The Dungeon Song - RESTORED 

What I love about this song is that the tortures get increasingly terrific, but when they get to the basement, the operator simply says "Everybody out," leaving the horrors to the imagination.

"Second floor dungeon...jewelry department". I mean, that's brilliant writing, and not for kids.

I thought I hallucinated this movie.

I can remember being absolutely terrified yet mesmirised by this whole movie as a child

I thought this movie was a fever dream I had as a child. I had no idea it was a real movie until I googled it quite recently. The dungeon scene probably scared me the most... I have no idea why this movie is so unnerving, especially for it to be labelled as a Dr Seuss film!

Whenever I got separated from my mother at a department, I would try my best to 'not' look lost. I was sure this is where all the lost children ended up!

Many years from when I saw this as a kid, and that dude still scares the heck out of me. The executioner's hat, the baleful eyes, the heavily heaving bare, greased chest, the implication of sadism - he'd be terrifying in any context - and here he is in a kid's movie! But I guess that's the thing about a good kid's movie - it communicates on different levels to children, and adults. Kids might not understand fully, but they get it on another level. The 50s were not as innocent as they are now believed to be. Children grew up on tales of the Great Depression, the Great War and its horrors like the Holocaust, and themselves lived under a constant threat of nuclear annihilation in the Cold War. Watching as an adult, I was enraptured by the offbeat set design and art direction - Seussian but also drawing from Hieronymous Bosch and the surreal imagery of Dali, and amazed by the implicit themes, like sociopathy, bondage and slavery, mass control, homosexuality, lust, which made their way into a kid's film. Then again, traditional children's stories like fairy tales often have a dark side, a bleak insight into social history. I love this crazy film.

Notice how the elevator is lurching as if it’s gone off its rails, and everyone is tossed around. Everyone EXCEPT Dr. Terwilliker.

This scarred me for life as a 6 year old and watching this now, nothing's changed... I've scrolled down here for safety :D

I watched the movie "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" as a child. I was blown away by the work and have never forgotten it. A lot to review these scenes.

My very favorite scene. This explains why I sometimes have nightmares about elevators. I saw this as a child and this scene could creep anybody out. Frightening and funny and beautifully sung. Thank you so much for finding the missing verse!

Believe it or not the dungeon song and the dude controlling the elevator has crossed my mind for decades. I always got a kick out of the description of each floor. I may sound a little macabre, but I loved every minute of it. And still do. Cheers!

That's a very well-done integration of the creepy verse into the video. Thumbs up, even if the actual song is one of the creepiest things ever.

This caused me so many nightmares as a kid. My music teacher In elementary school showed us this movie and it was just as horrifying as it is now

Focusing on that dude's face during the 3rd verse was sadistic genius.

Mike Patton's Mr. Bungle did a great live cover version!

This was my favorite song and scene - so great to hear it entirely .

One of the biggest Hollywood flops in history, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1952) was intended for kids. Most of the critics in the premiere walked out after 15 minutes. Personally, my favorite scene is this one involving the dungeon elevator man. The lyrics to the songs were written by Dr. Seuss, himself. However, I think he got carried away with this scene.

Me: "Well I don't see why everyone was so scared of this scene, I think it's kinda cute and fu-" "...Oh."

Hans Conried just staring off completely unphased by the torture chamber descriptions and still demanding they go lower and lower ... just nails this scene.

Why can't I stop watching this. I'm glad I found this cleaned version. I just find it fascinating.

I dare someone to play this song while riding in an Elevator going down.

This is awesome. Thank you so much for posting this!

THANK you. I've loved this movie since I was a tiny kid hyperfixated on Dr Seuss and on music both at once, and was forever trying to a) remember all the words and b) somehow convince my tiny soprano voice to sound anything like this at all. I loved this song, 'cos kids are morbid like that, and I still do. Beautiful.

The hooded elevator operator is the stuff nightmares are made of!

This was my favorite song in the whole film.

Thank you for the restoration work! Things pertaining to this movie are far too much of a rarity.

I bet my ten fingers and toes the elevator-executioner was smiling like a maniac under his hood.

