Thirst

Thirst (1917)

** (out of 4)

Another over-the-top comedy from Keystone starts off in a boarding house where the owner is constantly catching (and beating) people trying to leave without paying rent. That's about all of the plot I was able to understand here but that's certainly not all of it because there are at least three or four other plot devices going on. I just really couldn't figure out how they all tied together as it really did seem like the writer just gave up and told the crew to go out and film whatever they wanted. Mack Sennett believed the story really didn't matter as long as everything was happening fast enough to where the viewer wouldn't stop and think about what was happening. Well, I'm clearly not the target audience because I'm constantly wondering what they were trying to do and what type of story they were trying to tell. Again, if you actually find this stuff funny then perhaps you'd believe in what Sennett did. For me, at 20+ minutes this thing was just painfully slow in spots and it even wasted the talents of Mack Swain who plays his Ambrose character. In Keystone fashion the film ends with a pretty wild chase that's mildly entertaining but without the laughs there's really no point in watching this.

Eva Thatcher has moved to a small town boarding house to seek peace and quiet. All too soon she finds herself in a Keystone movie, where there's everything but.

In fact, I've looked at this movie twice and been unable to discern anything in the way of a plot to it besides rough doings, expertly performed. Even the small child wandering around the bank safe winds up being kicked, but it's by a lady, so I suppose that's all right. The safe having been emptied and the child kicked again -- presumably for luck -- Ethel Teare and her Svengali, Mack Swain, are off to the big city to spend the loot. There, by a series of coincidences, everyone meets everyone else again and dirty doings are soon afoot. The whole thing ends in everyone chasing after Mack Swain, and some beautiful automobile stuntwork.

It looks like a burlesque of some popular stage play, but for the life of me, I can't tell what it is. There's one guy who drinks five bottles of champagne. That, I suppose, is what the title is about.

My score of 6 reflects how this comedy short from Keystone relates to other comedies of the day. By today's standards, it's not especially memorable.

While the IMDB summary says the film is about a landlady trying to stop residents from disappearing without paying, this is only the first portion of the movie. The rest consists of Ambrose (Mack Swain) playing the field. He asks a girl to elope with him but soon sees another lady he wants more. How long can Ambrose run about cheating on his fiancee until she catches him?

The best parts of the short are the intertitle cards and the car chase at the end....otherwise it's just okay. Part of the problem is that Swain is fine as a villain but carrying a film on his own isn't nearly as effective.