Dentist on the Job

There were two styles of British comedy in the 50's/60's, the wonderful Ealing comedies and the pretty awful, but watchable Carry on Films. This is more reminiscent of a Carry on, indeed the music score is almost identical, though the comedy is better. Bob Monkhouse also starred in the very first Carry on movie, Carry on Sergeant; and Shirley Eaton was literally the Golden Girl in James Bond's Goldfinger.

This so-so sequel to the superior DENTIST IN THE CHAIR sees the trio of Bob Monkhouse, Kenneth Connor, and Ronnie Stevens return from the first film. This time around, they're working for a marketing company who decide to put a brand new type of toothpaste out on on the market, only to discover that it isn't much cop. So they make their own brand instead, with predictably unforeseen consequences.

I found the script of this sequel to be inferior to that of the first, because the humour is of a more sub-CARRY ON standard here. The first film had slapstick routines and character humour, whereas this is all about innuendo for the most part. There are still some funny sequences, but there just aren't as many as previously.

Monkhouse is still on fire here, ably supported by Stevens and in particular Connor, who gets to impersonate various characters as part of the fun. The superior supporting cast includes the fresh-faced Shirley Eaton (soon to go on to greater things with GOLDFINGER) alongside genre stalwarts Richard Wattis and Eric Barker. Watch out for Charles Hawtrey, cameoing early on.

Intermitently funny, but made in 1961, with an eye for inclusion in the then unformed, and as then, unreleased, as yet, uninvented, DVD of the future film MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL in the year of our Lord, 2001 AD. I'd say the wait was worth it...

Silliness abounds in this comic affront to British advertising. Beckwith, an ad executive, enlists the services of wacky dentists, Monkhouse and Stevens, to revive the sagging sales of a toothpaste. They invent a new wonder toothpaste and their nutty attempts at promoting the product comprise the rest of the film.

Not better -or worse- than the average 50s/60s comedies. Although I expected Norman Wisdom coming in and shout "Mr Grimsdale!!!!"

As a movie, I'm not entirely sure how "Dentist On The Job" stacks up. However, i must say that when i first watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (special edition) This movie really made me sit up and take notice. Especially how it wasn't the movie i was expecting. As the movie opened on the unfamiliar black and white of "dentist" i was a bit taken aback. I admit that i restarted the movie to make sure i had got the right DVD in the player.

Whoever allowed this movie to preempt Holy Grail is a genius... it encouraged me to IMDb it to see just what the draw was. And i still am unsure.. much like many of the troupe's gags in and out of the mainstream. For random sake... i think it is hilarious.