- Film Review
- Reviewed By Sue Heal
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3 out of 5
Children will revel in this fun adventure based on Hugh Lofting's stories, but in its day it was an infamous and costly disaster that almost killed off 20th Century-Fox. Its longevity belies a thumpingly leaden affair, in which Rex Harrison is squeakily embarrassing as the dotty doc. There are some good tunes, including the Oscar-winning Talk to the Animals, and the special effects also won an Academy Award, but overall it is rather a bore - to adults, that is. Another curious example of a film that bombed at the box office in its day, but refuses to lie in its celluloid grave.
Plot Summary
Musical fantasy adventure starring Rex Harrison. As a result of his treatment by his neighbours, which leads to his arrest, Doctor Dolittle decides to abandon his surgery for humans in favour of a practice that solely treats animals. He learns nearly 500 animal dialects from his parrot, Polynesia, and becomes the proud possessor of a pushmi-pullyu. But his greatest ambition is to travel to the South Seas in search of the elusive great pink sea snail and the Giant Lunar Moth.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Doctor John Dolittle
- Rex Harrison
- Matthew Mugg
- Anthony Newley
- General Bellowes
- Peter Bull
- Tommy Stubbins
- William Dix
- Sarah Dolittle
- Portia Nelson
- Emma Fairfax
- Samantha Eggar
- Albert Blossom
- Richard Attenborough
- Mrs Blossom
- Muriel Landers
- Willy Shakespeare
- Geoffrey Holder
- Lady Petherington
- Norma Varden
Crew
- Director
- Richard Fleischer
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