Wonderland Burlesque: Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: Face Time

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: Face Time - Part VII

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's Go To The Movies:

Face Time

Part VII

That look, that face...

It's all in the face. It can be read like a book. Or so these films would have us believe.

The silver screen has been home to so many beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) faces, lighting up the dark, showing us the way, sharing celluloid dreams. It seems only fitting that we take them at their word and look a these films one face at a time.

Yes, these faces may belong to a bygone era, but in the movies?

A face lives forever.

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The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll

(1960)

AKA: Jekyll's Inferno, House of Fright

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a dull, bookish scientist who spends more time with his lab animals testing theories of alternate personalities than with his beautiful, young wife, Kitty. In turn, his wife has given up trying to find any passion in her distant, preoccupied husband and is having an affair with one of Jekyll's oldest friends, Paul Allen, a weak slacker and wastrel who relies on Jekyll to pay his numerous gambling debts. After experimenting on himself, the bearded, tweedy Jekyll transforms himself into the young, dynamic, and self-confidant Edward Hyde. In his new character he befriends Allen, who has no idea that this clean-cut, handsome playboy prone to outbursts of violence is really Jekyll. As Hyde, he encourages Allen to introduce him to the dark underbelly of London's night life including opium dens and sex clubs, where he begins an affair with the sensual courtesan Maria, an exotic dancer and snake charmer. When he tries to seduce Allen's mistress, in reality his own wife, he is frustrated to find she prefers her decadent lover to him.

Based on the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, this British horror film was directed by Terence Fisher and stars Paul Massie, Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee and David Kossoff.

This film adaptation features the opposite in the transformation: the older and sensible Jekyll speaks in a low voice while the younger and hedonistic Hyde speaks in a friendly-sounding voice. Jekyll has brown eyes and wears a full beard with rather long hair and bushy eyebrows, whereas Hyde is blue-eyed, clean shaven and has a shorter haircut. Beyond this, their physical appearance is nearly identical, making this portrayal different than the bulk of film adaptations of the novel. However, the story is presented as though Hyde looks different enough from Jekyll that even Mrs. Jekyll notices no resemblance.

Laurence Harvey was Hammer Film's first choice for the lead role and while he was eager to do it, Harvey's agent thought it would be a bad career move for him, so he ultimately turned it down. Director Terence Fisher, on the other hand, originally planned for Louis Jourdan to play the lead in the film.

Christopher Lee originally wanted to play the lead role in this film. Instead, Lee's role as Paul Allen was written especially for him and ended up as one of his personal favorites.

In a 1967 interview, Paul Massie claimed that Hammer Films originally only wanted him in the film for the role of the younger-looking Hyde, but he argued for his playing the older-looking Jekyll as well.

Oliver Reed makes a brief (uncredited) appearance as a bouncer at one of the clubs.

At the time when the film was ready to be released, the BBFC were not very impressed with a few scenes involving sex and violence. They ordered the snake dance scene, some brief glimpses of nudity and one of the murder scenes all to be reduced in length or cut completely.

The Monthly Film Bulletin of the U.K. wrote that the film "may be forgiven for tampering with a classic, but not for doing so with such a depressing lack of either wit or competence. Silliness, in fact, has got the better of the film to such an extent that even its most calculatedly vicious episodes appear only mildly grotesque. The production, which uses up colour film lavishly on such episodes as a cancan sequence, is otherwise hard-up for ideas." While Variety gave the film a good review, praising Paul Massie for an "interesting performance" and Jack Asher for "colorful and sure" camerawork." On the other hand, Eugene Archer of The New York Times called the film "lurid", and Massie "frankly ridiculous."

Hammer lost an estimated £30,000 on the film.

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

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The Incredible Face Of Dr. B

(1963)

AKA: Rostro Infernal

Count Brankovan is a mad scientist who is trying to become immortal by draining and then drinking liquid from his victims' brains. The police are desperately trying to catch him.

This Mexican horror film was directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna and stars Eric del Castillo, Rosa Carmina, Jaime Fernandez, Elsa Cardenas and Carmen Molina.

So popular, it prompted a sequel, La huella macabra (1963), with Guillermo Murray replacing Eric del Castillo, though the rest of the principals (Rosa Carmina, Jaime Fernandez, Elsa Cardenas) remained the same.

As part of the soundtrack, Lola Casanova performs the song Corazonada.

You can watch this film in it's entirety for free on YouTube.

Carmen Molina

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7 Faces Of Dr. Lao

(1964)

An old Chinese gentleman rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the citizens see themselves reflected in the mirror of Lao's mysterious circus of mythical beasts.

Adapted from the 1935 novel The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G., Finney, this American Metrocolor Western fantasy-comedy was directed by George Pal and stars Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, Noah Berry Jr., and Minerva Urecal.

George Pal originally wanted his The Time Machine (1960) star Rod Taylor for the lead. Peter Sellers, who was strongly interested, was another of the director's first choices to play Dr. Lao. In December 1961, Terry-Thomas was linked to the project. According to a July 1962 item in the Los Angeles Times, Laurence Harvey was set to play the lead. Dick Van Dyke was also under consideration to play Dr. Lao. However, MGM had Tony Randall under contract and wanted to use him, Plus, he was $50,000 cheaper.

