''See America Thirst'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and directed by

William James Craft William James Craft (1886 – 30 June 1931) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 60 films between 1910 and 1931. He is also credited with writing for 12 films between 1920 and 1928. Craft was born in Toronto ...

. Silent comics

Harry Langdon Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...

and Slim Summerville star along with Bessie Love. Though released late in 1930, it nevertheless had a silent version. In the film, Bessie Love introduced the type of sandals later known as "

flip-flops Flip-flops are a type of light sandal-like shoe, typically worn as a form of casual footwear. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap known as a toe thong that passes between the first and second toes and around ...

" to American audiences. The title is a parody of the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

musical ''

See America First ''See America First'' is a comic opera with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The first work by Porter to be produced on Broadway, it was a critical and commercial flop. Background Porter and Riggs, classmates at ...

''.

Plot

Slim (Summerville) and Wally (Langdon) are mistaken for hired killers and are paid to murder a bootlegger. They encounter nightclub singer Ellen (Love), associated with the district attorney's office, who assists them in convincing the gang leader to pay them double for protection. Everything goes well until the actually hired killers show up.

Cast

Reception

The film did not receive positive reviews and was deemed not to be funny.

Preservation status

Copies are preserved at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

References

External links

Databases

Promotional materials

Lobby poster

Advertising

Lobby setup

Lantern slide
1930 films 1930 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films Films directed by William James Craft Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films set in New York City Universal Pictures films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub