W.C. Fields was almost Charlie Chaplin's 'anti-christ'. It was EASY to fall in love with the charming little tramp. Fields was entering dangerous territory...talk about 'sick jokes'. Lenny Bruce is often attributed as creator of the 'sick joke', but Fields was into this twisted humor decades before. It's part of American culture. Now Fields is loved, but not ADORED like Chaplin. I consider them both geniuses, but Fields was doing a dangerous thing. Making cynicism, cruelness somehow funny. He was almost the comedic male equivalent of Bette Davis, who relished portraying loathsome characters. I'm a recovering alcoholic, and I still find the drunk jokes hilarious....hell, I can relate to nearly every one! This short features nastiness on a golf course, and to me, the humor of Fields drilling on the teeth of his female patient as she raises her skirt, writhing in pain, and exhibiting a wonderful pair of legs, is precious. How Fields got away with this in the first place is a mystery...there are shots in this sequence that look like a porn movie! The Motion Picture Code censored these scenes (I've seen the shortened version), but I just downloaded a beautiful restored copy on the internet.
Review of The Dentist
