Way back in the mid-1950s Theodore Geisel wrote a
screenplay. If you don’t know who Geisel is, you probably know him by his
pseudonym Dr. Seuss. Yes, that Dr. Seuss. The one who wrote about fifty
children’s rhyming books between 1937 and 1990, all of which take place in
fantastic worlds populated by bizarre creatures from the mind of a genius. His
screenplay, for which he also conceived the story, is The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
It is a scarcely remembered movie, with barely even a
cult following, that I first came upon as a freshman in college, where the Film
Society made it the first in a Halloween double feature with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I loved
it that first time I saw it and again the next year again (when I became
president of the Film Society I could no longer justify the $250 rental fee
with only about $20 in ticket sales). But I returned to it again recently with
my son, who is well-versed in many of Seuss’s books.
