Dr. Jack

but that's about it. Mostly blah comedy from Harold Lloyd, but it has its moments. A big hit in 1922 when Lloyd was a major box office star, this comedy about a kindly doctor helping the sick little well girl (Mildred Davis) lumbers along with a few good bits until the frantic ending when a lunatic escapes from an asylum, throwing the house into an uproar. Certainly not among the great Lloyd's best--Safety Last, The Kid Brother, Girl Shy--but still worth the 60 minutes. Anna Townsend (the star of Grandma'a Boy with Lloyd) is the old lady, C. Norman Hammond is the lawyer, Florence Mayon is the hotel girl, Mickey Daniels is the homely boy, and Eric Mayne is the fake doctor. Funny ending, but it comes after too much so-so material. Lloyd is always sweet and gracious, Davis is better than in her other Lloyd films (yes they were married in 1923), and the monkey and dog are quite funny. After his string of early 20s box office hits, Harold Lloyd would make his masterpiece, Safety Last, in 1923, right after finishing 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.

By 1922 comic actor Harold Lloyd had embraced the longer feature film format, a departure from his earlier two-reel shorts. His November 1922's "Dr. Jack," though, was his first scripted movie intentionally designed from its original concept to fill an entire 60 minutes of plot, and more importantly, gags and stunts.

Lloyd's two earlier feature films, December 1921's 'A Sailor-Made Man,' and September 1922's 'Grandma's Boy,' both evolved from a script containing only 30 minutes of the actor's antics. The two screenplays were extended from their core plots to fill in another 15 to 30 minutes of action. "Dr. Jack," from its opening minutes follows a young doctor, Lloyd, as he administers understanding, a dose of fresh air with exercise and a healthy diet to his treatments. He stands in contrast to Dr. Ludwig, a firm believer in prescription drugs, closed windows and drapes-and especially no exercise.

Dr. Jack is brought in for a second opinion after The Sick-Little-Well-Girl, tenderly acted by Mildred Davis, has been Dr. Ludwig's patient for four long years. The two doctors are naturally at odds before circumstances give Lloyd an idea to break Davis out of her funk. The movie turned out to be a blockbuster hit, earning a top ten box office spot while earning over one million dollars.

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.

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.