DR. DOLITTLE (1967, U.S.)

Doctor Dolittle

(1967, U.S.) color 152 minutes
APJAC Productions / Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Story: Hugh Lofting (from his novels)
Screenplay: Leslie Bricusse
Produced by Mort Abrahams, Arthur P. Jacobs
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Editing: Samuel E. Beetley, Marjorie Fowler
Music: Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley
Production Design: Mario Chiari
Special Effects: L.B. Abbott, Art Cruickshank,
Emil Kosa Jr., Howard Lydecker
Produced by Arthur P. Jacobs
Directed by Richard Fleischer

With: Rex Harrison (Dr. John Dolittle), Samantha Eggar (Emma Fairfax), Anthony Newley (Matthew Mugg), Richard Attenborough (Albert Blossom), Peter Bull (Gen. Bellowes), Muriel Landers (Mrs. Blossom), William Dix (Tommy Stubbins), Geoffrey Holder (William Shakespeare X), Portia Nelson (Sarah Dolittle), Norma Varden (Lady Petherington)

***

In 1967, producer Arthur P. Jacobs released a feature-length musical version of Dr. Dolittle, based upon the children's stories of Hugh Lofting. The movie recalls Dolittle's efforts to protect the animals and make their plight fully understood by the human race.

The film opens on a beautiful summer's day in Puddleby-On-The-Marsh, England in 1845. While selling his wares to the cats in the small British village Mathew Mugg (Anthony Newley) and his young friend Tommy Stubbins (William Dix, who had appeared in THE NANNY with Bette Davis two years previous) find an injured duck by the river. Seeing that the poor bird needs medical attention, the pair head for Dr. John Doittle's home, to see if the doctor can ask the duck how he got hurt.

When Tommy asks Mathew about Doliitle's abilities to talk with and aid the animals, Mugg explains the Dr.'s unique talents in his song, “My Friend, The Doctor.” While walking to his home, a rainstorm hits the small village and the pair arrive at the doctor's front door thoroughly soaked. Polynesia (voiced by Ginny Tyler), Dolittle's pet parrot, takes the pair to her master's study. There, they see Dolittle (Rex Harrison, best remembered for his stage and screen portrayals of Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”) engage in some rather strange conversations with his goldfish. The doctor explains that he is trying to learn how to speak the fish's language for the purpose of preparing for an expedition to seek out and talk with “The Great Pink Sea Snail.”

Mugg dismisses the doctor's plans, seeing them as little more than wild tales told by drunken sailors. Dolittle disagrees and shows proof that the sea snail does exist. He wants to obtain funding and learn how to talk to the creature prior to going on this great adventure. Inviting the two to stay the night at his combination home and animal clinic, the doctor finds dry clothes for Mathew and Tommy and speaks with them while Chee-Chee the Chimp prepares the evening meal. Along with vegetables, Chee-Chee also cooks sausages and bacon, foods that Dolittle no longer eats, but still the sight of cooked pork upsets his pet pig, Gub-Gub. Chee-Chee stops Gub-Gub's whining by slapping the pig's behind with his ladle. Dolittle explains why he refrains from eating meat to his friends in the ballad “The Reluctant Vegetarian.”

During dinner, Stubbins asks the doctor how he changed his medical practice from treating humans to treating animals. Dolittle then recalls when he was a GMP for humans until a unsuccessful visit from Lady Pennington (Norma Varden, who played Captain Von Trapp's housekeeper in THE SOUND OF MUSIC) and the Vicar (Gilchrist Stuart) forced Dolittle to give up his medical practice on humans. He asked his unsympathetic sister Sarah (Portia Nelson) to leave, so that he could create a medical clinic for animals. Taking animal speaking lessons from Polynesia, Dolittle quickly learned that animal talk is a combination of sounds and body language. Before long, the doctor learns the language of the animals and celebrates his accomplishments in the song, “Talk To the Animals!”

