Topic: The Tooth Will Out (1951)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/133
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044139/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Umu25dU0IyI

Watch THE TOOTH WILL OUT in the link above



      Another week, another Stooge short, time marches on.  This week, it's a pretty good one!  One thing that has always stood out about THE TOOTH WILL OUT is the beginning harkened back to the early forties.  The boys get thrown out of a restaurant for breaking dishes and land on an outdoor street.  Emil Sitka at one point even chases them on a sidewalk with people looking on.  These outdoor scenes, common in the early forties heyday, are rare in the early fifties, more known for their indoor, boxed in comedy.  Take MERRY MAVERICKS last week, there you had a bar scene with no extras, it looked barren.  So yeah, just that brief little setting gives THE TOOTH WILL OUT a flavor we haven't seen in a while, the boys performing comedy in public.

      The rest of the short, not much to say which can't be said for several other Stooge shorts, but it's nice and entertaining.  I do love the way Larry makes one little crack about not being able to see his tooth, leading to Moe and Shemp performing major surgical slapstick on the guy.  Margie Liszt had to save the day for Larry, but it's great commentary on the team's dynamic.  An innocent little crack like that is an excuse for slapstick....meaning you don't need much of an excuse.

      It's true, Vernon is getting older, but I still like him here, giving the old tried and true warhorse, "Go west, young man" speech to the boys and also lending his voice to those bizarre pair of dentures.  The boys themselves are in good spirits, singing in harmony, dancing, and just being their normal fun selves overall.  Slim Gaut absolutely kicks ass as the dental patient, legs flailing everywhere and displaying some virtuosic, as well as funny, slapstick comedy.  Dick Curtis is fine here as well, though he's looking sicker in his last appearance, continuing a sad tradition of making his last appearance eleven months before his death.  My only real complaint about this one, like so many others, is the ending just comes out of nowhere, but I just spent a chilly Sunday morning watching this, and it was a nice time.  Good stuff.

9/10

[Kopfy2013]

 To me a very disappointing short. Vernon Dent has lost his vitality. Very few funny moments " Sand his chest? Must be something new in dentistry."  Last role for Dick Curtis  with the Stooges.

 I give it a four.

[Paul Pain]

This entire short is satisfying even if it is not on the upper echelon of shorts.  There are lots of unique funny moments in this, such as the talking dentures and sandpapering the chest.  This short is typical of the low budget comedies this era produced, but at least there's a legitimate outdoor scene for once!

Sadly, Vernon Dent's age is showing at this point, and it is quite sad to see, but he delivers his role perfectly even if it isn't the typical role we see him in.

"Hiya, Miss Buckshot!"

8/10

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Shemp's character seems to be having false visions of a female again: "Isn't she gorgeous!" This time the lady misperceived is played by Margie Liszt, back after playing the landlady in Baby Sitter Jitters ("'Nyaaa' yourselves!").

I am disappointed to find that the page on this short in the Emil Sitka site doesn't yet have any materials on it, as I have somewhere read an account of how, when Sitka was directed to run down the street waving a meat cleaver and yelling at the Stooges, on the first take, he let loose with such a stream of profanities that the filming crew collapsed in laughter.

The opening reminds me of a Curly short that begins with an exterior shot of the entrance to a building with the sound of angry yelling coming from within, followed by dummies of the Stooges flying out the entrance and landing in a heap on the roadway. This opening, with what I take to be stunt doubles, is not as funny in the execution, but it's still a great way to open a short.

[GreenCanaries]

The opening reminds me of a Curly short that begins with an exterior shot of the entrance to a building with the sound of angry yelling coming from within, followed by dummies of the Stooges flying out the entrance and landing in a heap on the roadway. This opening, with what I take to be stunt doubles, is not as funny in the execution, but it's still a great way to open a short.

That Curly short would be LOCO BOY MAKES GOOD. Indeed, the Stooges falling out in this one are the reliable stand-in trio of Breen, Cross and Kascier.

