What-No Beer? (1933)

Two men decide to cash in on the end of Prohibition by selling watered down beer.

Director:

Edward Sedgwick

Writers:

Robert E. Hopkins (original story), Carey Wilson (screenplay)

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Roscoe Ates

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Buster Keaton	...	Elmer J. Butts
Jimmy Durante	...	Jimmy Potts
Roscoe Ates	...	Schultz (as Rosco Ates)
Phyllis Barry	...	Hortense
John Miljan	...	Butch Lorado
Henry Armetta	...	Tony
Edward Brophy	...	Spike Moran
Charles Dunbar	...	Mulligan
Charles Giblyn	...	Chief

Storyline

Although he has never met her, Elmer Butts loves Hortense secretly and from afar. He dreams of making a million dollars so he can buy her a Rolls automobile and marry her. With prohibition apparently on the verge of ending, Elmer's friend Jimmy Potts gets an idea to make them both rich by opening a brewery just before the legalization of alcoholic beverages. Their timing is off, and the police raid them, but their inept brewing has created a beer with no alcohol, so they are let off. But it has also resulted in a cheaply made beer, and bootlegger Spike Moran realizes that he can vastly increase his profits by partnering with Elmer and Jimmy. But none of them reckons with the competitor, another bootlegger, gangster Butch Lorado. Butch has a girlfriend....Elmer's dream girl, Hortense.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | beer | bootlegger | police | gangster | 

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Taglines:

HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS YET? When it was announced that a picture would be produced, based on the return of beer, the public besieged theatres with inquiries about it. It's here now with those funny "Speak Easily" boys bringing you 100% laughs from 4% beer.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

What-No Beer?

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The unusual, large employee time clock in the brewery was made by the International Time Recording Company (which became IBM in 1929) circa 1910-12. It came in different models to accommodate up to 150 employees. It was a spring-driven clock with a huge cast iron wheel. The rim of the wheel was perforated with numbered holes. Each employee would rotate the pointer to their assigned number and press in. The machine would then record the time on a printed form and ring a bell. A two-colored ribbon printed "regular time" in green and all early, late and overtime in red. One of these units is on exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

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Goofs

Elmer and Jimmy are told by the brewery's previous owner that the bank had foreclosed on him "years ago". If so, the bank would own the brewery and it wouldn't be his to sell.

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Quotes

Hortense: Sit down, Mr. Butts.

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Connections

References Spite Marriage (1929)

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Soundtracks

Happy Days Are Here Again
(1929) (uncredited)
Music by Milton Ager
Played by a band at the end

User Reviews

Keaton's final MGM starring role, entertaining

Having heard for years how bad this film is, I must concur with the previous reviewer, who said "not that bad." This was the last of the three films where Keaton was teamed with Jimmy Durante, and while this is not as good a film overall as SPEAK EASILY, it IS better than THE PASSIONATE PLUMBER (although PP includes some great individual scenes), and also it is the only film of the three where Keaton and Durante work together as an actual comedy team. Much has been written about Keaton's alcohol abuse during the shooting of this film (in fact, Keaton was fired from MGM for that, even though WHAT NO BEER was a smash hit at the box office!), but since the Elmer character he is playing is basically a stoic, introverted guy, it's not too evident...and anyway, a pro like Keaton could deliver this uninspired dialogue in his sleep. The plot--involving Durante and Keaton starting a brewery near the end of prohibition and facing the wrath of both the police and the bootlegging underworld--allows for a number of good comic set-ups, the scene with Keaton explaining his business practices to the gangsters is particularly funny. Keaton's US career would revive a few years later when he began making his much-underrated comedy shorts at Educational Pictures, but WHAT NO BEER is the last film of his initial sound period at MGM, and as such it is a historic film. Also, it's an entertaining comedy with Keaton still in OK form.