7 Faces of Dr. Lao

i bought this years ago and watched it several times but last year the soundtrack went out of whack. no matter what i do it stays out of whack even if you download it. is there any chance you will fix this anytime soon?

This review is an excerpt from my book “Killer B’s: The 237 Best Movies On Video You’ve (Probably) Never Seen,” which is available as an ebook on iBooks. If you enjoy this review, there are 236 more like it in the book (plus a whole lot more). Check it out! 7 FACES OF DR. LAO: Diminutive Dr. Lao (Randall) rides into the Old West town of Abalone, circa 1912, puffing his opium pipe, ready to set up his traveling circus. He stumbles into a town crisis, however: Greedy land baron Stark (O’Connell) is trying to buy up the town, while idealistic newspaper editor Ed Cunningham (Ericson) crusades for people to stay and create a community. The entire town attends Lao’s show, and everyone sees something special—but few are capable of understanding exactly what they see. Lao’s center ring spectacle illustrates the fall of a great city into oblivion, cryptically revealing the fate of their own town should they sell out to Stark. Will “surreal estate agent” Lao’s parable open the eyes of the citizens, allowing them to save their fledgling community? Discussion: “Are you an acrobat?” eight-year-old Mike asks Dr. Lao. “Only philosophically,” the ancient Asian replies, a twinkle in his eye. His circus is more than just surface; it’s a mythic mirror, specializing in wisdom. The sideshow is stocked with mythic figures: Pan; a Medusa; the Lock Ness monster; Apollonius of Tyana, cursed to tell the truth, however ugly; Merlin, the wizened wizard, slowly succumbing to senility—and every one of these characters is played by Randall. Each visitor gravitates to the figure most likely to mirror his or her own myth, and peering into that reflection of destiny provides each with a cosmic context for their petty problems. There are more things in heaven and earth than the residents of a dusty Western town can ever dream of, but the pixieish impresario provides them with the opportunity to understand that even Abalone can become an Avalon—and that the entire world is a circus, full of magic and miracles, if you just adjust your perspective. Not only is this a literally fabulous film, full of fun, poignance and timeless wisdom (not to mention exceptional stop-motion effects courtesy of Ray Harryhausen), but it’s also the role(s) of Randall’s career—a tour de force in which he plays literally half the characters in the film. And by all means read Charles Finney’s brilliant, hilarious, astonishingly original source novel! Too few have!

This movie is great if you actually listen to what they are saying you'll like it. Bottom line a great movie!

This is my favorite movie of all time!

Okay, first, you have to see past the cheesy stuff Hollywood put into the movie, such as the romance, the story of the town going dry, and of course you have to get past the Asian and Native American sterotypes. Underneath all of that is the story that Charles Finney wrote in 1935 titiled "The Circus of Dr. Lao." My favorite scene from this movie is the one where Curtis is playing the blind fortune teller with this flirtatous old lady. The scene is a brilliant reflection on the human condition. Blah blah blah, okay, its just a really good movie, so watch it! ;-) Kevin

I watched this movie a month ago and I must say I loved it. It's such a great story that I cannot believe I missed it for some time. The acting is great! I cannot believe that Tony Randall portrayed all those roles in this movie! It's uncanny how he does all of that! I say if you want to watch a fun movie go check this out! You'll not regret it!

Amazing movie !