The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
- G
- Year:
- 1953
- 89 min
- 426 Views
Get away! Get away! No!
Go on away!
Go on away!
Here, boy, here.
What's the matter?
Dr. Terwilliker, what happened?
Dreaming again.
I can't leave the room for five minutes.
-What were you dreaming about this time?
-I was being chased by men with nets.
Nets. Why can't you dream
about practicing the piano?
I'll try.
Don't you realize if you don't practice
you'll never become a concert pianist?
Practice makes perfect.
I'm trying to practice.
One month to learn that before I present
all my pupils in a grand concert.
I'm not going to let one dreary little
boy humiliate me. Do you understand?
I don't think the piano's
my instrument.
What other instruments are there,
pray tell?
Scratchy violins?
Screechy piccolos?
Nauseating trumpets?
Et cetera, et cetera!
We'll make a Paderewski
of you yet.
Who?
- Paderewski.
- Oh.
Now, I want you to practice
and practice and practice...
until you are perfect.
Good day, young man.
Well, that's my problem.
Dr. Terwilliker's
the only enemy I've got.
I can't think of one nice thing
to say about him...
because there isn't any.
Bart, darling!
That's my mother.
I like her.
I try to be everything
she wants me to be...
particularly
since my father died.
But, boy, she's as hipped on the piano
as Dr. Terwilliker.
Watch.
Is that as loud as you can play?
Now, now, sweetheart,
not that loud.
And not that soft.
Bart, I hate to hound you.
I know you think I'm a slave driver,
but you really are missing the beats.
Like Dr. Terwilliker
says in the book-
dancing, oh, so fine
and they're mine, all mine
They're mine
They're mine
Now, isn't that just fine
Not three, not five
Not seven and not nine
But ten, all dancing
straight in line
And all of them
Are mine, mine, mine
Yes, they are mine, all mine
That's better.
Now you have it.
I'll get it!
Bart!
I'll get it.
I'll get it.
Oh, Peggy.
dancing, oh, so fine
and they're mine, all mine
They're mine
They're mine
Now, isn't that just fine
Not three, not five
Not seven and not nine
But ten all dancing
straight in line
And all of them
are mine, mine, mine
Yes, they are mine, all mine
That's Bart you hear.
Still hates it like poison.
Sometimes I think
that Dr. Terwilliker...
has my mother hypnotized.
Holy mackerel,
I bet you that she-
That noise you hear is my friend,
Mr. Zabladowski, the plumber.
He's afraid to say so
in front of my mother.
He thinks Dr. Terwilliker
is a real racketeer.
Double phony.
Don't give me any more trouble.
Your job is pianos, my job is sinks.
Tell me, is Dr. Terwilliker
really a racketeer?
Did you tell him
Dr. Terwilliker was a racketeer?
Oh, I did not.
Keys, darling.
Now look here, you may be
the very best plumber in town...
but when it comes to piano lessons,
I hardly think you qualify as an expert.
I'm not trying
to qualify as anything.
You certainly aren't
helping me maintain discipline.
It's not easy to bring up a boy
without a father.
I realize that.
And maybe you're right.
Maybe even if he never learns the piano,
maybe the discipline's good for him.
Maybe.
I assure you,
I know what's good for him.
He'll learn to play that piano if I have
to keep him at that keyboard forever.
Forever?
Dr. Terwilliker
says I gotta practice.
Practice makes perfect.
Practice makes perfect.
Not bad.
But not good.
That's still not loud enough,
not fast enough.
Rhythm's still off.
Still misses the beats.
- What?
- It takes time.
It takes years.
Sometimes it actually does
take forever.
What?
that's all we can hope to do today.
Tomorrow, however-
Oh, tomorrow, what a day.
- At 6:
00 a.m., the others will arrive.- What others?
You don't think I built
this great piano just for you.
Have you no concept that I am on the eve
of my greatest triumph?
Tomorrow, I will fulfill
the dream of my lifetime.
Tomorrow...
the Terwilliker institute-
my ""happy finger'' institute-
Tomorrow, we will celebrate
Tomorrow, down below me
I will have 500 little boys.
And they'll be mine, all mine.
Practicing 2 4 hours a day...
365 days a year!
I don't believe it!
This is crazy!
Who are you to tell me
what is crazy?
Away! Go back to your cell.
And put on your official
Terwilliker beanie.
""Happy fingers''?
Here!
Sport! Sporty!
Practice makes perfect.
Practice makes perfect.
Bartholomew Collins!
The years you spend
with Dr. Terwilliker...
will be the happiest years
of your life.
But if you get homesick,
don't try to escape.
The barbed wire
around the Terwilliker Institute...
is electrified!
Mr. Zabladowski!
- Please, Bart. I'm a very busy plumber.
- What are you doing here?
What I'm always doing-
putting in sinks.
- For what?
- That's obvious.
Before Terwilliker
can open this institute...
he's got to make
Got to have the proper sinkage
for 500 kids.
That's my department...
and that's your cell.
Relax. Don't take these
little things so seriously.
- After all, since your mother's here-
- My mother's here?
That's a silly question. You know
very well she's in the number two spot.
The number two spot?
Second in charge
of the whole ""happy finger'' racket.
My ma couldn't be mixed up
in any racket.
Look, partner,
I hate to speak badly about mothers.
After all, motherhood is
the noblest institution in our land.
But the fact remains that your ma
is number two at headquarters right now.
She wouldn't keep me
in a place like this.
- I gotta see her.
- I wouldn't advise it.
- You'll never make it.
- I can try.
Well, I wouldn't try.
I know. All you'd ever try for
is time and a half for overtime.
Terwilliker Institute.
Collins speaking.
Yes, madam, the official
grand opening is tomorrow morning.
Your son will be picked up by bus
at 5:
00 a.m. sharp.Collins speaking.
No, madam, most definitely not.
Your son will not be allowed
to bring his baseball.
Dr. Terwilliker does not believe in
baseballs, golf balls or tennis balls...
Ping-Pong balls, snowballs,
croquet balls or hockey pucks.
Dr. Terwilliker
believes only in the piano.
Now see here, you beanie makers.
This final batch just isn't up to snuff.
Take a look at those fingers.
Would you say
they were happy fingers?
They should be gay,
carefree, happy fingers.
Fix them, if you have to
stay up all night.
Mom!
Why are you standing there
with that null-and-void expression?
No, don't tell me.
I know the workings of your mind,
Mrs. Collins.
You've been thinking
of your son again.
How many times must I tell you
to burn that picture?
You've room in your life but for one
picture. My picture, Mrs. Collins!
Your future husband!
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"The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T." Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_5,000_fingers_of_dr._t._19616>.
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