Dr Jack

Plot

The Sick-Little-Well-Girl (played by Mildred Davis) has been wrapped in cotton wool all her life. At the sign of the slightest sniffle or cough, she is packed off to bed and each time, the stuffy (and expensive) Dr Ludwig von Saulsbourg (Eric Mayne) is called to attend to her.

In another town lives Doctor Jackson (Harold Lloyd), a friendly and altruistic doctor who is liked by everyone in town. He utilises common sense when curing the citizens of any ills.

Soon, Doctor Jack discovers that von Saulsbourg has been playing on The Sick-Little-Well-Girl's non-illness, charging the girl's father exorbitant amounts of money to "treat" her. With Jack's intervention, von Saulsbourg is sent packing.

Background

Dr. Jack is an upbeat gag-driven film, played solely for laughs. Released between the sensitive, complex character comedy of Grandma's Boy and the daredevil "thrill picture" Safety Last!, it was Lloyd's first intentional five-reeler, whereas his two previous features, A Sailor-Made Man and Grandma's Boy, both grew from two-reelers to five-reelers during the actual shooting.

Cast

Preservation status

Prints exist in the collection of the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the British Film Institute's National Film Archive.