My friends and I were used to going to lightweight movies in the Sixties. We would see Doris Day or Rock Hudson or Shirley MacLaine. Tony Randall often played a best friend to a romantic lead or some other less significant role. This one shows what a wonderful actor he was. He plays a strange Chinese "magician" who comes to a dying town in Arizona. The people are in disarray because they see that things are falling apart. Arthur O'Connel (who usually played kindly types) is aware of the railroad going through the town and is doing everything to get people to sell him their land. The thing with Dr. Lao's circus is that when one goes to it, they learn things about themselves. Some of things are very disturbing. Lao is able to bring up monsters and mythological figures. When someone does something evil, he counteracts their actions or punishes them in some way. Randall plays all seven faces, each having significant effect on the town-folks. Mostly, I remember how I could not get this film out of my head for weeks because it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I have since read the book and watched the film a couple more times. It has aged really well.
Review of 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
