Before watching this episode of 'Angel', a sitcom still unknown to me, I did not expect much. But ... First surprise, the presence of a French name in the credits, Annie Fargé, and the realization that the main character of this series was a Frenchwoman, Angel, married to Johnny Smith, an all-American architect (Marshall Thompson, who would later encounter fame in 'Daktari'). And this countrywoman (then as strange to me as the series she stars in), proved delicious: cute,lively, self-assured, making charming English mistakes, this devilish angel lived up to the title. Aside from this jingoistic pleasure (be reassured, I loved all the American cast, especially Parley Baer as the overwhelmed dentist, Maudie Prickett as the uptight secretary and Frank Wilcox as the good-natured judge), I greatly enjoyed the wit of Arthur Alsberg's dialog. There are indeed dozens of hilarious one-liners such as "I'm just another housewife who is trapped behind the iron apron" or the very sexist "Housewives are wonderful ... in their place!" uttered by the indignant dentist) But what amazed me the most was the modernity of the scriptwriter's views on gender roles and more particularly on the way housewives are considered by their husbands and men in general. In this scathing attack against male chauvinism, the thesis defended by Angel and her friend Jennie is that the time spent by housewives on household tasks is well worth their companions' and should be paid for. "The Dentist" (the title of this brilliant episode) goes through this important issue thoroughly and seriously, but it does it with a smile, that is to say ... more effectively than heavy-handed dramas of ideas. Things could not be expressed any better in 2010, fifty years after this short film was made. So feel free to watch Annie Fargé's comical fight for recognition, laugh and think over. You won't regret it!
