Seven Chances (1925)

A man learns he will inherit a fortune if he marries by 7 p.m. that same day.

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Roi Cooper Megrue (adapted from David Belasco's famous comedy by), Clyde Bruckman (screen version)

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Ruth Dwyer, T. Roy Barnes

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Buster Keaton	...	James Shannon
T. Roy Barnes	...	Billy Meekin - James' Partner
Snitz Edwards	...	James' Lawyer
Ruth Dwyer	...	Mary Jones - James' Girl
Frances Raymond	...	Mrs. Jones - Mary's Mother (as Frankie Raymond)
Erwin Connelly	...	The Clergyman
Jules Cowles	...	The Hired Hand

Storyline

Financial broker Jimmie Shannon is nearly bankrupt when an attorney presents grandfather's will leaving him seven million dollars. In order to inherit the money Jimmie must marry before 7 pm on his 27th birthday - today!

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Plot Keywords:

desperate to marry | deadline for marriage | marriage for money | country club | slapstick comedy | 

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Taglines:

IT'S A SURE THING FOR YOU! (original newspaper ad- all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 March 1925 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Sete Ocasiões de Pamplinas

Filming Locations:

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$210,748, 31 December 1925

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buster Keaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

56 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White Color (2-strip Technicolor) (opening sequence)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

Just as the horde of would-be brides overruns the college football game, one of the players can be seen throwing himself to the ground, already pretending to be trampled.

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Quotes

Jimmie Shannon: Would you marry me?

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood (1980)

User Reviews

Masterpiece

Seven Chances (1925)

**** (out of 4)

Buster Keaton's greatest comedy is also one of the greatest comedies ever made. This film has huge laughs, one of the greatest chases ever not to mention some of the greatest stunts ever captured on film. In the movie Keaton plays a shy fellow who can't build up the nerve to tell his girlfriend that he loves her. He gets a letter stating that he will inherit seven million dollars if he gets married before seven that evening but there's a mix up between him and the girlfriend but the biggest problem is that every other woman is willing to marry him for the money. I had forgotten what a wonderful gem this film is but I was laughing harder and more often than any other film that comes to my mind. I'm not sure where to start with the laughs because each scene contains one and the majority of the scenes contain multiple laughs. The film's 56-minute running time feels like the matter of seconds because everything is just happening so incredibly fast. There are three great things about this film but I'll start with the laughs. I might go as far as to say that there isn't a joke in the film that doesn't work. The wonderful moments inside the country club where Keaton tries to find a wife, the politically incorrect joke of Keaton accidentally asking a little girl to marry him, the racial joke of Keaton almost asking a black woman to marry him and of course the wonderful gag with the dummy in the barber chair. That's just to name a few because there are at least a hundred other jokes. The second brilliant thing about the film is the fact that Keaton hired hundreds (if not over a thousand) women to chase him when they discover he will inherit millions. The scene inside the church with all these women trying to pile in is just something incredible on the eyes. This stunt leads to the third masterpiece of this film and that's the final twenty minutes where these hundreds of women chase Keaton either trying to marry him or kill him. Anyone who knows anything about Keaton knows that he would put his life at risk to pull off a stunt and there are at least eight different stunts here that could have or even should have killed him. Watching him perform these stunts is truly breathtaking and him running into the barbed wire is also quite painful. Oh yeah, Snitz Edwards is brilliant as the lawyer and you've also got Jean Arthur in an early performance. Certainly one of the all time greats.