140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Reportedly Buster Keaton’s least favorite of his films. Don’t know what’s not to like. Very slow start gives way to the greatest chase ever.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Seven Chances:
First big surprise: Seven Chances opens in Technicolor. It’s an early and very crude version, but it is Technicolor. Wild. It’s a neat test; it’s only for the opening scenes.
Seven Chances is based on a stage play that was popular at the time. It’s hard to imagine its climax being performed on a stage. I suspect the film bears little resemblance to the production.
Even for such a short movie (it’s less than an hour long) the beginning moves slowly. There are some good gags, and Buster Keaton is always engaging, but I was beginning to understand why he wasn’t a big fan of this picture.
James Shannon (Keaton) is down on his luck; he and his partner’s brokerage is about to go bust and they are looking at financial ruin and possible jail time. Hope arrives in the form of an inheritance of $7 million dollars from his grandfather. The catch? He must be married by 7pm on his 27th birthday. That’s today…
After blowing his proposal to his long time sweetie, he is coerced by his partner in proposing to the titular seven girls he can think of. Keaton plays the hapless Shannon well here, but the story doesn’t pick up until his partner plants a story in the newspaper.
What follows is possibly the finest chase ever filmed. It is simply amazing to watch the world’s greatest physical actor completely go for it. Keaton, who also directed, is a master at scripting these things.
It’s more than the individual elements of the chase, which are brilliant in their own right; it’s the assembling of these pieces and the timing. It’s not madcap – you don’t burst out laughing at the start. He builds it slowly, leading you in with progressively funnier bits as you shake your head, and before you know it you’re laughing and marveling at his talents, swearing that this is the funniest thing you’ve ever seen. It may be…
Poster:
Trailer: (well, a scene, anyway…)
Here’s a clip of the final chase scene. Do yourself a favor and watch the whole movie, though – it’s only 56 minutes…
http://youtu.be/3Y_EMkLj4ko
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: D (3 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Buster Keaton James Shannon, Ruth Dwyer His Girl, T. Roy Barnes His Partner, Snitz Edwards His Lawyer |
| Rating | Not Rated |
| Release Date | Wed 11 Mar 1925 UTC |
| Director | Buster Keaton |
| Genres | Comedy, Family, Romance |
| Plot | A man learns he will inherit a fortune if he marries. By 7 p.m. Today. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 56 |
| Tagline | |
| Writers | Roi Cooper Megrue (adapted from David Belasco’s famous comedy by), Clyde Bruckman (screen version) … |
| Year | 1925 |
