- Year :
- 1914
- Cast :
- Production :
- Keystone
- Description :
- Charlie is a dentist’s assistant who blunders his tasks and abuses patients before he makes additional enemies at a nearby pharmacy. Upon his return to the dental office, he substitutes for the absent 'Dr. Pain' for a time before a comic mêlée brings the film to its conclusion. The film owes some of its inspiration to a Fred Karno sketch Chaplin was familiar with but never performed during his career, The Dentist, although dentistry and tooth extraction have been a source of humor since the commedia dell’arte. Chaplin loathed dentists and dentistry and his family have many memories of the difficulties in getting him to tolerate even infrequent visits to a dentist in his later years. Chaplin makes disparaging comments about dentistry in the role of King Shahdov in his penultimate film, A King in New York (1957). Chaplin’s aggressive mischief dominates the comedy, although the film’s most charming moments involve his gentle flirtations with a pretty female patient; Charlie uses the dentist’s forceps to hold her nose and appropriate a few kisses from her. Finished and shipped: June 26, 1914 Released: July 9, 1914 Scenario: Charles Chaplin Producer: Mack Sennett Director: Charles Chaplin Length: One reel
- DVD & Blu-ray :