Today on Trailers From Hell, TFH Guru Alan Spencer talks 7 FACES OF DR. LAO. The Circus of Dr. Lao, written by Charles G. Finney in 1935, was a cynical, trenchant satire of the small minds of small town people. George Pal, whose perennially sunny demeanor was in sharp contrast to Finney’s curdled comedy, kept his rose-colored glasses firmly in place when he directed his own version in 1964 from a screenplay by Charles Beaumont. Though the pungent atmosphere is missing from Pal’s adaptation, several memorable things remain including a bittersweet score from Leigh Harline (Pinocchio), an assortment of mythical monsters courtesy of William Tuttle and Wah Chang and, most importantly, a brilliant tour-de-force by Tony Randall as the mysterious ringmaster Lao. Randall possessed one of the most beautiful speaking voices in Hollywood and he uses it to full effect in 7 Faces, inhabiting everything from a wistful Merlin the Magician to a spooky drag version of the snake-headed Medusa.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 16:47:55 +0000