Fantastic!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

From the fertile mind of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel comes this charming, funny, wacky musical-fantasy. Young Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig) is once again suffering through the infernal piano playing lessons that his mother Heloise (Mary Healy) insists he take. It might not be so bad if his instructor, Dr. Terwilliker (the well cast Hans Conried), weren't such a demanding individual. Overcome by the dreariness of these lessons, Barts' mind begins to construct an elaborate vision: a colorful, tuneful kingdom that Dr. T rules with an iron fist. Among the touches: people who play instruments other than the piano are confined to dungeons.At its best, this is a fun diversion that does play like a Dr. Seuss book come to life. The choreography is most impressive, with a large cast of dancers & musicians dressed in the Seuss tradition. The songs are catchy and performed with gusto by this talented cast, also including Peter Lind Hayes (Healy's real life husband) as easygoing plumber August Zabladowski, who becomes a father figure to Bart. The production design by Rudolph Sternad is first rate, and there are some ingenious sets. Funny visual gags add to the fun, such as a pair of henchmen who share one single extra long beard. The script by Geisel and Allan Scott is worth noting, as it has humor for both adults and children alike.The whole cast is appealing, but Conried is a special treat as the highly theatrical Dr. T.If modern viewers are looking for something different to show their kids, they could do a lot worse than this.Eight out of 10.

Now this is something of a find, and of course I wonder if I had seen Dr. Seuss' The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T as a kid what I would make of it. I imagine I would embrace it even more than I do now; as it is, as a grown man, this is just incredibly wild, odd stuff, and not all of it works but it's certainly a unique achievement. It's like Seuss' Alice in Wonderland with little touches of Wizard of Oz (the whole "You were there, and you were there, and you" aspect, even for subtle things like bearded figures in photos on top of a piano), and it's certainly nothing if not unique.The easiest way to describe what it's about is that its a... musical about a fascist dictator only he is obsessed most of all with getting his piano army to play perfectly (the 5,000 fingers belonging eventually to the many children - probably not 5,000 total, it just sounds cool, but I digress). There's a little boy named Bart Collins (a decent child actor in Tommy Rettig) and he is in the real world kind of pressured/forced by his harsh piano teacher Dr. Terkwilliker to keep playing and playing, and his mother (Healy) does the same. But he falls asleep (or is it hypnosis of some kind, dun-dun-dun) and enters into a kind of nightmarish world where Dr. T is the ruler and he has minions and jailers and a whole system set up - but most of all a very, very long piano.Why is he obsessed with the piano? Eh, honestly, who cares after a certain point; he's one of those self-aware movie villains (or at least Seuss is clever enough in the writing of him) to know that it's just the fun of being villainous that's the thing. He's the sort of guy who has a musical number about people getting him dressed with his wide array of a wardrobe. Meanwhile there is the opposite side of Dr. T, the Nice Guy leading man Mr. Zabladowski (Peter Lynd Hayes, the only plumber I can think of with pomade in his hair all the time keeping it just perfect), and Bart needs to help him so that he won't be turned as a puppet by Dr. T (and as his mother has become in this world), or worse.This moves around with the sort of wild invention, manic and vivid set designs, and sense of continuous, rambunctious, over the top play that has made Dr. Seuss so beloved over the past century. I think you'll either go for it or you might not, depending on your quota of weird and odd images. Did I mention it's a musical? Or I should say it is but only about 25 minutes into the film. That's one of the flaws of the movie, where it has music to it but it doesn't show itself as being what it really wants to be until Mr. Zablowski and Bart share a song (a soft number, probably the least effective). Then again once it gets into it, and Seuss' creative lyrics start to spout off, it's a lot of fun.Some of the movie drags here and there - yes, even at 88 minutes - primarily with a sequence involving a bunch of green-skinned men who are jumping around and playing musical instruments (it feels like 5 minutes is spent on a xylophone alone). I should complain about the excessive musical numbers - even a black elevator operator in one scene gets a song (only black man I should note, which is strange unto itself but not uncommon for 1953) - but that's actually where the movie kind of shines and the singers do wonderfully (albeit not the actor actors I don't think, except for Hans Conreid who can do no wrong here).There are a lot of really creative ideas here, such as the device that sucks up all the air in a room and makes it sounds warped and silly, or little things like giant hands and arms that stick out of the wall and can open up doors. It's all so much that I'm tempted to say that it would have been a little easier to take - or just greater visually speaking - had it been an animated film, with its music easy enough to interweave. But with live action it's both a success and kind of a slog a couple of times as I mentioned, with the actors doing fine more or less except for Conreid who is, I should say again, spectacular here as he eats up the scenery but doesn't go so far as to take you out of the scene in its context. He's having the time of his life here, and Seuss created something unique in its time and place: a live-action children's musical with some subtle (or not so subtle) satire about dictatorships and oppression for kids.

Bart Collins is haunted by Dr. Terwilliker's piano lessons. Even in his dreams, he's haunted by Terwilliker who has built a fanciful piano that will have 500 children or 5000 fingers playing it. He must save his widowed mother Heloise Collins from under Terwilliker's spell. The only person who might be able to help is the Collins' plumber August Zabladowski.Written by Dr Seuss, this has all his original visual styles. It is imaginative, creative, and hypnotic. The style is definitely 50s even with songs of sounds of the era. The acting has that childlike broad feel that is so fitting for a movie that takes place almost entirely in a child's imagination. The best is Hans Conried as the evil Dr. Terwilliker. His unique voice adds depth to his performance.

This film was the first script by a then unknown Dr. Seuss. It's not surprising to see his influence on children's literature. Tommy Rettig played Bart Collins, a young boy who couldn't stand piano lessons. When he dreams of a nightmare about his piano teacher, Dr. T for Tutwiler I think, he believes that his piano teacher has a plan to enslave 500 boys to sit and play the piano on a grand scale. The visual images are unforgettable. Who could forget Bart's mother, Mrs. Collins, played by the late Mary Healy and reunited on screen with her husband Peter Lind Hayes. Healy and Hayes were a real life couple who performed on screen and on stage as well. Peter Lind Hayes played the plumber, August Szabatowski, who comes to Bart's rescue. When Bart learns of Dr. T's plans, he sets to foil it. The film's art direction is first rate. The film score deserved it's Oscar nomination. Hans Conreid played Dr. T with delight and pleasure despite his evil plan to turn his piano school. The film could be a delight for both children and adults. It's probably dated by today's standards.