Dental Follies

"Dental Follies" is one of several short films made during the Great Depression by the Education Film Corp. They were a small way to provide some work for musicians, artists, actors and theater crews. How much they might be considered entertainment would depend on the characters, their talent and the scripts.

I enjoy watching shorts from the early days of Hollywood when studios would tack them onto feature shows for theater releases. Sometimes they would show very talented vaudeville performers. They would include singings, dancing, comedy, acrobatics and even animal shows. And, sometimes they would have performers whose talent one could understand wasn't good enough to make even the Hollywood supporting lists.

This short, and the people in it, fit in the latter group. The plot is rather bizarre. Several dentists are in business together in a high-rise dental building where prospective patients are lured by the different entertainment appeals. The idea, I guess, is that if one is entertained sufficiently, and one's mind is off the dental work, one won't feel the pain.

Well, none of the skits in this short are very good, and a song or two actually are a little painful. The film doesn't have anyone who made a name or success in films.