The next day, Dolittle and his friends are treating the patients already in the clinic. The ones who need the most care are the duck who hurt his wing during a flight with his family,a mouse who foolishly tried to eat the grains inside of Bellows silo, Sheila the Vixen and her fox cubs who have flat feet after trying to run away from Bellows and the members of his fox hunting club, and Toggle, the General's horse, who is plagued by nearsightedness.

Unfortunately, Bellows (Peter Bull) and his niece Emma Fairfax (Samatha Eggar) are coming into the clinic. The is accusing Dr. Dolittle of stealing his horse and protecting the foxes and ruining his hunt. The forces the physician to remove Toggle's eyeglasses and he stalks the grounds of Dolittle's home to find Sheila and her cubs. His dogs traces the foxs' scent to the barn. Bellows enters the barn only to be chased out by a group of skunks.

Dolittle explains that the skunks are there to help throw off the scent of dogs and to prevent any hunters and dogs from attacking the foxes. Mathew and Tommy applaud the doctor's ingenious efforts. Their joy is not shared by Ms. Fairfax, who accuses the doctor of wasting his time playing with animals. Dolittle is also angry at Ms. Fairfax and her uncle, the General, and his abusive pastime of hurting defenseless creatures. He asks her to leave his home and to stay away from the animals.

Outraged, Ms. Fairfax runs home, but begins to see the doctor's point of view, and sings about his gallant efforts in the tune, “The Crossroads Of Life.” That same day, a large crate arrives at Dolittle's Home. The box is a gift from his friend, Longarrow, containing a rare creature, the Pushmi-Pullyu (a two headed llama). Longarrow explains in his letter that Dolittle should sell the creature to obtain funding needed for his expedition.

The next day, Dolittle meets with Albert Blossom (Sir Richard Attenborough) to try and sell the animal to his struggling little circus. Blossom is not interested until he sees The Pushmi-Pullyu, and the exuberant circus man sings the praises of this unique attraction in the song, “I've Never Seen Anything Like It!” Buying the animal and hiring the doctor to care for his animals, the circus exhibits the Pushmi-Pullyu, and the animal is a hit with the citizens of England. Everyone is enchanted with the animal except for Ms. Fairfax. After one show, she accosts Dolittle, calling him a fraud and a hypocrite. The doctor ignores the young woman's ravings but wise-minded Mathew explains the doctor's unique talents in, “Beautiful Things.”

Finally understanding Dolittle's abilities, Fairfax accepts the doctor as a brilliant humanitarian for nonhuman creatures. In the meantime, Sophie the Circus Seal is unhappy. After a consultation with Dolittle she explains that Blossom took her away from her husband at the North Pole and she wants to return home to him. Finding some woman's clothing and taking her out of the circus that night, the pair head for the cliffs of Dover where Dolittle throws Sophie into the seas, and she swims back to The North Pole. Dolittle waves goodbye but he is apprehended by two men and the police, and is soon brought before Bellows on a charge of murder.

Dolittle explains his actions by interrogating the General's dog. He successfully proves that he is not guilty of murder. But Bellows believes that the doctor's ability to talk to animals is a threat to the human race and he and his fellow judges along with the court doctors find Dolittle insane and have him committed to the local mental hospital. Outraged at their actions, Dolittle sings about man's cruel mistreatment of animals in the song, “Like Animals.”

Seeing that they must help their friend escape, Mathew, Tommy, Emma and the animals take charge of the wagon that will transfer Dolittle from the city jail to the hospital. The horses go wild and send the police into a chaotic chase. The wagon soon arrives at the docks, where Mathew, Tommy, Emma, the Dr. and his pets take charge of a small vessel known as The Flounder. The ship is soon at sea and during dinner, the doctor explains how they will chart their course by sticking a pin into a world atlas: wherever the pin lands, they will go!

Needless to say, Emma Fairfax thinks that the doctor's idea is crazy, but the idea of world travel enchants her and the group sings of their journey in the tune, “Fabulous Faraway Places.” After sticking their pin into the atlas, they choose the locale of Sea Star Island, a small atoll that has been removed from the African coast due to an earthquake; the isle has been floating like a lost ship all over the sea for many years. Later that night, another storm sends The Flounder to the briny.

