Doctor Dolittle (1967)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Doctor Dolittle |
| Original title | Doctor Dolittle |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1967 |
| length | 152 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Fleischer |
| script | Leslie Bricusse , based on novels by Hugh Lofting |
| production | Arthur P. Jacobs |
| music |
Leslie Bricusse , Lionel Newman |
| camera | Robert Surtees |
| cut |
Samuel E. Beetley , Marjorie Fowler |
| occupation | |
| |
Doctor Dolittle (1967) is a film musical by Richard Fleischer based on stories by English author Hugh Lofting . Elements from the books Doctor Dolittle and His Animals , Doctor Dolittle's Circus , Doctor Dolittle's Floating Island and Doctor Dolittle on the Moon were incorporated into the plot . The film opened in German cinemas on December 5, 1967.
action
Dr. With the help of the parrot Polynesia, John Dolittle (Rex Harrison) learned the language of 498 animal species (with "goldfish" it would be 499, but he is still working on it). He lives in the small English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh at the time of Queen Victoria and was actually once a doctor. His sister Sarah (Portia Nelson) long ago gave him the choice of either humans or animals, and ran away when the doctor chose animals.
First part - introduction of the main characters
When Irish cat feeder Matthew Mugg (Anthony Newley) finds an injured duck, he and his little assistant, Tommy Stubbins (William Dix) , bring it to Doctor Dolittle's. He explains to Tommy that the doctor understands the language of animals (song: My Friend the Doctor ) and can definitely help her. When they arrive at Doctor Dolittle's, they find countless animals in his household, including the chimpanzee Tschi-Tschi ( Cheeta ), the duck Dab-Dab, the dog Jip and of course the parrot Polynesia, who is the only one who speaks to the doctor in an understandable language (for the audience, with all other animals the doctor speaks in their own language).
The doctor is, in protest of the pig Göb-Göb, in the process of cooking a chain of sausages for free, and explains to Matthew and Tommy that he is a vegetarian himself (song: The Vegetarian ). In response to Tommy's request, he tells how it came about that he only treated animals and learned the language of animals (song: Talk to the Animals ). After Matthew and Tommy stayed overnight with the doctor, they saw General Bellowes (Peter Bull) storm into the house the next morning , accompanied by his nice niece Emma Fairfax (Samantha Eggar). The general accuses the doctor of stealing the horse Toggle , which the doctor prescribed glasses for because of his nearsightedness. When the general sees the fox Sheila , who has fled into the doctor's house , the passionate fox hunter falls through and he chases after her. The left Emma has meanwhile a sharp argument with the doctor. She accuses him of wasting his life with animals, but he finds it shameful that, as a lady, she had nothing to do but enjoy hunting innocent animals (song: At the Crossroads ).
A bamboo box is delivered to the doctor with a very unusual content, the two-headed push-me - pull-up (it looks roughly like a llama , but has a head each at the front and back of the body). An Indian friend of the doctor sent it to the doctor so that he could raise money for an expedition to the rare purple giant sea snail. The doctor makes contact with the ringmaster Blossom (Richard Attenborough), who is absolutely thrilled about the push-me-pulling (song: I've never seen anything like it ). Emma Fairfax goes to the circus show and is still unsure about the doctor's state of mind, but Matthew Mugg convinces her that he is one of the most amiable people ever (song: Beautiful Things ).
In the circus, the doctor meets the seal Sophie , who is very unhappy there and wants to flee to her husband in the North Pole. The doctor disguises Sophie as an "elderly lady" with "borrowed" clothes and drives her to the sea in Bristol in a borrowed carriage (song: When I look in your Eyes ) and releases her there into the water. He is watched by two police officers and dragged to court for the murder of a lady. The presiding judge is General Bellowes, of all people, and he promptly wants to send the doctor to the madhouse when he says that he has talked to Sophie. The doctor can, however, win Bellowe's Danish mastiff Rufus to some "testimony" as a witness , and although it has also been clarified that the actual owner of the disguise is still alive, the doctor is still sentenced by the vengeful general to be taken to the madhouse (song: Like Animals ).
Part Two - The Great Expedition
Matthew Mugg has already bought the sailing ship Flounder in anticipation of the doctor's release . Emma Fairfax persuades him to take her on the trip as a stowaway, and after his consent, thanks him with a kiss (song: After Today ). When the doctor is being transported away in the prison carriage, the monkey Tschi-Tschi steals the keys to their door, and Parrot Polynesia persuades the draft horse to go through with the coach. After a wild chase, the doctor arrives with the animals on the ship, and they finally set off on the great expedition. When Emma Fairfax identifies herself as a fellow traveler, the doctor is quite outraged and wants to send her back ashore first. But she can offer her help in the kitchen, and besides, the doctor would be arrested again when he returns. Since the doctor has no idea where the giant sea slug can be found, he lets Emma prick blindly into an atlas and she stabs the Sea Star Island , a mysterious floating island (song: Fabulous Places ).
When Emma falls asleep on a pile of laundry after hard work on board, she finds Matthew Mugg and sings the song Where are the Words . Then the animals start to get restless and the rats also want to leave the ship because a storm is approaching. Indeed, the next morning only the wreckage of the ship is left. The doctor has saved himself relatively happily with his books on a larger remnant, while Matthew and Tommy do not have to be quite as happy with a much more uncomfortable smaller part of the ship. But there is no trace of Emma. However, the doctor is certain that he will see her again soon and that he will be on the trail of the floating island. A dolphin pushes the castaways until they have actually reached the nearby island, where after a short search they meet Emma (song: I Think I Like You ). Shortly afterwards, the castaways are surrounded by a tribe of wild-looking natives and are dragged off to a dark hut. A mouse can bite the doctor's fetters, and when he peers outside, he is overcome with a certain unease: The natives practice spear throwing on straw dolls that resemble the castaways.
