Doctor Dolittle (1967) on Netflix
Approved19672h 32mAdventureComedyFamily
In Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, the veterinarian John Dolittle can talk with animals. After he frees a homesick circus seal he is arrested, and he plans a voyage to find the Great Pink Sea Snail.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.2/1011,155 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes29%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1845, Doctor John Dolittle lives in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh and can talk with animals. The menagerie in his house creates havoc with his human patients, who go elsewhere, and his sister Sarah, his housekeeper, demands that he dispose of the animals. His macaw Polynesia speaks over two thousand animal languages and offered to teach him; he now speaks nearly five hundred and is learning the speech of sea creatures for an expedition to find the Great Pink Sea Snail. Magistrate General Bellowes accuses Dolittle of stealing a horse and is chased off by skunks, and Bellowes's niece Emma Fairfax scolds the doctor over his rudeness and his want of compassion for humans. Dolittle shows a pushmi-pullyu at Albert Blossom's circus to pay for the voyage, then smuggles Sophie, a homesick seal, to the sea and is arrested for murder.
Cast
- Edward Castas Prison Guard (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- Phyllis Coghlanas Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- Robert Coleas Roustabout (uncredited)
- Cyril Crossas Charlie (uncredited)
- Peter Crowcroftas Assistant Judge (uncredited)
- John Dolanas Fisherman (uncredited)
- Eric Heathas Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rex Harrison had Sammy Davis Jr. fired from the role of Prince Bumpo, declaring he wanted "a real actor, not a song-and-dance man"; an angry Davis threatened to go public and sue Harrison over it.
- Producer Helen Winston sued 20th Century Fox for $4.5 million, claiming the film's plot point about animals striking on Dolittle's behalf was plagiarized from her own unproduced script; since screenwriter Leslie Bricusse had read her draft and mistakenly assumed the idea came from the original books, the studio had no legal defense and settled.
- In January and February 1968, Fox booked 16 consecutive nights of free screenings on the studio lot for members of the Academy, complete with dinner and champagne. One guest said afterwards: "It was all so silly. All the editors standing around, knowing they had been bought."
- After considering Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness and Peter O'Toole to replace Harrison, the producers cast Christopher Plummer as Doctor Dolittle; when Harrison then agreed to stay, they paid Plummer his entire agreed-upon salary to leave the production.
- Bumpo's role had been drastically increased after Sidney Poitier was cast, but just before shooting Fleischer and Zanuck reduced it again to save money and informed Poitier that he would be released from his contract before he started filming his scenes.
- Star Rex Harrison made comments co-star Anthony Newley considered antisemitic, seemingly out of jealousy, and pushed to have Newley's role cut, while Geoffrey Holder faced racist abuse from people in Harrison's entourage during filming.
- The film needed $31,275,000 in rental income just to break even, but by December 1970 it had earned only $16.3 million, and Fox estimated it had lost over $11 million overall.
- Anecdotes from the animal-filled shoot include a goat that ate director Richard Fleischer's script, and a parrot that learned to yell "Cut!" on set.
Stills
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