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Doctor Dolittle Overview:

Doctor Dolittle (1967) was a Adventure - Comedy Film directed by Richard Fleischer and produced by Arthur P. Jacobs and Mort Abrahams.

Academy Awards 1967 --- Ceremony Number 40 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Mario Chiari, Jack Martin Smith, Ed Graves; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, StuarNominated
Best CinematographyRobert SurteesNominated
Best Film EditingSamuel E. Beetley, Marjorie FowlerNominated
Best Music - ScoringLeslie BricusseNominated
Best Music - ScoringLionel Newman, Alexander CourageNominated
Best Music - SongMusic and Lyrics by Leslie BricusseWon
Best PictureArthur P. Jacobs, ProducerNominated
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Doctor Dolittle BlogHub Articles:

Film Albums: Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 ) - The Mike Sammes Singers

By The Metzinger Sisters on Jul 30, 2022 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

When Doctor Dolittle was released in 1967, 20th Century Fox studios thought it would have received a much better box-office reception than it did. In fact, they were not the only ones who thought so. The music was so beautiful that The Lawrence Welk Show featured an episode that included many of the... Read full article

From the Archives: Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Oct 12, 2020 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

Rex Harrison performed with a number of different actresses throughout his long career but he probably never expected to act with this fine lady. In this scene from Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 ), Sophie is posing as a baby in order to be smuggled out of the circus so that the kindly doctor could return h... Read full article

Musical Monday: Doctor Dolittle (1967)

on Jan 13, 2020 From Comet Over Hollywood

... Read full article

TV/Movie Set : Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Oct 14, 2014 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

For this edition of TV/Movie sets we will be looking at the beautiful home of Dr. John Dolittle, known to his friends simply as Doctor Dolittle or "that maahvelous man". Rex Harrison was the titular star in the extravagant 1967 musical based on the children's classic by Hugh Dowling. Dolittle was on... Read full article

TV/Movie Set : Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Oct 14, 2014 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

For this edition of TV/Movie sets we will be looking at the beautiful home of Dr. John Dolittle, known to his friends simply as Doctor Dolittle or "that maahvelous man". Rex Harrison was the titular star in the extravagant 1967 musical based on the children's classic by Hugh Dowling. Dolittle was on... Read full article

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Doctor Dolittle Quotes:

Emma Fairfax: If I were his nephew instead of his niece...
Dr. Dolittle: If you were his nephew, you'd hardly be called Emma Fairfax.
Dr. Dolittle: Tell me, Stubbins... what would you do if you had two heads?
Tommy Stubbins: I'd join a circus, sir!
Dr. Dolittle: Exactly.
Matthew: [after the shipwreck when they are locked up on the floating island] You know, bein' is prison is much the same as being on a boat. Except in prison there's less chance of drowning.
Dr. Dolittle: If one place is as good as any other, it's high time we decided. Otherwise when we get there, we won't know we've arrived.
Polynesia: I speak over two thousand languages, including Dodo and Unicorn. I had a classical education.
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Doctor Dolittle Facts
This movie set was no picnic:
  • One of the fawns snacked on a quart of paint during a scene break and had to have her stomach pumped.
  • Gub-Gub the Pig had to be replaced several times during filming since piglets grow so fast.
  • Squirrels ate through several key pieces of scenery, costing the crew thousands of dollars in repairs.
  • In the scene where Rex Harrison is singing in the field of sheep, he had to be sprayed down repeatedly for flies. Worse, the sheep urinated on him as well, forcing multiple retakes.
  • One of the goats broke loose during a scene, got ahold of the director's script and ate it.
  • The first several weeks of filming in Castle Combe were disrupted by torrential downpours, after the producers had ignored detailed climate reports warning about the area's weather patterns - and a homemade bomb, set by a disgruntled member of the town the crew was filming in.

The producers felt Rex Harrison was too old at 58 to play Dolittle, but hoped his name would help recreate the success of My Fair Lady.
In a massive attempt to influence AMPAS members at Oscar nomination time in 1968, 20th Century-Fox hosted several mammoth dinners for Academy members promoting the under-performing 'Dolittle' as a potential nominee. The strategy worked, netting the film seven nominations, including Best Picture, and the still-controversial Best Original Song win for "Talk to the Animals." Similar campaigns were launched for the studio's other musical failures, Star! and Hello, Dolly! with similar results.
There was a huge outcry when the movie was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar despite having received almost universally terrible reviews.
John Huston was considered as director, but producer Arthur P. Jacobs nixed the idea. Vincente Minnelli and William Wyler were also considered but Minnelli was felt to be too "old fashioned" and Wyler's reputation for expensively shooting far too many takes of a scene eliminated them from the running.
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