Series: Stan Laurel Director: Scott Pembroke Producer: Hal Roach Titles: Photography: Frank Young Editor: Stars: Stan Laurel, Katherine Grant, Eddie Baker, Mark Jones, Noah Young Company: Pathé Exchange Released: 15 July 1923 Length: 1 reel Production No.: D-5 Filming dates: March 6-13 & April 7-9, 1923 Rating: 6/10

Kill Or Cure

Available on DVD:

Stan is a salesman trying to sell his bottle of "Knox All" a rather dumbfounded man before realising hs is standing outside a deaf and dumb institution. Having learnt his lesson, Stan tries some sign language on a woman (Helen Gilmore) coming out of the complex but she gives him a mouthful for assuming she is one of the patients. She gives chase down the street, continuing her verbal assault on him as he tries to escape from her. Damn, that woman just doesn't give up! Speedy Sam (Mark Jones) gets introduced as a drunk who gets into an altercation with the sheriff on a street corner. Sam sees Stan trying to sell his bottle to an uninterested customer and doesn't ask any questions - he gives Stan some money and just takes the bottle. Stan's next stop is a young maid (Katherine Grant) who is besotted with her caged budgie. After pestering her, she finally gives in and buys one of his bottles but pays for it with a fake coin. Stan's bad luck continues as he is duped into cleaning a man's (Noah Young) car with his product which the guy then refuses to pay for. So Stan retaliates by throwing flour all over him! (see favourite bit). Stan's last attempt to sell his bottle leads him to a narrow row of houses where he thinks he finally manages to make a sale (to Sammy Brooks). A bunion doctor is forcibly ejected from the house and Stan is invited inside, only himself to be thrown out of the door moments later by the nagging woman he encountered at the beginning of the film. Stan walks off down the street picking bits of cactus out of his pants.

Favourite bit Stan spends all that time polishing Noah Young's car only to have him complain and then refuse to pay up. Stan does the unthinkable and completely ruins the man and his car with flour.

Trivia • Copyrighted June 7, 1923. • Originally production no. C-95 (or LC-95). • When we first see Helen Gilmore in the scene where she gives Stan a tongue lashing at the gate, she just reminds me of Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West. In her first piece of dialogue she describes herself as a "defenseless young girl". I would suggest she is none of those! • The maid names her bird 'Rudolph'. • When Stan rings the doorbell of the maid for the second time she answers immediately. My opinion • To be fair this one isn't that bad (which is a big step up from the usual mediocrity of Stan Laurel's solo films). The quality of the print definitely helps the viewing pleasure and considering the film is 100 years old it looks pretty good. It's a shame that so much effort has been made to preserve such relatively poor quality films when other, better films from the same period are in desperate need of preservation and/or release to DVD.

	Stan Laurel Salesman
	Katherine Grant Maid with birdcage
	Eddie Baker Sheriff
	Mark Jones Speedy Sam
	Noah Young car owner
	Helen Gilmore Aggressive woman
	George Rowe Deaf man
	William Gillespie Doctor
	Charles Stevenson Resident at 1313½
	Jack O'Brien Resident at 1313
	Roy Brooks Resident at 1311½
	Sammy Brooks Resident at 1311
	Chris Lynton Man on street corner
	Jack Ackroyd Grocer
	Owen Evans Doctor
	Ivadell Carter Girl

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)	INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

POSTER (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Laurel Or Hardy by Rob Stone (book) Jesse Brisson (identification of Ivadell Carter and Roy Brooks; also thinks that 'Jack O'Brien' may be Noah Young?) This page was last updated on: 09 September 2021