The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao-Fortune-telling Scene

In this scene from The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao [featuring Tony Randall attempting to play a Chinese man], an old spinster is dealt a lethal fortune-telling, transcribed below:

"Apollonius of Tyana reads your future" From The Circus of Dr. Lao, Charles G. Finney, 1935.

The widow Mrs. Howard T. Cassan came to the circus in her flimsey brown dress and her low shoes and went direct to the fortuneteller's tent. She paid her mite and sat down to hear her future. Apollonius warned her she was going to be disappointed.

"Not if you tell me the truth," said Mrs. Cassan. "I particularly want to know how soon oil is going to be found on that twenty acres of mine in New Mexico."

"Never," said the seer [who is blind in the film].

"But I paid a fortune for that land" gasps Mrs. Cassan.

"You wasted your money. Next question," said the seer

"Well, what I really want to know is, when shall I be married again?"

"Never," said the seer.

"Well, what sort of man will next come into my life?"

"There will be no more men in your life," said the seer.

"Well, what in the world is the use of my living then, if I'm not going to be rich, not going to be married again, not going to know any more men?"

"I only read futures. I don't evaluate them."

"That's utter nonsense," barked Mrs. Cassan.

"The future is always nonsense, until it becomes the past," replied the seer.

"Well, I paid you. Read my future," commanded Mrs. Cassan.

"Tomorrow will be like today, and day after tomorrow will be like the day before yesterday," said Apollonius. "I see your remaining days each as a tedious collections of hours. You will not travel anywhere. You will think no new thoughts. You will experience no new passions. Older you will become but not wiser. Stiffer but not more dignified. Childless you are, and childless you shall remain. Of that suppleness you once commanded in your youth, of that strange simplicity which once attracted a men to you, neither endures, nor shall you recapture any of them," the prophet predicted.

"Ugly, ugly man!" snapped Mrs. Cassan.


"Mirrors are often ugly and mean. When you die, you will be buried and forgotten. And that is all. And for all the good or evil, creation or destruction your living might have accomplished, you might just as well have never lived at all. I am sorry. You see, it is my curse to tell the absolute truth."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Bitchy
• drag
• queen
• material

[expo66]

Beautifully played scene. Just one gripe..you should have continued the scene for another 30 seconds when the woman, having learned nothing, continues her empty life of lies.

[Aussiemarco]

Wow. Awesome. You can sure tell that Charles Beaumont, one of the writers of the original 'Twilight Zone' TV series, wrote this screenplay. THIS is the writing of a master.

[yousmackface]

Michael Jackson did want to buy the rights to this film and intended on playing all the characters like tony randall did. I dont know why it didn't work out but the original letter m.j. sent to the owners of this movie to buy the copyright was up for sale on ebay and went for, like, 50 dollars.

[LocoRico89]

1 Dislike the old hag herself

[1wyco]

@Adler36 Actaully Michael Jackson tried to for a while.. I don't know what ever happened with that... No funding maybe...

[SvetlanaBabe]

One of the best written and wisest films I have seen. Profound.

[Adler36]

I wish I could be a movie director and make a remake of this movie! <3

[Adler36]

This is genius!

[Beelzebrad667]

@oeng1967 The opener to "Teachers In Space". A rockin fuckin album in my opinion. The Feederz rock and Apollonius rocks.

[SylvanSprite]

Realization is the one true punishment and the one true blessing for the blinded.

[catchersmitt0]

But at 0:36 she said "departed" not "dead." The book "The Circus Of Dr Lao" is good, too.