Tony Randall shaved his head for the role of Dr. Lao. It also made it easier to apply the make-up for the different characters he played. The studio publicity department wanted to photograph Randall getting his head shaved but arrived at the barber too late. They had the make-up artist glue hair back on Randall's head so Randall could pose for photos while getting the hair cut off again.

Tony Randall only played six of the seven faces. The Abominable Snowman was actually played by George Pal's son, Péter Pál, "but George understood show business and declared that it was Randall playing the beast, to make the septet complete."

Tony Randall and Barbara Eden also starred together that same year in The Brass Bottle (1964), a film which was a major influence on Barbara Eden's I Dream of Jeannie (1965) sitcom, that would premier the following year.

William Tuttle received an Honorary Academy Award for his make-up work on this movie. It was the first of two Honorary Oscars awarded for make-up - the other being John Chambers for Planet of the Apes (1968). It was not until 1982 that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to create a Best Make-Up category.

Jim Danforth's model animation of the Loch Ness Monster, the Giant Serpent and Medusa's snake hair were nominated for an Academy Award. It took 11 days for the stop-motion animation segment where all the heads appear on the Loch Ness monster.

The 'Fall of the City' spectacular that Dr. Lao presents as the grand finale of his circus consists of footage from an earlier George Pal production, Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961), as well as some footage of flowing lava from The Time Machine and stock footage of destruction from MGM's 1951 production of Quo Vadis.

In among Dr. Lao's curiosities are the crystal ball and the hour glass from The Wizard Of Oz (1939).

Although it is now regarded as a classic fantasy film, this was a box office disappointment when first released. It caused a four-year gap before George Pal had his next film in theatres. It also marked the last time Pal would direct. Before it became apparent the film was not a hit, Pal told the press he was planning a sequel with Tony Randall recreating his role.

In 1974, Pal said 7 Faces of Dr. Lao was the only of his films to lose money at the box office.

Tony Randall would lament on talk shows that whenever this film aired late at night, he would be reminded of the same one-line review in the TV listings of The New York Times: "7 Faces Of Dr. Lao (1964) Tony Randall, Barbara Eden. They're all Tony and they're all terrible." Howard Thompson of The New York Times was no kinder, calling the film a "heavy, thick, pint-sized fantasy, laid on with an anvil."

Sexy Tony Randall

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The Face Of Fu Manchu

(1965)

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility of the fiendish Fu Manchu may not be dead after all, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

Based on the characters created by Sax Rohmer, British-West German thriller was directed by Don Sharp and It stars Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Tsai Chin, Howard Marion-Crawford and James Robertson Justice.

This was the first of the Fu Manchu movies starring Sir Christopher Lee. Lee (Dr. Fu Manchu), Tsai Chin (Lin Tang) and Howard Marion-Crawford (Dr. Petrie) are the only actors to appear in all five films.

Leading lady Tsai Chin assisted Christopher Lee with memorizing the Cantonese dialogue.

Weather conditions in the Irish locations were damp, bleak, and cold. According to Sir Christopher Lee, everyone came down with the flu because of the freezing conditions, and Walter Rilla almost died. Director Don Sharp said Harry Alan Towers had to pay off members of the IRA so they could film there.

As a publicity stunt, Producer Harry Alan Towers had Sir Christopher Lee tour European countries choosing a national beauty contest winner from each one, the prize being a part in the movie. Used for decorative appearances in Fu Manchu's cave headquarters, none of these beauties were allowed to utter a line because none of them were members of Equity.

In New York City, there was a municipal election being held at the time of this movie's release, and a creative publicist had posters declaring 'Fu Manchu for Mayor' printed. Fu Manchu ultimately wound up with a considerable write-in vote on election day.

A tie-in song, Don't Fool with Fu Manchu performed by The Rockin' Ramrods was released, but does not appear in the film.

The New York Times disliked the film, saying: "The Face of Fu Manchu, back again after all these years, is about as frightening as Whistler's Mother. If this slow, plodding, simple-minded little color melodrama were not so excruciating, it might have been acceptable farce. Christopher Lee, as the old evil one, complete with waxy mustache, looks and sounds like an overgrown Etonite. Fu Manchu, fooey."

The film was successful enough to result in four sequels. "The first one should have been the last one", Lee wrote in 1983, "because it was the only really good one."

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

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Vortex, The Face Of Medusa

(1967)

AKA: To prosopo tis Medousas, Vortex

Through the half-open door of his bedroom, Filippos sees his girlfriend in the arms of his younger brother. He says nothing and leaves in silence without being noticed. However, during a trip to the Greek islands, his younger brother disappears a few days later. Of course, everyone suspects Filippos. Alexis, who is gay and in love with Filippos, urges him to confess, otherwise, he has decided to report the unaccountable disappearance to the police. The girl suspects who the killer is; but, she chooses not to say a word. Now, more and more, Filippos feels the imminent danger; nevertheless, he is determined to play the game to the bitter end.

The film has been described as: "a very bizarre and experimental Greek film; with a style that's reminiscent of Bergman, Antonioni, early Polanski, Jodorowsky and Arrabal. To be honest, it's really hard to describe. Vortex is a movie within a movie and is shown out of sequence with repeated takes.