1964 film adaptation of the 1935 fantasy novel The Circus of Dr. Lao
by Charles G. Finney
. It details the visit of a magical circus to a small town in the southwest United States, and the effects that visit has on the people of the town. The novel was adapted by Charles Beaumont
, directed by George Pal
and starred Tony Randall
in the title roles.
It is the dawn of the 20th century, and an elderly Chinese
man rides a jackass
into Abalone, Arizona
, his only visible possession a fishbowl occupied by an innocuous-looking fish.
This is the circus of Dr. Lao. We show you things that you don't know. Oh, we spare no pains and we spare no dough. Oh, we want to give you one hell of a show! And youth may come and age may go, But no more circuses like this show.
Tricks? Gadzooks, Madam, these are not tricks! I do magic. I — I create, I transpose, I transubstantiate, I break up, I recombine — but I never trick!
The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it.
Kevin Tate — Mike Benedict
John Ericson — Ed Cunningham