[Lefty]

Fortunately, my half brother (or my "Brother from another mother" as it were), who was a dentist, was not like Shemp.  I like this short, as it has lots of good scenes and lines.

"$5 each or 3 for $25" (or "$5 apiece or 3 for $25") is a line I use many times when talking about deals.  Shemp doing a chopping motion when saying "George Washington -- Washington", after Emil Sitka was seen nearby.  "You better be darn sure you're right with this bird or you'll be notch number 10" (or something like that).  "You went to dental school didn't you?  That whole week wasn't wasted, was it?"  And of course, how can we ever leave out "Next you sandpaper the chest ... then you varnish the lid."

My favorite scene was Shemp as the dentist, working on Slim Gaut and Dick Curtis.

[JazzBill]

I like this short. The stunt actors were busy in the beginning of this one. The singing teeth with the boys and Vernon Dent is my favorite bit in this short. Vernon may be getting older but he still shines on. He is my favorite all time costar. I thought the dentist scene with the old man was dragged out a little long but I still rate this one a 8.

[Shemp_Diesel]

As I said in the discussion for last week, Ed Bernds had what was his only "hiccup" during the Shemp years. And now, he rebounds very nicely with Tooth--maybe not an all-time classic in the vein of a Scrambled Brains, but funny regardless.

I'm sure everyone here already knows the story of how the "dentist office" footage was originally shot for Merry Mavericks, but was too long for that short, so Bernds saved that footage and filmed new material to give us this particular short.

The bit with Shemp's "Vampire Dentures From Hell" may be the high point of this short (bum bum bum bum)--even better than Shemp as the dentist, which is great too.

Overall, I give it a strong 8 out of 10....

[Paul Pain]

      It's true, Vernon is getting older, but I still like him here, giving the old tried and true warhorse, "Go west, young man" speech to the boys and also lending his voice to those bizarre pair of dentures.

"Do me a favor; go somewhere far away from here to practice."

One must pay close attention to get the insult he throws at the boys here, but at least he wasn't flaaaaat.

[ThumpTheShoes]

Fine-tuned and funny, right down to the "musical" smacks to Shemp's face: "Tap, ta-tap, tap, ta-tap, TAP! Oh! OH!" Listen for it.

No greater ruse than, "Hey, teeth? Look!"

"He made that freak thing. Let him suffer!"

"He's been standin' too close to that oven!"

The sounds of the drill, particularly when drilling the chair.

Will we get to see Shemp this animated ever again?! It is like he's back in the Vitaphone days in this one.

"Make sure it's a finishing nail so you can put put-y, on the head of it."

Chock-a-block full of goodness, this one.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

This one is indeed a pleasant surprise, no classic, but watchable, as we all seem to agree.  Slim Gaut ( never knew his name before ) is excellent in the chair.  I always enjoy how Larry jumps into any musical bit with gusto: here he starts belting out his part right on key without even a hint of consternation, or even awareness, that he's singing back-up to a set of false teeth.

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

Great stooge episode and definitely a major rebound from the mediocre "Merry Mavericks" (the worst stooge film directed by Edward Bernds) the only problem I've had with this short is the ending was kind of abrupt but the rest of the episode was great, I loved the outdoor footage of the boys getting fired from their jobs and them running from their angry bosses, that IMO was a throwback to the 30's/early 40's Curly shorts.

Overall I give this episode an 8/10 (would've been a 9/10 if the ending wasn't abrupt).

[Dr. Mabuse]

Good — not great — Stooges, though a helluva lot better than "Merry Mavericks." I like the first half better than the second, but the outdoor scenes at the beginning certainly kick it up a notch.  The ending would have worked better if there was an exterior closing shot of the boys running out of town with Dick Curtis in hot pursuit. 

7/10

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Slightly above average Shemp short.  The dentist scene with Shemp is always fun.

#109. The Tooth Will Out