IslandGuru Who payed the critics

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

philip-davies31 The genius on show in this film is like watching farce and slapstick executed by a Mozart of comedy. It is so comically hyperventilating that you go beyond mere laughs into a realm of blissful delirium as absurdity is piled upon sublime absurdity, until solid reality simply gives up and collapses into a dancing avalanche of drollery. Buster Keaton shakes us on a Richter scale of laughter, leaving our world delightfully re-arranged into the dizzying dream of somewhere better - a place we can be completely carried away, like the sort of wild party where true love is always waiting, so long as you are ready to abandon all reason and make a complete fool of yourself. Such is the magical and hilarious trajectory of our bouncing hero through a world of epic obstacles, each of which he circumvents by executing miracles with the grace of a sad-faced clown. Here is a circus of the human soul, where grace transforms our doltish misadventures into soaring flights of fancy that must surely make even the angels smile at such happy accidents! They welcome the jeu d'esprit that can rise above disaster, vaulting over it with the soaring energy of LIFE, the pure and utterly undismayed force that encourages us to pick ourselves up and carry on. In many ways the spectacle of Keaton prevailing against absurdly proliferating setbacks represents the only authentic survival of the increasingly battered American Dream. Buster just never gives up - bad luck will give in before he stops trying! He's the little man apotheosized by a ridiculous and powerful idealism. He's the enemy of bitterness and cynicism. With his manifold rolling rocks he escapes like some kind of crazy incarnation of Hope. He bowls us over like the boundless love of a soppy dog. He shakes us out of our stuffy places for long, erratic runs through the heart-warming sunshine that stretches unbroken from that day to this, and for as long as such brilliance can lighten our lives.

Byron Brubaker (hypathio7) It was a real joy to watch this at the local Cinematheque with lots of people laughing and enjoying this classic comedy. It is a premise that has been repeated many times since. Buster Keaton is Jimmie Shannon. A prologue was included in the showing. This prologue was shot with color tinting, but did not screen with most theatrical releases here in the states. In it Jimmie's longtime courting of Mary (Dwyer) is consistently met with cold feet and her dog coming between them. In the main film Jimmie and his buddy Billy (Barnes) are having difficulty keeping their financial firm in the black. An attorney (Snitz Edwards) must track down Jimmie to read his grandfather's will. Jimmie will receive an inheritance of 7 million dollars, IF he is married before 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday! Oh, look at that, today is his 27th birthday. He blunders through proposing to Mary and so Billy and the attorney tag along to the nearby country club to find a bride. They count 7 women lounging in the club, hence the Seven Chances. However, before it is all over Jimmie will have a large church full of women, including women spilling out all over the street outside, chasing him when they find out he will be a millionaire. There is a long, complex chase scene with lots of great visual gags and Keaton hurling himself from one attempt at escape to another. It's a riot. Will he make the deadline? Does he have the stamina? I am growing to really love Buster Keaton's craft as a comedian.

sinful-2 I have always heard Buster Keaton was a genius. He may be but in my Silent movie revival I have not really enjoyed any of his movies before this one.So honestly I was not so exited when I saw it was a Buster Keaton movie I was going to see. But my doubt was proved very wrong.I was laughing through most of the movie and especially the last half part was amazing. It was not like they reused the comical situations. All the time new and wonderful things happened, and it was not really hard to see this movie have inspired a lot of other movies over time.If you love a great comedy you definitely need to see this movie. By far the best Buster Keaton movie I have seen. I would also place it in my top 3 with Silent movie comedies. Even fun for people not used to Silent movies.

pontifikator This is a charming comedy directed by and starring Buster Keaton. T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards, and Ruth Dwyer have starring roles as well, but Buster is the main attraction.Buster and his partner are brokers who have been duped into a scheme and need money fast. It doesn't matter. Suddenly a lawyer turns up and says Buster will inherit $7,000,000 if he's married by 7:00 PM that day. Fortunately, he's in love, but there's many a slip twixt cup and lip as my grandmother used to say, and we have about an hour and a half of pratfalls, slapstick, and tricks before Buster finally gets the dough. And the girl. And the dog.It's a 1925 movie, so some of the bits are racist, and in one scene he rejects a woman because she's Jewish. The movie is a product of its time, which is a dual-edged sword, I'm sorry to say.The opening scene was shot in Technicolor, and that version is available on Netflix streaming. I understand Jean Arthur, one of my favorite actresses, is the telephone operator, but I did not recognize her.