I'm delighted to be able to help you identify this film, since it is
one of my all-time favorites.
The movie with the scene in which a group of children are wearing blue
hats with yellow fingers on top is "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," a
1953 film in which young Tommy Rettig (who later starred in "Lassie"
on television) is forced to take piano lessons from a tyrannical
madman played by Hans Conreid. There is a wonderful scene in which
hundreds of children, each wearing a "Happy Fingers" hat, sit at a
seemingly endless piano keyboard which winds around a huge room.
Here's a synopsis of the plot:
"One of the strangest and most delightful films ever made, 1953's The
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T marked the first and only time that Theodore
Geisel ? AKA Dr. Seuss ? contributed his genius to a feature film (and
no, that posthumous Ron Howard-directed Grinch travesty doesn't
count). Fatherless young Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig, of TV's 'Lassie')
hates his piano lessons like poison and considers his zealous music
teacher, Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conreid), to be his 'only enemy in the
world.' Forced by his mother (Mary Healy) to sit inside all day
practicing Dr. T's 'Happy Fingers' method, Bart passes out at the
keyboard ? and enters a surreal, Seussian nightmare, where he's
trapped in the prison-like Terwilliker Institute. Bart discovers that
his maniacal piano teacher has hypnotized his mother and plans to
force 500 imprisoned boys ? all clad in identical 'Happy Fingers'
beanie caps ? to practice 24 hours a day, seven days a week at his
giant piano. His only ally is the plumber, Mr. Zabladowski (Peter Lind
Hayes), a sort of Freudian father figure who alternately advises him,
disbelieves him, flirts with him, and hits on his mother. The bizarre
tone to the story ? lonely boy fixates on evil piano teacher and hunky
plumber ? is amplified by the Dali-meets-Seuss sets and costumes, and
the elaborate, bizarre production numbers."
DVD Journal: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T
http://www.dvdjournal.com/quickreviews/00/5000fingersofdrt.q.shtml
"The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" is available on DVD and on VHS:
Amazon.com: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059H74
Amazon.com: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (VHS)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304068565
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "5000 fingers of dr t"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%225000+fingers+of+dr+t
I hope this helps! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
