Thanks, John. Indeed, I think this is a fine film ...

2009-08-19T08:59:24.277-04:00

Thanks, John. Indeed, I think this is a fine film compared to most of the muck that's out there today (though I'm not trying to be a curmudgeon!). Although star ratings essentially don't matter, I was torn between the one I gave it and one step higher. The finale is as worthy as nearly anything else in Keaton's filmography, but the first 3/4 or so are standard goodness.

Even though it was originally play, I do agree that Keaton has this marvelous ability to build something out of nothing. Considering how much of the play he scrapped, it might as well be something out of nothing -- it's new enough, at least, and the best parts don't occur in the source material.

Jean Arthur is great in her little cameo. She's easly spottable, and a bright face to a bright film.

Another fine review, T.S. “After a test screenin...

2009-08-16T07:18:42.144-04:00

Another fine review, T.S.

“After a test screening of Seven Chances, during which the audience began laughing riotously after Keaton accidentally dislodged a few small stones while running downhill and caused them to tumble after him, he went back to the scene of the crime and filmed an entirely new sequence with what seems like hundreds of rocks, ranging in sizes from those about as large as a basketball to gigantic boulders. That scene alone is probably the most famous of the film, and a great example of Keaton's inherent comic instincts and his ability to improvise and deviate from the slated vision for the opportunity to earn more laughs. And it's here, in the miraculous finale, where the film's reputation is cemented.”

Justifiably what you say here is so true. The rock scene is pure Keaton, slowly building something out of nothing. He has accomplished this feat in movie after movie. It is part of what makes his art so amazing.

“Seven Chances” is a good film though no masterpiece, a step below his best work, still it is an excellent film to savor. Film comedies made today should be this good.

A couple of interesting points. A very young Jean Arthur has a small role in the film as a receptionist at a country club (source for this is IMDB) and the play was actually purchased for Keaton by his father-in-law , producer Joseph Schenck.

A pathetic attempt at a remake of this film was done a few years ago called “The Bachelor” with Chris O’Donnell in the Keaton role. The horror, the horror!

Comments on Screen Savour: Seven Chances (1925)

Thanks, John. Indeed, I think this is a fine film ...

Another fine review, T.S. “After a test screenin...