Seven Chances

 

 

One of Silent Film's greatest movie stars and probably it's greatest before the advent of sound, "Seven Chances" is Buster Keaton in top form showcasing his talent as a comedian, actor, stunt man and director. Of course he always does this on all of his films but this is certainly one of his classics not to be missed. 

The film is about Jimmie Shannon (Keaton), a partner in a financial brokerage firm who got into trouble after a deal gone wrong. Jimmie and his partner stockbroker Billy Meekin (T. Roy Barnes) must find a way out of the mess or they could land in jail. 

A lawyer (Snitz Edwards) miraculously turns up and informs Jimmie that his grandfather has died leaving him an inheritance of 7 million dollars but on a condition that he marries on the day of his 27th birthday by 7 pm. On a cruel twist of fate it was also Jimmie's birthday on that same day and he only has a few hours to find a woman who will marry him. 

"It wasn't me who farted dear."

He tries his luck and proposes to his main squeeze Mary (Ruth Dwyer) but screws up his chances when he tells him the real reason he wants to marry her. 

Now with time running out he must find a woman who will be willing to marry him despite the circumstances he is in. 

The film is certainly enjoyable and certainly easy to relate to given it's age, that is what's great about Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin's work. They can relate to everybody despite of age, sex, gender, generation and this film certainly illustrates it. There is no complicated plot but just complicated stunts that Buster makes, he  makes it look so easy but I'm sure not an easy feat even for the average daredevil today. 

The stunt that I loved the most was the scene where he was hurled from a crane, Buster can jump from high cliffs and elude boulders but the crane scene really blew me away and it left me in awe of the master.  

This film also has one of the most imitated chase scenes ever made with Jimmie walking  on the streets unknowingly pursued by more than a dozen hostile brides, certainly an inspiration for a number of films that came after it (A Hard Day's Night).

 "Buster finally gets the girl ---- and the dog."

In 1999 the film was remade and became "The Bachelor" starred by Chris O' Donnell and Renee Zellweger and I thought it was one of the worst films of that year. Upon seeing this film I realized the big difference between the original and the remake, certainly no one is above Buster. 

Grade: A+