'7 Faces Of Doctor Lao' stars Tony Randall, an American actor who is perhaps best known for appearing alongside Quincy MD himself - Jack Klugman - in 'The Odd Couple' TV show. In this film he plays not one but seven roles (eight if you count an out of make-up cameo as a townsperson), each unrecognisable from the last.
It was directed by George Pal (of 'The Time Machine' fame) and features Oscar winning make-up, plus stop-motion animation from Ray Harryhausen stablemate, Jim Danforth.
The basic plot may seem traditional or even corny - in a nineteenth century frontier town, wealthy businessman Clinton Stark has inside knowledge of the arrival of the rail-road, and wants to con the landowners into selling up cheap. The newspaper proprietor has suspicions but it seems that greed and self interest will win. That is until the arrival of the enigmatic Chinaman Doctor Lao (and his goldfish)...
Lao is in the town to present his travelling circus of wonders (which is billed as the greatest show on this or another other planet, materialises from nowhere overnight and is bigger on the inside). The Doctor himself is (he says) thousands of years old and comes from a place that no longer exists, - and appears to be very interested in the small lives of the townsfolk and their dilemma's. Certainly he manages to keep everyone off balance and gives the impression that he is far more than he first appears. Hmmm, that sounds familiar...
Incidentally, there is an scene in the town hall meeting to discuss Stark's proposal to buy everyone out where Lao interrupts by scraping his chair loudly across the floor. It's very reminiscent of the scene in 'Jaws' where Quint scrapes his fingernails down the blackboard. I wonder if a young Spielberg saw this film?
When the mysterious circus opens, the locals flock to see what they think will be a bit of a freak show. Instead, Doctor Lao uses each of his seven faces (himself plus the prophet Appollonius, Merlin the magician, the god Pan, the Abominable Snowman, the snake headed Medusa and the 'Great Serpent') to teach them some valuable lessons about their own vanities and small-mindedness. Lao also uses his 'magic' to disrupt damage to the town caused by Stark's bully boy enforcers.
For his grand finale on the second night Lao shows the people of the town an apocalyptic vision that causes them to think about what they are doing. Will the residents ever be the same again? In retaliation. Stark's henchmen decide to trash the circus, but knocking over the goldfish bowl they accidentally release...? Well that would be telling.
Apologies for being a bit vague there but I want to keep some of the mystery of what happens intact.
When I first saw this film nearly forty years ago, I was utterly captivated. I had never seen anything like it and the strength of its images and its magic has stayed with me. It's been one of my all time favourite films ever since. A heart-warming, funny mythological fantasy western adventure / fable for all the family with great creatures? What's not to love? I don't care if the effects now look dated or that some of the supporting characters are a bit clichéd. Tony Randall is just superb in all his various guises - some have said that it's the role of his long career. Certainly he gives Robin Williams a run for his money in the multiple accent stakes. Is Doctor Lao really Chinese at all?
I also love the fact that no-one seems sure about how to pronounce the good Doctor's name - not even the man himself!
At it's heart, '7 Faces Of Doctor Lao' is a film about morals, looking inside yourself and doing the right thing. The wonder of life itself. The plot may be simple but the film is filled with a sense of enchantment and awe and fascination .It's a minor masterpiece.
The travesty is that this delightful, magical film has only been shown on British TV a handful of times (and possibly not at all in my recent memory). Other George Pal classics such as 'The Time Machine' and 'War of the Worlds' have been repeated many times, yet this gem seems to get overlooked. What makes things worse is that it's only available on DVD via the 'burn on demand' Warner Archive scheme in the USA. There seems to have never been a full commercial release in the UK and certainly not a Blu-Ray restored version. It's a real shame because if you are not already aware of the film, there is no way to come across it.
I really hope that somehow it gets a proper release at some point. In the meantime, take a chance - watch it on your local streaming service (if available), catch it on one of it's increasingly rare TV appearances or buy a DVD-R copy from the Archive collection. You won't regret it.
"The whole world is a circus if you look at it in the right way. Every time you pick up a handful of dust and see not the dust but a mystery - a marvel there in your hand. Every time you stop and think 'I'm alive and being alive is fantastic'. Every time such a thing happens, you are part of the circus of Doctor Lao".
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