weezeralfalfa Review of Oh Doctor!

Oh Doctor! (1917)

Doctor Arbuckle does everything except doctoring!

[6/10 · 5 September 2018]

An early Roscoe Arbuckle/Buster Keaton comedy short. Neither of the characters they play is very likable. Keaton's character appears to be a teen, probably spoiled by his mother, and abused by his father(Roscoe). Mostly he does nothing except cry, or occasionally laugh uproariously: quite atypical for a Keaton character!. The latter happens, when the horse Roscoe bet on gets confused ,turns around and runs the wrong way for part the race. Roscoe doesn't think it's funny, hits him, and he cries.......Besides being abusive toward his son, Roscoe often disrespects his wife. While they are sitting, waiting for the horse race to start, a sexy young woman sits down next to him, and he flirts with her, and, apparently, he gives her his phone number, as she later calls him up ,with a fake illness reason for him to come see her. This is a way to get him out of the house, to make it easier for her boyfriend(played by Al St. John) to go to his house(How does he know where it is??) and steal the expensive-looking necklace he saw his wife wearing. In another incident, when he is excited by news that the horse he bet on won the derby, he drags her along the street in his haste to get to the bookie joint where he bought his ticket. She stumbles and falls, but he ignores this, and continues running. Dressed as a policeman, he scares all the bookies and their cronies out of their hideout, and grabs the cash they left. When he shows this to his wife, she scolds him for betting on horses, and kicks him in the behind. He returns the favor.......The minimal plot is pretty disjointed and nonsensible. After Al steals Roscoe's wife's necklace, the wife goes calling on the vamp's apartment(how does she know where it is??). The vamp has the necklace around her neck. Roscoe doesn't want his wife to know he's there, so he dresses up in the policeman's uniform ,hanging up in the kitchen. How the policeman relates to the vamp is unclear, but he seems to have an admirer in the maid(Alice Lake), who disappeared after the policemen. They are never seen again.......Al and Roscoe have a time fighting in and above the vamp's room, and the wife is locked in the closet for a while. Eventually, Al and the vamp disappear out the window, minus the necklace, and are not seen again........In summary, one of the more chaotic Arbuckle/Keaton collaborations, with Keaton having a minimal role.