FAQ

No one has answered this question yet.

While nefarious businessman Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell) tries to buy up all the land in the Arizona desert town of Abalone, a mysterious, self-acclaimed 7,322-year old China man named Dr Lao (Tony Randall) brings his magical circus to town.

The movie is loosely based on The Circus of Dr Lao, a 1935 novel by American fantasy novelist Charles G. Finney. The novel was adapted for the movie by American author/screenwriter Charles Beaumont.

They are Dr Lao and the six performers in his circus: the Abominable Snowman, blind fortune-teller Apollonius of Tyana, Pan the half-goat god of joy, the voice of a giant serpent, Merlin the Magician, and the serpent-haired Medusa. Randall as himself can also be seen in the circus audience, shaking his head in disgust, about 18 minutes from the movie's end, just after Dr Lao introduces his pet, the Loch Ness Monster.

Dr Lao himself makes it a point to pronounce his name as 'Low'. However, later in the movie, as he's announcing the last performance, he speaks with an affected American accent and calls it the circus of Dr 'Lauw'. One viewer has claimed that 'Low' is the Cantonese pronunciation, while 'Lauw' is the Mandarin pronunciation.

Angered by Stark's sudden about face, his two Henchman Carey (Royal Dano) and Lucas (John Doucette), drunk as skunks decide to wreck Dr Lao's circus tent. In doing so, Carey shoots the fish bowl, releasing Dr Lao's pet to the air. Immeidately, it begins to blow up and turn into the Loch Ness monster, sprouting, like a hydra, six more heads that resemble the various faces of Dr Lao. Fortunately, Mike Benedict (Kevin Tate) was peeking in and saw the wreckage. He alerts Dr Lao, who sets up his rain-making machine. The falling water causes the monster to decrease in size until he is small enough that Dr Lao can pick him up and put him in his hat. The next day, Mike, Ed Cunningham (John Ericson), Angela Benedict (Barbara Eden), Clint Stark, and some of the villagers drive out to the circus but find that Dr Lao has packed up and left. Mike sees some dust in the distance and, thinking it is Dr Lao, rides after it on his bike but finds only three balls lying in the sand. 'I wonder where he came from?' Angela asks. '...or where he's going...' Ed replies. '...or if he was ever here at all,' Stark adds. In the final scene, as Mike juggles the balls, Dr Lao is seen riding off on his donkey. In a voiceover, he reminds Mike of his earlier advice: 'The whole word is a circus if you look at it the right way. Every time you pick up a handful of dust and see not the dust but a mystery, a marvel there in your hand. Every time you stop and think, "I'm alive...and being alive is fantastic." Every time such a thing happens, Mike, you are part of the circus of Dr Lao' (pronounced 'Low').

The movie bears little resemblance to Finney's novel, which is essentially a series of loosely-connected vignettes centered around the visit of Dr. Lao's circus to the town of Abalone, the events during the circus, and the ending. There is no sub-plot of Clint Stark trying to buy up the town cheaply before anyone learns that the railroad is planning to come through and no clash between Stark and the newspapermen. Those who have read the novel also claim that the book is darker and more cynical than the movie.