It’s the event we’ve all been waiting for. (You know it’s true.)
Join me tomorrow evening on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” as I take it all off. That’s right. The Covid beard is going.
Tune in at 7:00 EDT for the LIVE SHAVE, which will coincide with Roy and my conversation about “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” (1964).
George Pal directed this outlandish Western allegory, with Tony Randall starring as the titular Eastern trickster AND each of the featured attractions in his bizarre traveling circus – each one somehow reflective of the townsfolk’s individual foibles.
Think of it as “Something Wicked This Way Comes” meets “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” with perhaps just a touch of “Blazing Saddles,” or at least “The Apple Dumpling Gang.” Barbara Eden plays Marian the librarian, or her equivalent, and two-time Academy Award nominee Arthur O’Connell – who looks an awful lot like Willy Wonka’s Jack Albertson – is the jaded idealist turned ruthless capitalist determined to buy out the town. Along the way, everyone is offered important insights into themselves (not everyone learns) and the underlying miracle of existence. Just watch out for the Loch Ness Monster!
The screenplay is credited to Charles Beaumont, who was responsible for some of the best “Twilight Zone” episodes. However, late in his sadly foreshortened life a number of Beaumont’s friends were known to have stepped up to help out with his workload. It’s rumored that the legendary Ben Hecht may have lent a hand.
Originally, Pal envisioned Peter Sellers for the lead. Thankfully, Sellers was too expensive. In his place, MGM imposed one of its contract players. It’s a real tour de force for Randall. Definitely don’t go into it expecting Doris Day or “The Odd Couple!”
The “7 Faces” will be capped by an eighth this week, as I am shorn, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Fight for my discarded whiskers in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!
