Dr. Jack

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, Dr. Jack follows an affable country doctor (Harold Lloyd’s Dr. Jackson) as he agrees to help a young woman (Mildred Davis’ The Sick-Little-Well-Girl) suffering from a variety of ailments. It’s a decent-enough premise that’s employed to periodically amusing yet mostly underwhelming effect by Newmeyer, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, and Jean Havez, delivers a predictably hit-and-miss comedy that fares best in its briskly-paced opening stretch – with the compulsively watchable atmosphere heightened by Lloyd’s thoroughly charming performance and a smattering of chuckle-worthy bits and gags (eg Dr. Jack speeds away on a bicycle missing its chain). There’s little doubt, then, that Dr. Jack‘s impact is dulled considerably by a meandering midsection and frenetic, somewhat tiresome third act, with the increasingly less-than-engrossing vibe compounded by an ongoing emphasis on digressions of a decidedly far-from-spellbinding nature (eg Dr. Jack sabotages a game of poker) – which, when coupled with a protracted climax, does confirm the movie’s place as a disappointing early feature from star Lloyd.

** out of ****