The Tooth Will Out


The Tooth Will Out is a 1951 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 134th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

After being fired from two jobs for breaking dishes, the Stooges end up being chased into a dental office. Eventually, the boys study, and graduate from dental school. The dean of the school gives them their first recommendation to go out west, and open a practice.
The boys open up shop in quiet western town, when their first customer comes in with a mild toothache. Wearing glasses with lenses as thick as soda bottles, Dr. Shemp proceeds to drill the patient's teeth until smoke rises from his mouth.
The appointment is abruptly cut short when an irate customer who claims to be the Sheriff enters the office with a serious toothache. Feeling nervous, Shemp accidentally picks up the wrong book, entitled The Amateur Carpenter. They first rub sandpaper to his chest, and paste the inside of his hat which they thought it was to "varnish the lid". After discovering it is the wrong book, the boys go back to business seriously. They finally extract the Sheriff's tooth, only to discover it is the wrong one.

Cast

The Tooth Will Out was filmed on February 19–20, 1951. The film's title parodies the proverbial expression "The truth will out."
The second half of this film, consisting of the dentist office scene, was originally filmed seven months earlier in June 1950 for inclusion in the previous entry, Merry Mavericks. However, the scene ran too long and had to be excised from the final cut. Rather than disposing of the surplus dentist footage, the story line of The Tooth Will Out was built around it.
This was the last film to feature longtime Stooge supporting actor Dick Curtis: he died of lung cancer in January 1952. The voice from the living set of dentures is Vernon Dent.