If Woody Strode had a brother, this guy is him! This is the most memorable scene in the movie for me-- with the exception of the incompetent kettle drummer who was tortured by being imprisoned inside a man-sized drum, incessantly pounded from the outside. Haven't seen it since I was a kid but it's exactly as I remembered it. Thanks for uploading this...

This was a don't miss tv when I was a kid. Been largely forgotten,, so was thrilled when my son found a DVD copy several years ago. What a creepy classic. You can't get the dungeon masters eyes out of your head.

Those conjoined beard twins will always be one of my worst fears 😲

I misremembered this movie as The 5000 Fingers of Dr. Thumb because that's what dad said it was called.

What a shame that this film was shorn of so much priceless footage,all of which is now considered lost. "Dr.T" is such an underrated masterpiece. I dont think audiences knew what to make of it. It was too bizzare, surrealistic for most of the adult audiences and far frightening to disturbing to appeal to kids. I give the studios credit for being brave enough to produce sometning this origonal and bizzare.

Thanks for this - I had no idea that a full version of the song existed, though I knew they took a verse out.

Remember watching this film w/ my dad and he told me to cover my eyes at this bit bc it really scared him as a child

How did my parents let me watch this as a child?.... Oh right, they taught and played piano.

*IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SO LONG*

Dr. Seuss everyone!

Oh god this wasn’t a fever dream. It was real…

was looking for this. I knew there was a part of The Dungeon song that was cut.

Great...thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the compliment. I can't this oddball favorite film of mine has gotten such a response. BTW, There is even another alternate versions of the song that is much more "operatic".

I'm not sure I want to find out what Customer Services comprises.

His eyes...I can't look away

Spite bits, roasting pots, scalping devices…fun for the whole family, this one.

At last! I always wondered what that little 'th' sound before 'basement dungeon' was there for

I always found it strange that there was a floor missing. Now I get why. Also, I remember those big wide eyes used to scare the shit out of me when I was little.

I was born in 1960. Not sure how old I was when I first saw this movie. Maybe 15 or so? This scene normally would have scared the poop out of me as a kid but I was practicing piano a lot in those days. I recall thinking that the music in this piece was so cool. The dark chords, melodies, and odd intervals. I think since I focused on the music so much, I was spared most of the creepiness. Mostly :)

Me, watching this as an adult: "Huh. This is just silly, why was I so freaked out by this movie way back when?" < Gets to 1:40 > ".....Oh."

i finally know where Mr. Bungle got the song from to do a cover. nice!

In what other film score are harmless little flutes such harbingers of terror?

I was fascinated by this movie as a kid. Now it seems very poorly done, although I love the acting of Hans Conried. But the dungeon scene stuck with me throughout the years, and is the best part of the movie. Glad to hear the third chorus. I thought something was missing from the song.

Thank you for your restoration work. I am age 70, but did not see this film when it first came out. I can understand why the third floor lyrics were cut out. I would understand if ALL the lyrics were cut out. Just show them entering the elevator, then leaving the elevator. Still..sort of like the death of Bambi's father, is it not? Disturbing, but should that be cut as well? I wonder if in the future a special DVD version would come out with this deleted scene? What other scenes were deleted?

So Alan Aric is said to be the uncredited Elevator Operator on IMDB and TCM and on multiple soundtrack websites is said to be the singing voice for this scene. So we can assume he's both the actor and the singing voice in this scene, however I cannot confirm entirely that he is the actor in the scene with black face on or if another black/"heavily tanned" actor was used while dubbed by Aric due to a lack of information.

I saw this movie on television when I was a kid and I loved it, all of it--except for this part (with that third verse edited out and, wow, does that verse get dark). I didn't even really register what the lyrics were, I just knew the elevator operator was terrifying. If you think Large Marge is scary, you clearly have never seen the Elevator Operator.

Forget the ferry man on the river stix, If I see this guy I KNOW I am going to hell.

