There is a fantastical quality to silent films which makes unbelievable elements feel almost natural. Case in point, Seven Chances: a man's large inheritance is conditional on the clause that he must be married by 7pm the same day that he receives the will (his 27th birthday). This feels less inspired than many of Keaton's other setups, but we never once doubt the premise, despite its ridiculousness - this is key to the film's success. The patent silliness of the story is naturally a joke in itself, and a base to build other punchlines atop. There are, of course, numerous moments which generate laughs, both through intertitles ("Maybe Mary might marry me") and rapid-fire gags (the stop/go sign, the barbershop heads, Keaton following one woman up the stairs then turning down to chase another - both to no avail, et cetera). This is noticeably less reliant on slapstick and more trusting in the strength of its visuals, which is largely a plus. The first half-hour essentially riffs off of one idea (Keaton trying to find a bride), so it is a credit to the film's pacing that this never feels stale or repetitive. Yet, I rarely found myself truly impressed, unlike his inventiveness in e.g. Sherlock Jr.; this is mostly interchangeable and unspecial compared with any other comedy of its era by Chaplin, Lloyd, or indeed, Keaton. Adding here a mention of the film's casual misogyny and multiple uses of blackface - yes, a product of its time, but made all the more uncomfortable when played for laughs (i.e. Might have been easier to look past the racism had the servant character only appeared once, but when one of the *jokes* is Keaton looking revolted after realising his potential wife is black - yuck). Still, the concluding chase is pretty exceptional in its scale and use of tracking shots, also featuring most of the best gags: the falling boulders - which maybe went on a bit too long - and my favourite, a football team ready for kick-off getting mowed down by the horde of would-be brides, as stretchers and doctors rush to check on the players. This lacked anything compelling enough to warrant a revisit, feeling more like a short stretched out into feature length, rather than a fully fleshed idea trimmed down to under an hour (which is what I had hoped, cf. The variety but brevity displayed in, again, Sherlock Jr.). Not bad overall; perhaps not the masterpiece I had expected.
Review of Seven Chances
