All-American Toothache (1936) 

** 1/2 (out of 4) 

A strange little short from Hal Roach has Mickey Daniels playing a star football player who won't get to play in the big game unless he can pass his dental exam by pulling out a wisdom tooth. When he fails Thelma Todd gets the bright idea of making Patsy Kelly think she has a toothache so that Mickey will have another shot to play in the game. This short was released a few months after the death of Todd making this her final short. Knowing the history makes this a little strange to watch at times but while there aren't any big laughs the short is at least pleasant enough from start to finish. The story itself is pretty weak but we get a couple good scenes including one towards the end when the dentists line up to do battle with the football players. Another nice joke happens towards the start of the picture when Kelly is "talking" with a customer who isn't in the store she's working at. Kelly actually turns in a pretty good performance here as she thankfully doesn't go over-the-top and instead plays the part pretty straight but it does get a couple laughs. Daniels is pretty annoying in his part but then again the screenplay didn't do him any favors. Todd is also quite lively in the film and manages to do fine work even though the script pretty much keeps her in the background. With this being the final Todd-Kelly short there's no question that the overall quality of the series was hit and miss but there were enough nice ones to make the series worth viewing.

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Thelma volunteers Patsy as a subject for her friend who is in dental school and needs somebody to practice on.

Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd in An All American Toothache (1936)

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Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

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An All American Toothache

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