Customer Reviews

Dr. Jack [VHS]

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Nobody should deny us the privilage of these classic Harold Lloyd Comedies:

-Safety Last -The Freshman -The Kid Brother -Speedy

And much more, PLEASE release them in respectable editions, and if at all possible, CRITERION please take note!

Poor Miss Haskell (played by Mildred Davis, future wife of Harold Lloyd) has been treated like an invalid all her life. Dr. Ludwig von Saulsbourg sees her as a bottomless mine of money, and he will go on convincing her father that she needs his "treatments." But, Lawyer Jamison smells a rat, and brings in a "specialist" to get to the bottom of things - Dr. "Jack" Jackson (Harold Lloyd). Dr. Jack treats his patients with common sense and understanding, and he quickly figures out that Dr. Saulsbourg is not helping his patient at all. Now, what can he do to set things right?

This is another great Harold Lloyd silent film, filled with lots of that Lloyd zaniness and hyperactivity. Indeed, this film is filled with lots of great gags, perhaps the best since An Eastern Westerner. This is an awful lot of fun, and a great silent movie. So, if you are a fan of that great Harold Lloyd humor, then fire up this movie and be prepared for a laugh riot!

Dr. Jack (Harold Lloyd) is a friend to all the people in a small town. His methods aren't entirely traditional, but the people he is surrounded by aren't really average people. He deals with children trying to play hooky from school (Mickey Daniels), gamblers who tend to waste their paychecks on one game, and lonely old women. In the city, there is a girl (Mildred Davis, Lloyd's future wife) called the Sick Little Well Girl (obviously a playful jab at the Poor Little Rich Girl). Although it seems there is nothing wrong with her, her fancy doctor prescribes all sorts of remedies that make her miserable. That is, until Dr. Jack steps in.

This film is short and sweet, just the way a comedy should be. There are plenty of funny scenes; some of them are subtle like the card playing bit and some are slapstick comedy like the chase scene at the end.

As Leonard Maltin states, this is one of Harold Lloyd's lesser known features, and only slightly weaker than his more familiar fare. I'm sure the plot was well-suited for the "roaring 20s": out with the old stuffy shirts, in with the new, carefree way of thinking. The short, NUMBER, PLEASE and the feature are both Harold Lloyd Lite, but it's safe subject material for laughs. NUMBER, PLEASE is two long gags, one with a lost/stolen purse and one with a telephone booth, both of which are ingenious. A personal enjoyment, I love seeing old footage of amusement parks, so that was an added pleasure. The subject matter of DR. JACK lends itself to numerous gags, and after Lloyd milks every joke out of the "Good Doctor" and "Sick Little Well Girl" bits, he parades as an escaped convict to keep the fun going.

The two currently available Harold Lloyd silents on Amazon are GRANDMA'S BOY and DR. JACK. Plot-wise, GRANDMA'S BOY is much stronger, which leads to gags that really sock your funny bone, making it a more satisfying film. Can't help but notice that Lloyd had a hand in writing GRANDMA'S BOY, but not DR. JACK. Perhaps this is why it's lacking the heart of the former? Concerning the technical aspect, this DR. JACK print is in slightly better shape then GRANDMA'S BOY, but not by much. One final comparison, Anna Townsend is back as another "Granny" character in JACK, but has significantly less screen time and doesn't get the opportunity to chase off an old hobo with a broom ... take that for whatever it's worth to you.

As the Amazon editorial comment above states, Lloyd's gags don't contain the balletic grace of Chaplin or Keaton, but that makes his style all the more appealing to me. Lloyd's character was famous (for awhile in the 1920s, even more profittable at the box office then Chaplin's & Keaton's characters) because he represented the "everyman", someone you could imagine meeting in real life. He was a normal guy, sometimes down on his luck, trying to win the girl -- and how many normal guys do YOU know who have "balletic grace"? There are plenty of Keaton films out there to keep us satisfied in that arena. And Lloyd did try the Chaplin route with his Lonesome Luke character which ended up being a rather significant flop. Just enjoy Lloyd for what he is -- energetic, charming, surprisingly clever, and thankfully different then the other two great silent comedians. Vive la difference!