“The Tooth Will Out” (1951) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

The Tooth Will Out (1951)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay:  Edward Bernds

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Vernon Dent, Dick Curtis and Emil Sitka

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys are on the run from an irate chef swinging a cleaver, when they end up in a dental school.  A few dollars and a few weeks later and the boys get (not earn) a diploma.  They head west to open a dental practice.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The scenes where Shemp pulls a tooth from a poor cowhand were actually filmed for Merry Mavericks, a prior Stooges short.  Merry Mavericks ran too long and Shemp’s scenes had to be cut.  Edward Bernds and producer Hugh McCollum felt the scenes were too funny to be discarded.  Since Merry Mavericks came in under budget they argued that with a little more money they could create a story around Shemp as a dentist.  Columbia agreed and The Tooth Will Out was born!

Shemp with Coke-bottle glasses, using a carpentry “how to” book as a dental guide is great. What really sells the bit is the legs of the patient!  They twist and squirm with each tug and pull on his molars.

The Tooth Will Out earns 4 of 5 stars.