Summary of the Movie Plot"Kill or Cure" is a silent short comedy movie from 1923 produced by Hal Roach, directed by Scott Pembroke and Jess Robbins, and famously featuring Stan Laurel. The film is embeded in city America and captures the prominent themes of the Roaring Twenties such as funny, slapstick humor, and absurd scenarios.
The Main CharacterStan Laurel plays a door-to-door sales representative in the film. His character is unengaging and awkward, who lands himself in numerous entertaining situations. Other popular stars who also appeared in the film were Pierre Couderc, who played a randy bachelor; Katherine Grant played the woman who catches his attention, and Mark Jones, the synthetic medical specialist.
The StorylineThe movie's plot focuses on Stan's character, who sells cleansing devices door-to-door. He stumbles upon a bachelor's apartment where he tries to sell a vacuum cleaner. In a funny turn of events, the bachelor's apartment is now tidier than before due to his attempted sales demonstration, however chaos occurs when Stan mistakenly sucks up a pet bird with the vacuum cleaner.
Later, Stan discovers an ad for a 'Kill or Cure' hair restorer, and seeing a chance, he acquires the product to offer. Stan decides to explore the hair conservator on the bachelor, who has been complaining about an absence of hair. However, instead of resolving the bachelor's baldness, it sends him into an unconscious stupor. Stan, puzzled and not understanding what to do, speaks with a quack medical professional who gives dubious suggestions, exacerbating the scenario and adding more humor to the film.
Comic Elements & ClimaxStan Laurel's comic timing is flawless in "Kill or Cure". He falls under a series of accidents and misconceptions: the mix-up with the vacuum cleaner, the attempt to sell a problematic hair product, and consulting an unqualified medical professional - all of these scenarios inject a high degree of humor and laughter into the movie.
The climax of the movie is both side-splitting and thrilling, which involves the intoxicated bachelor chasing Stan with a hatchet out of anger for his destroyed hair, turning the tables from an eccentric funny into a two-minute thriller at the end.
Total Expression"Kill or Cure" is a timeless testament of the 1920s Hollywood resorting to slapstick comedy and physical humor when noise was not an integral part of films. Stan Laurel's efficiency is immensely amusing, with his awkward, well-meaning, however hapless character including numerous laughs to this silent brief film. The storyline is easy going and ridiculous, teamed with the impeccable comic timing of the actors, making "Kill or Cure" a must-watch for fans of classic silent movie theater.
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