Dr. Jack

Young DR. JACK tries to save a pretty invalid from the machinations of an unscrupulous medical quack.

Silent comedian Harold Lloyd had another success in this wildly funny movie. Healthy servings of sentimental nostalgia mixed into the plot only add to the fun. Playing a doctor whose good humor & common sense make him the most popular fellow in rural Magnolia Meadows, Harold makes full use of his tremendous athletic abilities to propel the storyline, piling one gag on top of another. Whether exiting his moving jalopy to shoo cows from his path, saving a naughty tyke from a spanking or breaking up a poker game in a most unique fashion, Harold is never less than hilarious. Finally, he leads one of his wild trademark chases, this time through a spooky house, a sequence that includes both a wonderful Lon Chaney spoof and one of the funniest enraged dogs to ever appear on film.

Mildred Davis has an unusually good role, showing off her acting skills as the spunky invalid. Eric Mayne is appropriately hissable as the bearded villain. Movie mavens will recognize OUR GANG's mischievous Mickey Daniels as Harold's freckle-faced patient and darling old Anna Townsend as the lonely mother of Harold's lawyer friend - both uncredited.

Robert Israel has composed an excellent film score which perfectly complements Harold's antics on the screen.

Although admittedly it has a great deal of charm, by Lloyd's high standards Dr Jack could be reckoned as a weak, sentimental and even overloaded comedy. The characters are strictly pasteboard figures: the ever-smiling Dr Jack, all goodhearted (albeit often ingenious and innovative) helpfulness; the one-dimensionally villainous specialist, all thoroughly self-centered pomposity; the heroine, a Sleeping Beauty of repressed energy and vivacity; her dad, a well-and-truly stupid thickhead; and a supporting gallery of minor bumpkins and rustics. And all of them dancing to a frenetic, rather familiar tune (though, as mentioned, it does have its deft moments and clever touches), culminating in a self-chasing climax which clearly out-stays its welcome.

In its favor, however, the movie does provide Mildred Davis with one of her best roles. Miss Davis rarely received a chance to display any histrionic ability. Her supine heroines were mostly purely decorative. Here, however, she has an opportunity to play a character not a cipher, and she rises to the bait magnificently.

The Sick-Little-Well-Girl (Mildred Davis) is being treated by Doctor von Saulsbourg who forces her to stay in bed and trapped in her own home. Then he decides to sent her to his private sanitarium. Dr. 'Jack' Jackson (Harold Lloyd) is a simple country doctor who cares for his poor patients whether they are a little girl with a sick dolly or a little boy trying to skip school or an old lady who misses her busy lawyer son. Doctor von Saulsbourg and The Sick-Little-Well-Girl make a stop where they encounter Dr. Jack.

I really like the sweet doctoring from Dr. Jack until they do the accidental kiss. I get the idea of a Sleeping Beauty kiss. It would fit the story much more if she gets so excited that she's the one who kisses him. There is a lot of chasing around the rooms comedy. This is all good fun. I would really make that change with the kiss.

Too often silent films were bogged down with inter-titles, slowing the action and frequently boring the audience to tears.

Harold Lloyd avoids that, especially in "Dr. Jack."

"Dr. Jack" the movie is a light story, perhaps even silly in spots, but it MOVES, and Dr. Jack the character is such a pleasant and kind and likable person that he overcomes any minor problem like that.

Turner Classic Movies presented this recently with a new score by Robert Israel, who captures the mood perfectly. He is quite the silent film composer, obviously a man of much talent.

For 1922, the acting was great to adequate, and Harold Lloyd is such a graceful and athletic performer that he could alone make this worthwhile; but he is accompanied by many other talented players, so many of whom, alas, don't even get screen credit (although Mickey Daniels, for example, is so recognizable, maybe he doesn't need to be named).

"Dr. Jack" is a lot of fun to watch, in part because you can just watch -- and laugh -- and not have to spend much effort reading.

Dr. Jack (1922)

**** (out of 4)

Dr. Jack (Harold Lloyd) is the nicest doctor in town who gets a kick out of helping people in his own strange ways. His latest client is a woman who seems to be healthy but a mean German doctor is making her appeal ill so he can keep collecting from her rich father. This is certainly the best film I've seen from Lloyd. I wouldn't say any of the jokes are hysterical but all of them are very fast paced and come non-stop. The highlight includes one scene where a girl calls Lloyd because "Mary" is dying but when he shows up "Mary" turns out to be her baby doll. Another highlight is the ending, which is a madcap of fast jokes as Lloyd dresses up as a vampire to show the girl isn't sick.