I can see why this film would attract a cult following, and most of the musical/dance numbers are indeed very good. But I ended up not actually liking it that much, precisely because it is so recognisably reminiscent of the mindset of a certain type of small boy whom I have disliked from the days of "Just William" onwards -- music, poetry, reading, keeping to the rules and all that sissy girly stuff are Bad: sport, fishing, practical jokes and shaggy dogs are Good, and anyone interested in the former can only be doing so for deeply suspicious motives. As for the very unsubtle plot about Bart trying to pair off his mother with what he sees as a new father figure, it just makes me cringe. This is an accurate wish-fulfilment fantasy of a nine-year-old, but what I find alienating is that it's played to the audience at face value; I suspect that I personally might have preferred Dr Seuss's original scripting of the plumber as an elderly man to be played by Karl Malden.
My other problem with the film was that the excellent Hans Conreid totally steals the show from the other characters -- particularly noticeable when he and the generic blue-collar hero Peter Lind Hayes share screen time, with the latter virtually vanishing into bland nonentity. By the big escape scene I realised, with a jolt, that as a result I was actually on the side of the villain and was thoroughly gratified to see the heroes' plans unexpectedly foiled; and while I do seem to have this frequent problem with Hollywood output, it's never a good outcome since it inevitably means you end up on the losing side!
There are elements clearly recognisable as bearing Dr Seuss's imprint -- the truly bizarre dungeon ballet and Dr Terwilliker's lavish dressing song, with its love of wordplay and preposterous lyrics. Superimposed somewhat uneasily alongside this seems to be an all-American musical about family values and 'coming of age' featuring a wholesomely naughty corn-fed scamp (portrayed very competently by Tommy Rettig); those who remember being, or wishing to be, that kind of small boy presumably find the character much easier to identify with. The film is very good at being gleefully villainous, but failed to engage my sympathies for its child's-eye heroics.
Ironically, the loathed "Ten Happy Fingers" is actually quite a good tune. A very good tune, by piano-exercise standards....
My other problem with the film was that the excellent Hans Conreid totally steals the show from the other characters -- particularly noticeable when he and the generic blue-collar hero Peter Lind Hayes share screen time, with the latter virtually vanishing into bland nonentity. By the big escape scene I realised, with a jolt, that as a result I was actually on the side of the villain and was thoroughly gratified to see the heroes' plans unexpectedly foiled; and while I do seem to have this frequent problem with Hollywood output, it's never a good outcome since it inevitably means you end up on the losing side!
There are elements clearly recognisable as bearing Dr Seuss's imprint -- the truly bizarre dungeon ballet and Dr Terwilliker's lavish dressing song, with its love of wordplay and preposterous lyrics. Superimposed somewhat uneasily alongside this seems to be an all-American musical about family values and 'coming of age' featuring a wholesomely naughty corn-fed scamp (portrayed very competently by Tommy Rettig); those who remember being, or wishing to be, that kind of small boy presumably find the character much easier to identify with. The film is very good at being gleefully villainous, but failed to engage my sympathies for its child's-eye heroics.
Ironically, the loathed "Ten Happy Fingers" is actually quite a good tune. A very good tune, by piano-exercise standards....