My Weddings in Film series explores the different stages of getting married as seen through classic movies. The first film, Seven Chances (1925), starts at the very beginning; meeting the right person.
The most difficult part of the path to the altar is finding that special someone to whom you want to marry. Some
people like to refer to that person as their “soulmate”. I like to describe him
or her as that one human being on the planet who is willing to put up with you
for life. For those of us who are (very) lucky, we just happen to stumble upon
that person. It can be love at first sight, love at tenth sight or love after a
few months of pretending you hate the person and then giving in to those
feelings you have been suppressing all that time. For the rest of us, it’s like
searching for a needle in a haystack. The more time you spend searching, the
better your chance that you’ll actually find the “One”.
For Buster Keaton’s character Jimmie Shannon in Seven Chances (1925) he’s
already found his soulmate in his girl Mary Jones played by Ruth Dwyer .
What’s unusual about Jimmie is that his dating
history has been sped up by circumstances beyond his control. By dating
history, I mean that period of time between developing an interest in romantic
partnership, the search for that special someone and the mutual agreement to a
long-term relationship. In normal circumstances, he would have continued his
very slow, shy pursuit of Mary Jones. We see just how slow it is in those first
few scenes of the film. Jimmie gifts Mary a Dalmatian puppy and a few more
scenes later we see that the puppy is now a full-grown dog and seasons have
past but Jimmie has not been able to take things to the next level with Mary.
He’s stuck in the "friend zone" because up until this point he hasn’t been able
to tell her he loves her.
Jimmie’s business is in serious trouble. His bad luck seems to change when his grandfather
passes away and leaves him a tidy fortune of $7 million. However, he can't just deposit the money in the bank and call it a day. His grandfathers will stipulates that Jimmie must marry by 7 o’clock on his 27th birthday. Or he doesn't get a dime. No problem,
right? The tricky part is that he finds out about the will on the exact day of the deadline.
His plan is simple. Ask Mary to marry him, inherit his grandfather's fortune and live happily ever after. But sometimes life gets in the way of even the best laid plans.
The absurdity of the story lies in the fact that love is being put on a schedule. It's like the famous song says "you can't hurry love, no you'll just have to wait." Love takes it's own sweet time. And marriage is an arrangement that has to be mutually agreed upon. There is a terrible moment of
miscommunication between Jimmie and Mary. Jimmie only wants Mary, Mary thinks
his motivations are purely for money but figures out later that his intentions
are genuine. While Mary searches for Jimmie, his business
partner convinces Jimmie that he must marry immediately. So Jimmie does the
worst possible thing. He looks for a new bride. He gets more than he bargains
for and all sorts of hilarity ensues.
There are a few lessons about love that can be
extracted from Buster Keaton’s comedy. 1) Love can never be rushed 2)
Communication is key 3) Money always complicates relationships and 4) if you
advertise for a bride in your local newspaper, make sure to bring your running
shoes (just joking!).
Folks who are single and still searching for
their special someone may take comfort in the ridiculousness of
dating/proposing as depicted in the movie. Viewers in committed relationships
will watch and be glad they don’t have to go through that again! However,
everyone, no matter their age or relationship status, will laugh heartily
at Buster Keaton’s special brand of comedy.
Make sure you check out my post about my
experience watching Seven Chances (1925) on the big screen with live musical
accompaniment.
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