather delightful performing seal or Kirk Douglas singing (!) in his version of the story. The darker parts of the book were probably left out.

This film won Oscars for special effects and art direction. I don't know what films "20,000 Leagues" was up against, but this mofo would win in just about any year, whether it was one with "7 Voyages of Sinbad" or "Star Wars" in it. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but only a bit. The deep sea stuff is compelling. And who doesn't like the big old giant squid attached to the submarine gambit in a film?

The cast is excellent, of course. James Mason particularly brings a dignity to the role of Nemo that forces all eyes on him when he's onscreen. (As a side note, as much as I like Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier in "X-Men," when I read the comics, the "voice" I hear is always that of James Mason). 'Course, a virile, handsome, incredibly young and fit Kirk Douglas at his peak in Technicolor is none too shabby, either...

The only sad thing about the film is seeing how unhealthy and unhappy Peter Lorre looks. Those in the know say that he had some personal problems and health problems, then (perhaps drugs, but don't take my word on it). It's just a little heartbreaking seeing such a fine actor on the downhill slope of his life and career.

Now, this is a film I would recommend for the family. The story's exciting and almost always entertaining. The parents might have a laugh or two at some of the campier elements (as I said, Kirk SINGS), while the kids will probably digest it hook, line, and sinker.