The Dippy Dentist (1920)

Touches You

Sorry, this movie sucks

How sad is this?

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Two elements are involved with The Dippy Dentist, humankind's fear of dealing with them and America getting used to being dry. The first is eternal and if one encounters a dentist like Snub Pollard one should be afraid.Snub's a correspondence school dentist, his previous job had been in a boiler factory. On his first day on his new job he gets into a mix up with one of those bootleggers, a profession recently sprung into being. He's got himself some of that freshly made product and it has quite a kick to it. He gets several customers right away from competing dentist Gaylord Lloyd.Some funny bits such as Pollard tossing a patient out the window in a struggle with a tooth. Today Pollard would be arrested for what he does to female patient Marie Mosquini. I guess Hal Roach like millions of other Americans was not happy with the Great Experiment. He chose a delightful way to express his feelings.

This is an okay silent comedy with several bright moments, though it certainly isn't a must-see film for anyone but crazy people like myself who MUST see as many silent comedies as they can before they die! Well, if you, too, are like this, then look for the "American Slapstick" DVD set to see this film, though there are also many better shorts in the set that make it well worth owning.The film begins with a girl who is supposedly irresistible to all men. Several guys all come to her to pledge their undying love--including Harold Lloyd's brother, Gaylord (who is a dentist). Shortly after this, a new dentist (Snub Pollard) arrives to work in an office across the hall. In a very funny scene, Pollard manages to steal all of Gaylord's patients from his waiting room. However, when it comes to dental work, Snub is highly unlikely to receive the American Dental Association's seal of approval. That's because he's incredibly rough and manages to toss a guy out the window when he pulls his tooth. Plus, it was really, really creepy when this irresistible lady comes to his office. He gives her laughing gas and then uses her unconsciousness to start kissing her repeatedly! Apparently sexual assault was quite the laugh getter in 1920! Now it just seems wrong! Oddly, soon after this the film ends in a very anticlimactic manner--as if the end of the film was missing (which it probably was).Overall, it has some lovely moments but isn't among Snub's finest (which is probably IT'S A GIFT).

There are actually TWO dentists in this Roach short subject, one of them played by Harold Lloyd's brother Gaylord. He's wooing beautiful young thing Marie Mosquini, but with only marginal success, as she's also the apple of another man's eye. Enter--on the back of a motorcycle--The Dandy, once again portrayed by the inimitable Snub Pollard, who gets his bag of dental equipment switched with that of some back alley hooch salesmen (remember, Prohibition was only a year old, and was probably still being taken somewhat seriously in certain circles). Snub then meets cute with Sunshine Sammy Morrison and his faithful pooch, who looks a lot like the dog from the Our Gang series. The booze leaks from the bottle, the dog gets drunk, and Snub takes his liquid anesthetic into Gaylord's office, where he steals his competitor's patients with the sweet scent of alcohol. It's patently absurd, but the scene of Snub giving gas to Sammy Brooks is worth the price of admission alone.