Seven Chances

Released Mar 11, 1925

57m

Comedy

List

94%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon (Buster Keaton) learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million from an eccentric relative. But, after Mary Jones (Ruth Dwyer), whom he's mooned over for years, turns him down, he has only hours to find a woman who'll marry him. When his friends try to help by placing an ad in the afternoon newspaper, the shy Jimmie finds himself chased through the streets by hundreds of marriage-minded women.

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Alexander B

It's a little lop sided with the first half being pretty boring but the second half is really funny and entertaining.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/29/22

Full Review

Audience Member

One of Buster Keaton’s best!! Hilarious. Original storyline. Keaton’s stunts as usual are amazing to behold. Laugh S0 hard. Classic

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/16/21

Full Review

william d

Keaton being chased by hundreds of would be brides is an absolute crack up.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

William L

A bit slow to get going, but the final chase scene is pure perfection, gradually increasing in size and silliness before (of course) coming to a happy resolution; the horde of potential brides running through an active football field leveling all the players is a great bit - short, no setup needed, but still funny. Keaton's deadpan expression might be my favorite recurring bit throughout the entire silent era, it matches so well with his physical comedy. That said, it's probably not the best film to present Keaton's legacy today, with its blackface/minstrel character and a joke in which he suggests matrimonial intent to a girl before realizing she is reading a newspaper in Hebrew. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/21

Full Review

Rich S

The plot, picked up from a subpar Broadway play, is a little thin and the first half of the movie shows that. But once the announcement is made that Buster Keaton needs a bride, it's a county-wide rumble to the altar -- and it's well worth the short wait to get there.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/08/20

Full Review

Audience Member

Seven Chances (1925) The first time I laughed was when a man was trying to propose for another woman to marry his friend and the older man pops out and the lady thinks it is him she is asking to get married to. The first half is not that funny or physical but once they put an add in the newspaper is when the film changes passé and it get comical The wedding scene was funny and parades of women and rock slide. I liked the crane scene and they dropped Buster Keaton and a train passes by and the ladies think that they killed his character. I think it is interesting seeing how many people had painted faces then to have one African lady not with a painted face in the church surprised me.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/01/20

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Buster Keaton

Director

Buster Keaton

James Shannon

T. Roy Barnes

His partner

Snitz Edwards

His lawyer

Ruth Dwyer

His girl

Frances Raymond

Actor

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Robert E. Sherwood

LIFE

The laughs that Seven Chances inspires are not all honest laughs. They are tinctured with a certain amount of shame on the part of the audience.

Oct 7, 2021

Full Review

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

despite the problems with the film's earlier sequences, as a whole it is completely and utterly redeemed in the last 15 minutes, where Keaton stages a fantastically hilarious trajectory gag

Rated: 3/4

Sep 26, 2019

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The final third of the picture constitutes one of Keaton's defining set-pieces.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 31, 2019

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Rosalie Kicks

MovieJawn

Not my favorite Buster Keaton movie, but overall, I found it quite enjoyable.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 20, 2019

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Turner Classic Movies Online

... Keaton transformed the material into his own brand of humor: from stage farce to snappy cinematic slapstick, with Buster turning verbal jokes into visual gags.

Feb 19, 2012

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A superlative visual comedy

Apr 1, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon (Buster Keaton) learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million from an eccentric relative. But, after Mary Jones (Ruth Dwyer), whom he's mooned over for years, turns him down, he has only hours to find a woman who'll marry him. When his friends try to help by placing an ad in the afternoon newspaper, the shy Jimmie finds himself chased through the streets by hundreds of marriage-minded women.

Director: Buster Keaton
Screenwriter: David Belasco
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Image Entertainment Inc., Kino Video
Production Co: Buster Keaton Productions Inc. [us]
Genre: Comedy
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 11, 1925, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 14, 2016
Runtime: 57m
Aspect Ratio: Academy (1.33:1)

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