The chief of the natives, William Shakespeare the Tenth (he would rather be called "Willie") (Geoffrey Holder), invites the doctor to tea and explains that the survivors of countless castaways have built their own happy culture on the island However, the weather has meanwhile become bitterly cold and only the new castaways could be to blame, they would have to be sacrificed to the gods in the "Death of a Thousand Screams". Until then, the castaways are allowed to roam freely on the island, which the doctor uses to ask a herd of whales to push them to warmer climes. In the process, however, a large boulder falls into a volcano, whereupon Willie Shakespeare finds, in his cunning book of local customs and traditions, extremely saddened that this means that the shipwrecked would now even die the "death of ten thousand screams". The castaways are immediately tied to stakes and the execution is to begin when the floating island is pushed back to its original location on the African continent with another big jolt and a tree that has been split lengthways is put back together again. Willie Shakespeare then finds in his Book of Customs that it means that whoever manages to bring the island back should live like the gods for a thousand moons, and the prisoners are released immediately.
After the release, the Doctor devotes himself to healing the many sick animals, while Matthew Mugg sings a song about Doctor Dolittle to the native children (song: Doctor Dolittle ). Fortunately for the doctor, the big pink giant sea snail also appears on the shores of the former island because it has caught a cold and wants to use the doctor's help. She agrees to bring the castaways home to England in her giant case and the natives help to make the inside of the case reasonably comfortable for the long journey. When they want to leave, however, the doctor explains, to Emma's chagrin, that he will not come because the madhouse in England is still waiting for him (song: Something in Your Smile ). After her departure, however, he learns from the seal Sophie that all animals in England have gone on strike and that the authorities are Dr. Ask Dolittle to come back. Instead, the doctor makes his way back to England with a giant moon moth that happens to live on the island and looks forward to the astonished faces of Emma and the others when he is already standing on the quay when they arrive.
German version
The German dubbing was created in 1967 in the studios of Berliner Synchron GmbH in Berlin under the direction of Dietmar Behnke . The dialogue book was written by Fritz A. Koeniger .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor Dolittle | Rex Harrison | Friedrich Schoenfelder |
| Matthew Mugg | Anthony Newley | Harald Juhnke |
| Emma Fairfax | Samantha Eggar | Uta Hallant |
| Albert Blossom | Richard Attenborough | Klaus W. Krause |
| General Bellows | Peter Bull | Martin Hirthe |
| Willy Shakespeare | Geoffrey Holder | Edgar Ott |
| Lady Petherington | Norma Varden | Agnes Windeck |
Reviews
“The fantastic adventures of Dr. Dolittle, who speaks 498 animal languages and is looking for a giant sea snail - presented as an elaborate musical with catchy melodies, amazing ideas and considerable performance. "
“This lavishly staged fairytale musical describes the adventures of Doctor Dolittle […] The well-known children's books by Anglo-Irish Hugh Lofting sketched the title hero Dr. Dolittle was more like a plump, white-haired male, whose appearance did not correspond at all to the smart Rex Harrison. Nevertheless, the experiment of portraying the animal-loving doctor in a completely different way was extremely successful. "
“The fantastic and amusing adventures of the bizarre animal lover and misanthropist Dr. Dolittle. [...] Elaborate and colorful, but conventional and lengthy staging, musically rather poor than rousing. Suitable from 12 years of age, as the excess length is too much for the younger ones. "
Awards
- 1968: Oscars for the best special effects for LB Abbott and the best song ( Talk to the Animals ) for Leslie Bricusse (accepted for him by Sammy Davis Jr. ) as well as seven other nominations a. a. as best film
- 1968: Golden Globe Award for Richard Attenborough for Best Supporting Actor and four other nominations
- 1968: Grammy nomination for Leslie Bricusse for Best Original Score
Other films with Doctor Dolittle
- 1928: Dr. Dolittle and his animals (silhouette film)
- 1970: Doctor Dolittle (animated series)
- 1984: The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle (cartoon series)
The films Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) with Eddie Murphy only use the name of the protagonist and the basic idea of talking to animals, but otherwise have nothing in common with the novels by Hugh Lofting. The other sequels in the series also do not refer to the literary original.
literature
Motifs from the following books were used for the film:
- Doctor Dolittle and his animals , Süddeutsche Zeitung / Library (2005), ISBN 3-86615-115-2 .
- Doctor Dolittles Zirkus , Dressler, ISBN 3-7915-3525-0 .
- Doctor Dolittle's floating island , Dressler, ISBN 3-7915-3592-7 .
- Doctor Dolittle on the Moon , Dressler, ISBN 3-7915-4018-1 .
DVD release
- Dr. Dolittle . Studio Classics No. 125th Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 2007 (British DVD edition, which also includes the German dubbed version)
Web links
- Doctor Dolittle in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ^ LdIF + EFB
- ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , p. 110
- ^ Doctor Dolittle in Arne Kaul's synchronous database; Retrieved August 22, 2007
- ↑ Doctor Dolittle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The great TV feature film film lexicon . Digital library special volume (CD-ROM edition), Directmedia, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-036-1 , pp. 2888-2889.
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 546/1967