The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

Selected by Roy Parker (Visitor Experience Associate)

Selected by Roy Parker (Visitor Experience Associate) 

The only project written for the screen by the great Dr. Seuss (under his real name, Theodor S. Geisel) this musical fantasy demonstrates the remarkable reach of the author’s imagination with a one-of-a-kind moviegoing experience. Tommy Rettig (of TV’s Lassie) plays Bart Collins, a young boy so consumed with hatred for his piano teacher, Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried), that he dreams of Terwilliker as an evil genius enslaving 500 boys to play his colossal piano. Seuss was unsatisfied with the end result and the film was originally considered a failure, but its imaginative and distinctive vision has earned it a reputation as a classic in the decades since. 

DIRECTOR: Roy Rowland. WRITTEN BY: Theodor S. Geisel, Allan Scott. CAST: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, Tommy Rettig. 1953. 90 min. USA. Color. English. DCP. 

Family Matinees in August present films chosen by Academy Museum staff. 

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 

Make It Dinner and a Movie

Fanny's Restaurant & Café
Fanny's Restaurant & Café

All guests who present a ticket for a film screening, Tuesday through Saturday (and the first Sunday of every month), receive 10% off all food and non-alcoholic beverages at Fanny's. Discount only applicable on the same day as the screening and cannot be redeemed for another screening or date. Dinner reservations can be made on OpenTable or Resy.