MovieChat Forums > Doctor Dolittle (1967) Discussion > Why was this movie such an enormous flop...

Why was this movie such an enormous flop?

posted 17 years ago by Pamactress
60 replies | jump to latest

The studio obviously expected great things from this movie, and lavished time, money, and talent on it. What went wrong? Rex Harrison's performance was charming and compelling, Samantha Eggar was beautiful and her acting was engaging. Anthony Newley dripped charisma, and his renditions of his musical numbers were fabulous. The costumes and scenery were gorgeous. The score was magical and literate. Richard Attenborough's "Never Seen Anything Like It" number danced joyously across the screen. So what was wrong?

Personally, I think the problem lies in the screenplay. Its roots in an episodic book seem to chop up the story too much, and result in a lack of rising action. Also, the audience is confused by the fact that both Matthew and Dr. Dolittle are attracted to Emma, and don't quite know what to make of that. In addition, I wonder if the audience might be a little uncomfortable with the depiction of the natives; it's not quite politically correct. Other thoughts on this? Thanks.

[–] kenburke0627 16 years ago

Sometimes a movie may be well written, entertaining, but just won't cut it as far as being a moneymaker goes, and "Dr. Dolittle" is a classic example. Personally, I liked the movie, but what can you say? That's show biz!!!

[–] RiffRaffMcKinley 15 years ago

kenburke0627: Amen! Perfectly sums up "Dolittle!"

There are other great films that failed financially. "Dragonslayer," for example-- the performances aren't that great, but the special effects, music, and cinematography are all fantastic, and the story is very great in its simplicity. "Omen III: The Final Conflict" is not actually a great film, but it was actually intelligent horror, which was dying out-- as evidenced by its disappointing box office. And "Serenity"-- all those people begged and pleaded for the movie to be made, and couldn't be bothered to show up at the theater? I saw it in theaters like two weeks after it came out and there were maybe five other people there!

In terms of musicals of this era, I think the genre was the problem, but not in general as everyone usually says. After all, about this time "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Oliver" were succeeding, but this, "Camelot," and "Star" were dropping like flies. The problem was most likely that audiences were just being more selective with musicals than they used to be. But why couldn't they select the ones that were actual entertainment? I'll admit "Camelot" has its problems, I've never seen "Star", and I can definitely see some of the turn-offs of "Dolittle" (most mentioned in the above postings), but I could never make it past the twenty-minute mark in "Oliver".

Sickness will surely take the mime where mimes can't usually go.

[–] bkamberger 16 years ago

Several posters have remarked that CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG was another family musical from around the same time that succeeded at the box office, but this is incorrect. Though not as big a failure as DOCTOR DOLITTLE, CHITTY made back only about $7 million on its $10 million budget. Three other big family musicals from this period -- THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, SCROOGE, and even the eventual cult classic WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY -- were also considered flops in their initial release.

[–] mikwalen 16 years ago

Hi bkamberger - that's a very interesting post, about movies that didn't do so well the first time out. It's fascinating that CHITTY and WONKA didn't cause explosions when they were first released, but are now considered classic, with huge home video sales and large fan bases. I recall back in the last 60s that CCBB was everywhere - the music was on the radio, the stores were flooded with toys, records, books, and other merchandise, and the film seemed to be in constant release right up until 1972 when it appeared for the first time on TV in the States. It certainly seemed very popular.

Does anyone think this is because when the children (who saw these films in the late 60s-early 70s) grew into adults and had their own families, they showed their kids these films and thus created new audiences?

Does anyone feel that DOLITTLE falls into this category?

SCROOGE, too, is now considered a beloved Christmas classic. HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, however, seems to be familiar only to movie musical fans or dyed in the wool Disney fans.

"Samantha! You picked a lemon in the garden of love!"

[–] heim618 16 years ago

I seem to recall enjoying it when I first saw it (in the theater, even), but then again I was probably three years old at the time and wouldn't say I'd really refined my sense of taste yet. <g>

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] roigjoven 12 years ago

just finished that book last night - highly recommended.

[–] topkapi56 15 years ago

The reason it was an enormous flop is that it is a terrible movie. One of the all-time clunkers in the Best Picture category. It got huge studio backing for awards as they desperately want to recoup some of their investment. The parties given for the Golden Globe voters is legend now as they bought as many nominations as they could.

[–] mrchiken-556-277993 15 years ago

When I was a kid my parents stuck me in front of the T.V. everytime this movie came on. I still don't know why I was being punished.

[–] Salads 15 years ago

Doctor Dolittle was supposed to be a kids' film, but it was slow, clunky, unengaging and overlong- or at least that's what I thought when I saw it as a kid. The problem isn't its length, (I loved the equally long 'Oliver!' and the much longer 'Sound of Music') but its pacing. I remember sitting waiting for something interesting to happen, and it never seemed to.

[–] Moon_and_New_York_City 15 years ago

God help me, I may have to watch it again to be absolutely sure - but what I recall of the film is that it is long and boring.

"the best that you can do is fall in love"

[–] markedjuan 14 years ago

Just for the record, Camelot, which was released two months ahead of Dr. Dolittle, registered $14 million in rentals or about $31 million in grosses. It's nothing compared to the grosses of the Sound of Music, but it's not exactly a disaster either.

[–] Plymouth-58 14 years ago

When I was a kid in the 70s I had the soundtrack of Dr. Dolittle and loved it. The movie was not readily available at that time so when it hit home video I snapped it up. What a disappointment. All those songs I loved were couched in a boring, boring, boring movie.

[–] captgeoslady 8 years ago

Just for the record, Camelot SUCKED. The "star" actress couldn't sing worth a damn - Julie Andrews should have reprised her Broadway role! As Richard Burton should have been Arthur again.

[–] Danusha_Goska 14 years ago

Don't know the answer to the opening question. Saw it as a kid and liked it, but remember feeling sad that Anthony Newley, whom I found cute, liked the pretty girl, but didn't end up with her .I'm not even sure if it ended that way, cause I've not seen it since.

I just watched Newley singing "Beautiful things" on youtube and note an interesting Freudian moment: Newley is obviously besotted with the pretty girl, and hands her his cane, and she, gazing after Dr. D, hands Newley his cane back. Poor guy.