The Awful Tooth (1938)

When one of the Our Gang kids finds money under his pillow after losing a tooth, all the kids decide to get rich by having all their teeth pulled. They visit a dentist, Dr. Schultz, who ... See full summary »

Director:

Nate Watt

Writer:

Jack Jevne (story)

Stars:

Eugene 'Porky' Lee, Henry 'Spike' Lee, Jack Norton

Cast

Credited cast:
Eugene 'Porky' Lee	...	Porky
Henry 'Spike' Lee	...	Spike
Jack Norton	...	Dr. Schultz
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Alfalfa
Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas	...	Buckwheat
Marjorie Townsend	...	Nurse

Storyline

When one of the Our Gang kids finds money under his pillow after losing a tooth, all the kids decide to get rich by having all their teeth pulled. They visit a dentist, Dr. Schultz, who scares them out of their plan (and probably out of ever seeing a dentist again.)

---

Plot Keywords:

dentist | tooth | our gang | nurse | dental nurse | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family | Short

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1938 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

George 'Spanky' McFarland did not appear in this due to being on loan to RKO for Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus.

---

Connections

Referenced in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)

User Reviews

Not infuriating, but not very good

I'll say this for the dentist: He doesn't get as carried away by his sadism as other adults who revel in frightening the Rascals under the guise of moral instruction (see BEAR FACTS, for example). He also doesn't mislead them much - extracting teeth is a horribly painful process with serious consequences, and it makes sense for him to strongly discourage them in case they decide to hire someone else or yank them on their own. Best of all, he forks over some rewards to console them.

That being said, this entire short is pretty dull, because its preachiness is so plain - more than probably any other Hal Roach OUR GANG I've seen, it barely even tries to be funny or charming.