Movie Review: **^The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

This is an early Dr. Seuss project.  The sets were designed by Dr. Seuss, and the lyrics written by him.  And it is based on one of his books.  Tony and I watched it together, and we both agreed, too much dancing made it boring in spots.
Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig) has a good life, but he has one drawback, his overbearing piano teacher.  His piano teacher likes piano music, but no other instrument, and not other sport or activity.  Bart is one for dreaming.  He dreams when he should be practicing his piano.  He daydreams a complex scenario in which Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried), the piano teacher, plans to employ 500 boys all playing on a super-duper piano of his invention at the same time, can you imagine a 500 seat piano.  He is going to hold the 500 boy piano players in virtual prison to play a song he has written for the occasion.  Bart, with the help of his plumber; it would be his mother (Mary Healy) but Terwilliker is controlling his mother through a hypnotic potion.  Collins comes up with an atomic sound stopping canister.  Of course being atomic, it is subject to blow up.  Of course that is when Bart wakes up, and they try to unravel the mess, as Bart wants to skip out on piano practicing and play baseball, and for his mother to marry the plumber.  A cute premise, and even though Tony was entertained generally, there were some boring parts.

Movie Review: ***^River of No Return (1954)

This movie leaves no doubt that Marilyn Monroe was an actress.  She also sings in this movie as the bar singer.  However, I don't think she plays the guitar.  She portrays Kay, who shows up at the farm of Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) with her intended (or just married), Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun).  Calder is trying to eke out a living with his son (who newly has come to him since his mother's death), Mark (Tommy Rettig).  Turns out Weston is desperate to get to town to file a mining claim, and comes down the river with Kay and they are rescued by Calder and his son.  He advices them against trying the river to town.  However he is desperate to file a claim, and steals the horse and rifle of Calder, leaving him at the mercy of the Indians who inhabit the area, but Calder has kept them at bay with his rifle.  They observe the theft from the mountains, and are quick to react.  Calder is one step ahead, as he and his son and Kay take off in the raft just ahead of the Indians.  They have quite the adventure getting to town, with mountain lions and Indians trying to stop them.  However they get there, and then comes the awaited confrontation with Weston.  However Weston is desperate to eliminate his accuser for horse theft and quickly gets the drop on Calder.  The ending is unexpected.