Dentist on the Job 1961

Eric Barker as Colonel Proudfoot of Proudfoot Industries hatches a scheme to lure two dentists into endorsing a new toothpaste, Dreem, all while knowing that if the dentists discover they’re part of an advertising campaign, they could be struck off. His cousin, the director of a Dental School, sees an opening to rid the field of dentistry of two newly qualified incompetents, Bob Monkhouse as David Cookson and Ronnie Stevens as Brian Dexter. Once on staff at Proudfoot, the two doctors set about improving Dreem’s terrible formula, and in an accidental turn of luck they actually create a toothpaste that works far better than the original. Their attempts to persuade Proudfoot of its merits are foiled by Proudfoot’s assistant, Macreedy, played by Richard Wattis.

They soon stumble upon a newspaper article about a forthcoming rocket launch from a British base carrying a satellite that will broadcast a taped message of peace from the President of the United States, and they hatch a plan. They record an impromptu commercial for the new formula, and with the help of an ex-convict friend, Kenneth Connor as Sam Field, and actress Shirley Eaton as Jill Venner, manage to smuggle it aboard the rocket in place of the President’s speech. The bold publicity guarantees Dreem’s success, the advertising scheme goes viral, and the two dentists rise in status as Proudfoot Industries enjoys years of free promotion.