That third floor part is pretty dark. No wonder they removed it from the film! 😬👀

this was my brothers fav song in this movie

Gonna be honest, I like Dr. T's shirt in this video. I could picture wearing something like that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🎃

God, that's horrifying.

greatness

.....as if the elevator operator wasn't freaky enough! holy craaaaap!!! where on earth did you find the recording of that verse anyway?

This scenes always scared me when i was little

This was terrifying when I was 6 years old lol

Mr. Bungle used to play this at their live shows in 1992. So it was never in the original? I swear I had heard it as a kid.

I watched this as a kid. The elevator operator with the helmet that conceals everything but his intense, 2000-yard-staring eyes terrified me. Much more terrifying than if it had been an executioner's hood.

I've been a fan of this movie since I first saw it on TV in the 60's. I had no idea that 3rd floor dungeon song was altered. Thanks for restoring it. Dr. Seuss was politically-minded which shows in all his work.

I appreciate your response. A noose alone would be easy to overlook, but when added to chains and thumb screws these devices were all used together specifically in the African slave trade.

YAY!

Mr Bungle do a great cover of this song

Great find, but why use a still image? Since his mouth is covered, it would be easy to re-use the film footage.

we're goin too deep

Mr. bungle knows it

The guards are just 1953 Minions 😂😂😂

Yeah - I know.. There's some weird S&M subtext goin' on here. Screen Archives Ent. has a great 2 CD set soundtrack; including songs that never made the cut at all, and an alternate arrangement of this song too. Truly for folks like me who can't get enough of a childhood favorite!

This movie is about a giant piano... this musical number has a torturer speaking of neck chains and nooses. Kaede, much?

Good old Family-Style Nightmare Fuel

I really appreciate that song but I'm not afraid of it 😌 but I like it 😍🥰😇😍🥰😇😍🤩😍🥰😇😨😨😨😱🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠😃😄😉🙂😀😆😁😊😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🦊🐺🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎊🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎊🎊🎃🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎈🎖🥇🎀🎆🎇✨🧨🎃🤩😍🥰🤩😯😮🎊

Thanks for your comment - I never made the connection of nooses and lynching, but I can definitely see your point. Reminds me of how insensitive people can be unless it affects them directly in some way. However, I never saw that operator as being black per se, but rather someone who is covered with grease and sweat like those guys who used to shovel coal into furnaces or miners, etc.

so. cool

1:18 Song Starts

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEV-eryyyyyyyyyyyyyy Bahhhhhhhhhh-dyyyyyyyyyyy Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...

Somehow the bucket on his head makes him creepier. Also mentioning gas chambers like 8 years after the holocaust is wild

1:25 the most Deliciously Dark yet appropriately Sussian moment put on screen: FIRST FLOOR DUNGEON: Assorted simple tortures. Molten lead, chopping blocks And hot boiling oil! SECOND FLOOR DUNGEON: Jewelry department. Leg chains, ankle chains, Neck chains, wrist chains, thumb screws And nooses of the very finest rope. THIRD FLOOR DUNGEON: Household appliances Spiked beds Electric chairs Gas chambers Roasting pots And scalping devices BASEMENT DUNGEON… EVERYBODEEEEEEEE OUUUHHHHHT!

Things to do at the same time. 1) get high 2) watch this movie

PURE NIGHTMARE FUEL!! I LOVE IT! 😈

My brother once (1960s) hijacked a manual elevator in a department store in Baltimore, pretended to be the operator, and intentionally took people to the wrong floors.

The elevator operator has the face of a nightmare. In Seuss’s drawings, he would look more benign. The way the actor’s eye appear on film is just gross. Peace.

can someone upload this but without the beginning part?

This is such a classic campy scene...love it..I think I'LL tease the girlfriend with it...lol

Hell, that elevator dude looks scary as hell for some reason. I thought he was wax statue before he started moving. He looks like Seuss managed to bring a character from his story books to life.

They really have these dungeons under the Hollywood movie studios.

Man, does that ever swing

So basically he's the voice announcer of the lift but with a creepier voice

I love dudes eyes. 😮

I have been trying to figure out if the operator's eyes are his or an appliance of some sort...

Who's the guy with the walkman?

this song is downright macabre!

How was the 3rd floor that different from the others?