The pets, Mathew, Tommy, Dolittle and Emma survive the storm and land on Sea Star Island. Their presence on the island is not happily shared by it's inhabitants. Believing that they have caused the animals on the island to get sick, the group is captured and imprisoned in a hut. Their fate is stalled by the tribe's softspoken leader William Shakespeare The Tenth (Geoff Holder in his first film appearance). Willie doesn't believe that the group is guilty of harming the animals on the island, but is having trouble convincing his people of this, and tells Dolittle and his fellows they had better do something to prove their innocence or, according to the laws of the island, their crimes are punishable by the “Death of a Thousand Screams!”

Seeing that the island must get to a warmer climate to prevent any further infections, Dolittle calls upon a friendly whale to move the island to the warmer aspects of the South Seas. The whale moves the island, but his efforts are hampered by inadvertently knocking a rock into a volcano and creating a near-fatal eruption. For this crime, the group is found guilty and they are placed before a squad of spearthrowers. Just as all seems lost, Sea Star Island is rejoined with the African coast once again. Willie stops the spear throwers and tells Dolittle and his party that for their heroic efforts, they can live like gods for a thousand moons.

Everyone is happy, but Dolittle can't celebrate, for he needs to help the animals. Keeping everyone out of his makeshift clinic, he treats the animals while Mathew and Tommy sing about the doctor's talents in the song, “The World Of Dr. Dolittle” to the local children. When he has cured his patients, the good doctor allows Mathew, Tommy and the kids of Sea Star Island to visit with the animals. Just at that moment The Great Pink Sea Snail arrives at the shores of the atoll. He asks to see Dolittle quickly. The doctor comes to the beach and finds out that the poor creature is suffering from a bad cold due to the changes in the weather. After administering a large dose of his specially-made cold syrup, the grateful Pink Sea Snail agrees to take Emma, Mathew, Tommy and the doctor's pets back to England. Dolitle refuses to return only because he knows that as soon as he returns home to Puddleby, Bellows and the authorities will throw him into the mental hospital or prison.

Emma tries to get Dolittle to return with them, but he says no and tells Emma that he is just not use to do dealing with people. Hurt and angry, Emma leaves with the others. Dolittle watches as his friends leave for home and he makes plans for another expedition to find and talk with the Giant Lunar Moth. Dolittle is awakened the next morning by the barks of Sophie The Seal and her husband Charlie; they have come to Sea Star Island to tell their friend that the animals in England are outraged at the mistreatment of their benefactor and they have gone on strike! They will continue to protest Dolittle's exile until he is reprieved by the British authorities.

Sophie and Charlie finally get word that Dolittle has gained his reprieve from Bellows and he is asked to return home. Happily, Dolittle seeks out Willie and he asks him to help him draw the outline of a moth in the sand and then asks the members of Willie's tribe to sit in the markings that he has created. This signal will bring The Giant Lunar Moth to the isle and Dolittle will ask the insect to fly him home. Later that night, a strange aberration is seen flying against the moon: Dolittle, in a makeshift saddle astride the Giant Lunar Moth, as he flies back to his home to the strains of “My Friend The Doctor.”

DR. DOLITTLE was not well received by the critics, who dismissed it as an uneven combination of musical-fantasy and political satire, but the kids loved it, and it has since become a popular attraction at Saturday matinee showings and on TV, as well as the home video market. The script is charming and witty, the songs by Newley and Bricusse are tuneful, and the performances are all funny and charming, especially Rex Harrison in his second and last movie musical performance. The song “Talk To The Animals” won the Oscar for best song. I first saw DR. DOLITTLE at the Criterion Movie Theater on New York's Times Square with my parents and brothers back in 1967 and I loved it. It still enchants me, and is miles ahead of the forgettable remakes with Eddie Murphy.

Trivia Note: Samantha Eggar did not sing in the movie. Her singing voice was dubbed by a vocalist, Diana Lee. Lee's dubbing in the film was not given credit.

- Kevin S. Butler

Video/DVD availability: VHS/DVD (Fox Home Video)