So You're Going to the Dentist

If there's one thing you'll learn from watching the Joe McDoakes comedies is that Joe's neighbor, Marvin, is a total idiot! While he loves fixing things, they invariably end up completely mucked up.

The story begins with Marvin announcing he's now a dentist as he's completed his dental correspondence school coursework. Joe it not impressed and does not want Marvin looking at his teeth...so Marvin resorts to tricking Joe into breaking a tooth. Then, Marvin simply refuses to take no for an answer and Joe is subjected to dentistry that makes W.C. Fields in "The Dentist" look like a paragon by comparison!

If you are squeamish about going to the dentist, this film certainly won't help this at all...and will likely make it worse. If so, do NOT watch the film. However, it is funny and worth seeing...even if it does make you cringe a bit to watch.

So You're Going to the Dentist (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Dumb neighbor Marvin gets his license to be a dentist so he talks Joe McDoakes into being his first patient. Joe has a perfect set of teeth but that soon changes when Marvin starts digging around in them. This isn't the best film in the series but it does have enough laughs to make it worth watching if you're a fan. I think the best thing this movie has going for it is that George O'Hanlon really is at the top of his game here. Those perfect mannerisms, silly facial gestures and that non-stop aggravation are on fire here as he gets plenty of nice laughs. What was so disappointing here is that Rodney Bell's Marvin character wasn't written as sharply as many of his previous films. I thought the entire set up of him being a dentist really didn't work since Joe knew how dumb he was. I had a hard to believing that even Joe would allow him to work on his teeth but once they hit the chair things start to pick up in terms of laughs. One of the highlights comes at the very end when Frank Nelson shows up to tell Marvin something and of course it's just going to lead to more pain for Joe.

George O'Hanlon's next door neighbor, Rodney Bell, has just gotten his certification as a dentist from a mail order school. He wants O'Hanlon to have the honor of being his first patient. Nor will he take no for an answer.

Richard Bare's series of comedy shorts for Warner Brothers looks a lot like a mildly surreal series of situation comedies. That would explain why he wound up directing shows like GREEN ACRES after the series shut down in 1956. His Joe McDoakes existed in a world in which he thought he knew what was going on, but the insanity of his fellow inhabitants always brought him to an unhapp but funny end. Just like here. With Frank Nelson and Al Bridge.