Summary
In a narrative that functions as a feverish exploration of early 20th-century pharmacological irresponsibility, Laughing Ladies (1925) centers on a dental practitioner whose diagnostic methodology relies heavily on the excessive administration of nitrous oxide. The film’s catalyst is a young woman, portrayed with an almost ethereal manic energy, who seeks relief from a mundane toothache only to be subjected to a transgressive dosage of the 'laughing gas.' This chemical intervention serves as a catalyst for a surrealist picaresque through the urban sprawl. Liberated from the constraints of Victorian social decorum, the protagonist embarks on a blithe, hallucinatory odyssey. Her journey is marked by a series of socially incendiary interactions, most notably a scandalous flirtation with a married man that threatens to unravel the domestic stability of the supporting cast. The plot is less a linear sequence of events and more a rhythmic escalation of slapstick calamities, where the boundaries between medical treatment and anarchic liberation are blurred into a singular, breathless cinematic experience.
Synopsis
A dentist believes in dosing patients with generous doses of laughing gas. When a girl arrives with a toothache, he gives even more than usual. She leaves and trips blithely along, makes love to a married man and gets into trouble.
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