Oh, Doctor!

Watched "Oh, Doctor!" (1925) with Reginald Denny, Mary Astor, Otis Harlan, William V. Mong, Tom Ricketts, Lucille Ward, Mike Donlin, Blanche Payson, Martha Mattox, and a couple of others. Absolutely stunning first fifteen minutes. HILARIOUS! Then downhill from there. It still has many funny, funny moments, but the story becomes just downright stupid. Before the three crazy guys - and, yes, that's how they're labeled in the movie! - and even before the entrance of Mary Astor, the film is off to the races. But with the entrance of these later characters the film is forced. Forced by the writing and the direction. Denny himself is never forced. He's a riot, from beginning to the end. The finale - on a flagpole - will remind most of watching a Keystone Kops sort of slapstick. It almost tries at Harold Lloyd, but it doesn't make it. I'd give the film 2 to 2½ stars out of 4. Some will think it better than that, at least 3. I think I'm generous. The plot revolves around the fact that Denny is a hypochondriac's hypochondriac. He's a wimp's wimp. His body language is nearly perfect in the part. If you're familiar with Denny at all, especially before this film, you'll know that he made the series called "The Leather Pushers" (1922), a set of two-reelers about a boxer. He was anything but a wimp. He was a fine actor who also happened to be a fine comedian. He's wonderful here, and the first part of the film - my version lasts 63 minutes - is supremely funny. It's past the twenty minute mark that the humor begins to be so routinely like filler two-reelers of the period that it lags. Mary Astor is serviceable at best. Best scene: Blanche Payson as the osteopath giving the works to Denny. Denny's body movements are a laugh riot! Payson's workout on Denny has to be seen to be believed. Great comedy! Truly classic stuff. If only the rest of the film could have been like this...