Seven Chances
Director: Buster Keaton
Year Released: 1925
Rating: 3.5
Keaton stands to inherit seven million dollars if he's married that very day by 7 P.M. - the film builds up to the epic chase at the very end that has the dour one pursued by throngs of single women in their wedding gowns, convinced he's a fraud. While the set-up is ludicrous, it doesn't matter: I was shaking my head long after the film stopped as to how he pulled off some of the physical work and made it look so natural (anyone that's ever participated in a film or been on a film set knows how exacting every little set-up has to be). Hell, every short or feature I see with Keaton in it - even his classic work with Fatty Arbuckle - leaves me endlessly delighted and enthralled with his athleticism and screen presence.
