Series: All Stars
Director: James W. Horne
Producer: Hal Roach
Titles: H.M. Walker
Photography: 
Editor: 
Stars: Lucien Littlefield, Katherine Grant, Tyler Brooke, Getrrude Astor
Company: Pathé Exchange
Released: 29 November 1925
Length: 2 reels
Production No.: S-5
Filming dates: July 21 - August 4, 1925
Rating: 6/10
Laughing Ladies
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Dentist LUCIEN LITTLEFIELD is self-administering a procedure for a rotten tooth when patient KATHERINE GRANT walks into his surgery. Assisted by nurse HELEN GILMORE, the young lady sits nervously in the dentist's chair and is told she has a large cavity in her mouth. After the dentist gives her too much laughing gas to make her relaxed he spends the next few minutes trying to revive her. Another patient walks into the surgery complaining that he bit into an oyster. Katherine wakes up and walks down the street shoving pedestrians, as the dentist catches up to her where he then sprays her face with water. Katherine calls over a policeman (TINY SANDFORD), takes his truncheon and uses it to whack the dentist over the head before riding away laughing on a bicycle. She rides her bike through the middle of the road pursued by the dentist who has stolen a car. Katherine dumps her bike in the road and boards the bus as the dentist wrecks her bicycle with his car, collecting her horn up in his wheels as he does so. He chases down the bus, all the while honking each time his wheel runs over the horn which has attached itself to the car. The bus driver (JERRY MANDY) takes exception to being honked at and starts smashing the car with a stick as the vehicles are driving side-by-side. On the top deck of the bus a pipe smoking passenger gets into an altercation with the conductor and is then confronted by passenger TYLER BROOKE after some prompting from his wife GERTRUDE ASTOR. Another scuffle breaks out but this time it is the smoker who ends up leaving the bus... over the side and down onto the car below. |
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Katherine makes an immediate enemy of Gertrude Astor when she tries to snuggle up with her husband on the top deck of the bus. The two ladies get into a fight and a cop who just magically appears out of nowhere throws Astor off. Katherine then snuggles up to the husband as the bus finally makes it to the beach. Katherine gets on a rollercoaster with the husband as the dentist jumps into the empty seat at the rear (whilst the coaster is already in motion!) In a shocking display of fragrant disregard for safety, Katherine stands up waving her arms around and the dentist actually walks between the cars before being thrown off into the ocean below. The wife who got kicked off the bus goes to the police to complain only to discover the woman who attacked her is the police chief's wife. The chief's wife arrives home along with the husband and vows to elope with him. The husband isn't too keen when he spots a photo of her with the chief nearby. The dentist arrives and tells the husband that the woman he is with has a dangerous condition and needs his help to spray her with a restorative. So they go upstairs and the dentist tells the husband to juggle some billiard balls to get the woman's attention. He then gets a ball stuck in his mouth (this scene goes on for an eternity) as the dentist is able to spray her with the potion to release her from her spell. The chief comes home with the wife and discovers the dentist trying to chisel out the husband's feet in the bedroom. The chief's wife emerges from the bathroom where she had been placed by the two men and is reunited with her husband. The dentist is relieved and the film (or at least this footage) ends abruptly. |
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Favourite bit Now you see, this is what happens when you stand up on a moving rollercoaster. Must admit this scene did make me laugh. |
| Trivia • Copyrighted November 6, 1925. • A nitrate print of the film was discovered in Australia, November 2019 by Rob Stone. It was missing several scenes. It was preserved by the Library Of Congress. • I was able to review approximately 16m 23s of the film. • At least one source lists Bull Montana in the cast. It is of my opinion that he has been mistaken for Dick Gilbert. • Tiny Sandford's cop uniform has a badge with the number 29 on it. • The bus is number 801. • This was the first of many Hal Roach film appearances for both Bobby Burns and Gertrude Astor. • When the cop on the bus drags Gertrude Astor off it you can see a church in the near-distant background as the bus is driving away from it. In the next shot the cop and the woman are right next to it. See these two shots (in the "SHOT ON LOCATION" section below): shot 1 and shot 2. • There is a shocking scene where Lucien Littlefield arrives at the rollercoaster and then jumps into an empty seat as the ride begins. Safety measures at their most lacking! Worst still, during the ride Katherine Grant actually stands up whilst the coaster is in motion! • This was the first time Oliver Hardy and Gertrude Astor appeared together in a film. They would later reunite in Come Clean (1931). • This lady is first seen sitting downstairs on the bus. Later she is on the upper deck. My opinion • A so-so comedy with a few good scenes and an outstanding care-free performance from the beautiful Katherine Grant in possibly her finest film. |
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Lucien Littlefield Dentist |
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Katherine Grant The Chief of Police's wife |
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Tyler Brooke Aubrey |
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Gertrude Astor Aubrey's wife |
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Helen Gilmore Dental nurse |
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Oliver Hardy The Chief of Police |
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Dick Gilbert Pipe smoking bus passenger |
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Tiny Sandford Cop on street |
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Chris Lynton Man on bus |
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Charles Lloyd Pedestrian |
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Jerry Mandy Bus driver |
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Harry Bowen Pedestrian/Pier man |
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William Gillespie Dental patient |
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Yorke Sherwood Policeman on bus |
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Bobby Burns Conductor |
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Earl McCarthy Bus passenger |
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Robert Page Pier man |
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Chet Brandenburg Rollercoaster passenger |
Sammy Brooks [?] |
Bull Montana [?] |
Martha Sleeper [?] |
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UNIDENTIFIED Pedestrian 1 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Pedestrian 2 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Pedestrian 3 [possibly Bob Minford] |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 1 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 2 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 3 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 4 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 5 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Bus passenger 6 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Rollercoaster passenger 1 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Rollercoaster passenger 2 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Rollercoaster passenger 3 |
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UNIDENTIFIED Rollercoaster passenger 4 |
| CREDITS (click image to enlarge) | INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge) |
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| LOBBY CARD (click image to enlarge) 
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| STILL (click image to enlarge) 
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| SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge) 
 
 
 
 
 
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| INTERIOR SHOTS (click any image to enlarge) 
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| RISQUE (click image to enlarge) 
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| FRAMED PHOTOS SEEN IN THE FILM (click image to enlarge) 
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| MISCELLANEOUS (click image to enlarge) 
 
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| Acknowledgements: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380719318/ (Los Angeles Times, 29 Jul 1925) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381535357/ (Los Angeles Times, 02 Aug 1925) Rob Stone (help) Steve Massa (still) John Benson (additional material) Jesse Brisson (information; identification of William Gillespie, Bobby Burns, Earl McCarthy, Chet Brandenburg, Robert Page) This page was last updated on: 28 August 2024 |