The Whole Truth
About The Whole Truth
In court a prosecutor points at a weeping wife and blames her husband, who is rarely home. The defense lawyer smirks, drinks, and picks up the wrong glass. A truth pill is produced. The husband tells a story that softens his wife; she pushes the prosecutor aside and leaves with him. Outside, once she is gone, he takes the pill out of his mouth. He never swallowed it.
Cast & crew
More about The Whole Truth
Ralph Ceder directed. Hal Roach produced. H. M. Walker wrote the titles. Pathé Exchange released the one-reeler (production D-22) on 4 November 1923. Filmed 20–21 July 1923. Copyright 9 November 1923. Wikipedia lists 10 minutes. A circulating copy runs about 12 minutes 53 seconds. Lord Heath notes that the rhinoceros footage is unused material from Laurel's Roughest Africa, cut in to bridge a gap.
Themes
Making
Shot in two days in July 1923. The African animal shots were already in the can from Roughest Africa.
Preservation
A print survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Stan Laurel plays the husband. Helen Gilmore plays the wife. James Finlayson plays the defense lawyer.
- Earl Mohan plays a florist, Jack Ackroyd a clerk, Wallace Howe a chemist, and Charles Stevenson a tailor.
- Lord Heath puts a 28-year age gap between Laurel and Gilmore as the married pair.
- The film may earlier have been production C-115 or LC-115.
- A file is on Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- Finlayson reaches for his water and drinks from the other glass.
- Laurel walks out with his wife, then takes the unswallowed pill from his mouth.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Whole Truth (1923).webm)
