7 Faces of Dr. Lao

A travelling circus led by an elderly Chinese man, Dr. Lao, arrives in the small Arizona town of Abalone. The townspeople are divided over a proposal from a wealthy businessman, Clint Stark, to buy up their land, and the local newspaperman Ed Cunningham opposes the deal. Dr. Lao visits the newspaper office to place an advertisement for his show and soon becomes caught up in the town's quarrel. The circus presents a series of mythical figures, among them Merlin, Pan, Medusa and Apollonius of Tyana, and the performances force the residents to confront their own failings and desires.

The film is a comedy, family, fantasy and western picture, based on Charles G. Finney's novel The Circus of Dr. Lao. George Pal directed and produced it, following The Time Machine from 1960 as the second of the two features he directed. Charles Beaumont wrote the screenplay. Tony Randall plays Dr. Lao and the various circus figures, with Barbara Eden as Angela Benedict, Arthur O'Connell as Clint Stark, John Ericson as Ed Cunningham, Noah Beery Jr. as Tim Mitchell and Lee Patrick as Mrs. Howard Cassin, among a credited cast of 22.

Released in March 1964, the film runs 100 minutes and was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with George Pal Productions. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.1 from around 5,900 votes, while on TMDB its rating is 6.9 from roughly 101 votes, indicating a modest but solid following.