Seven Chances (1925)

Buster Keaton’s “Seven Chances”


Buster Keaton’s “Seven Chances” tells the story of James, a man who is trying to get married by seven o’clock to earn his $7 million inheritance from his grandfather. The first half of the film is James trying to get someone, anyone, to marry him. He starts at the country club and every girl he asks turns him down. The first act is essentially presented as a humorous and thrilling sequence in which the audience is rooting for the protagonist. The second half of the film turns into an all-out action film. After running a story in the paper about finding a wife by the end of the day, hundreds of would-be brides show up to the church. However, after the priest tells them it must have been an obvious prank, the brides begin to chase James throughout town as he tries to get to Mary, the one person he truly loves who has agreed to marry him. The chase sequences are extremely entertaining. Keaton’s direction infuses adrenaline into the story, as the audience roots for James as he is sprinting around town avoiding the brides. 


Camerawork:

Transition Shot: Keaton utilizes a unique technique to convey the transition between one location and another. James wants to go ask Mary to marry him, so he gets in his car and the background suddenly changes to Mary’s driveway. By placing himself and the car in the exact same framing, Keaton was able to cut to the next shot so that the edit looks like he simply appeared in the new location. This is meant to expedite the process of showing the audience the process of getting to Mary’s house. It is efficient and clean and gets directly to the point of what’s happening. 

Tracking Shot: In one particular scene, Keaton uses a tracking shot while James is driving his car and trying to propose to the girl in the car right beside him. The camera follows the parallel cars by having them in frame the entire time. This effect is used so that when James’ car crashes into a tree, the viewer is surprised because he never saw the tree coming, just like James. The use of the tracking shot enables the comedy and surprise of the scene. 


Best Shot:

Dolly Crane: A dolly crane shot, or what looks like a dolly crane shot, was utilized to show the full scope of the number of brides chasing James. As he is running down the street, the camera is placed up top overhead of everyone, to illustrate the full scope of the scene. 



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