491 - Harold Lloyd in Dr. Jack, United States, 1922. Dir. Fred C. Newmeyer.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

491 - Harold Lloyd in Dr. Jack, United States, 1922.  Dir. Fred C. Newmeyer.

Hal Roach Prescribes Harold Lloyd.

So say the opening credits.  Written on the prescription pad.

In Consultation . . .

with the other players.

Dr. Jack Jackson is a doctor.  In a small town.  And his patients love him.

His patients can be a bit psychosomatic.  And he can cure them with a bit of psychology.

I am too sick to go to school today.
No worries.  The schoolhouse has burned down to the ground.
Hey, suddenly I feel better.

He is so busy that his employees chase him to feed him.

He gets plenty of work.  He makes plenty of money.  He is beloved by all.

A good gig if you can get it.

Four men are playing poker.  He stacks the deck by giving four aces each to all four men.

Let them sort it out.

Sneaky Jackson.

Enter the The Sick-Little-Well-Girl.

Yesterday we mentioned the Mary Pickford 1917 comedy The Poor Little Rich Girl and suggested it as having similarities to Now or Never (1921).

The Poor Little Rich Girl was a big hit.  It was a popular phrase.  In 1934 the press would attribute the phrase to Gloria Vanderbilt, born in 1924, in that year's Trial of the Century.  Shirley Temple would star in a version of Poor Little Rich Girl in 1936.  Andy Warhol would use it in his film of Edie Sedgwick in 1965.

So The Sick-Little-Well-Girl would have been a clear reference.

This Sick-Little-Well-Girl, played by Mildred Davis, the soon-to-be Mrs. Harold Lloyd, is being used by the cunning Dr. Ludwig von Saulsbourg as a siphon for her father's money.  Dr. von S. has her father convinced that she must stay locked in dark rooms and drink lots of liquid medicine, very expensive medicine of course, and that Mr. SLWG, The Girl's Father, must steadily pay Dr. von S. lots of money.

Until one day when the father-daughter team arrive in Dr. Jack Jackson's town and The Girl's Father takes her to see Dr. Jackson.

Dr. Jackson, being the genius that he is, opens the curtains.  Lets in the light.  Opens the windows.  Lets in the fresh air.  Opens his heart.  Falls in love with The Girl.

And dreams of a day to be.

And stumbles.

And bumps into her by accident.

And kisses her by mistake.

And creates a scandal.

Because that can happen in the movies in 1922.

And the Father and the bad Dr. von Saulsbourg attempt to run him off.  So Dr. Jack Jackson hides by disguising himself as an escaped Lunatic.  The real one is being chased by two police officers who arrive at the residence.

So Harold Lloyd moves back and forth breathlessly between his disguises.  As different personas are chased by different people.

And madcap mayhem ensues.

But we are not worried.

With Harold Lloyd as the good doctor, we expect a full recovery.  And that all will be well.



Yesterday we also mentioned Jackie Condon and Mickey Daniels from Our Gang.  Both of those little rascals appear here as a patient and his pal.