Taken from a 1919 stage play "Aaron Slick" was an unlikely story to make into a movie. The whole thing revolves around the title character, Aaron Slick, a farmer in mid-west America and his neighbor and would-be fiancé, Josie Berry. Aaron loves the farm but Josie dreams of the big city. She wants to sell her farm and travel while Aaron wants her to marry him and settle down but he is too shy to ask her. When a show visits the town Josie agrees to let two of the performers, William Merridew and his partner Gladys, stay at her house. Merridew pretends that Gladys is his cousin while she is, in reality, his accomplice in crime. The two are confidence artists who are on the run after pulling a land sale scheme in Chicago and are looking for a place to hide out. While walking in the pasture on Josie's farm Merridew steps in some mud near a spring and discovers oil on his foot. Convinced that there is oil on the property he schemes to cheat Josie and offers to buy her land. Aaron, who has an idea what is going on, makes a counter-offer. Merridew thinks that Aaron is after the oil as well so he offers Josie $20,000. Josie sells her farm and goes to Chicago to "live it up". After a short time she finds that the "good life" is not what she really wants. She is homesick for the farm and she misses Aaron. In the meantime Merridew and Gladys find out that the oil in the spring is there because Aaron had accidentally dropped a bucket of oil near the spring a few days before. Convinced that they have been out-slicked by Aaron and Josie the two swindlers decide they must get their money back from Josie. Merridew and Gladys go to Chicago (a dangerous move since they are wanted there for their previous scam) to try and find Josie and get her to buy the farm back. He is surprised and outraged to find that Josie, unused to living in the city, has spent $4000 in just a few days. Aaron also goes to Chicago to protect Josie and, living up to his name, out-slicks Merridew again. In the end Josie gets her farm back, the swindlers start running a "snake-oil" medicine show selling bottles of the miracle cure "Lohocla" (alcohol spelled backwards) and Josie and Aaron become engaged.
Review of Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick
