# Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances" on TCM (Oct. 16) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852 "2011-10-16T22:29:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/1 "2011-10-16T22:29:31Z")
TCM is showing Buster Keaton’s _Seven Chances_ (1925) at 8:00 (Eastern time) tonight (Sunday), and there is a bit-player buffet for old-movie nerds like myself: pre-stardom **Jean Arthur** appears as a country-club receptionist, Buster’s sister-in-law **Connie Talmadge** is “girl is car,” and (most exciting for me), Theda Bara’s sister **Lori Bara** plays “Mother of Underage Girl!” Plus, of course, Buster himself, reason enough to tune in. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/2 "2011-10-16T22:31:17Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Buster’s sister-in-law **Connie Talmadge** is “girl is car” Girl \*in \*car, of course. Svelte and lovely Connie could in no way be mistaken for a car, even a sleek Stutz-Bearcat. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/3 "2011-10-16T23:16:42Z")
Thanks for the heads up, Eve! A BK question: during the Richard Lewis tribute, a clip was shown of Buster driving a car down the street which then disintegrated underneath him. What film was that from? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/4 "2011-10-17T12:54:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Thanks for the heads up, Eve! > > A BK question: during the Richard Lewis tribute, a clip was shown of Buster driving a car down the street which then disintegrated underneath him. What film was that from? Gosh, I don’t know! I adore Buster (he–literally–runs circles around Chaplin and Lloyd, in my opinion), but I have not seen all of his movies. \*Seven Chances \*was great–hilarious, and Buster’s running and stunt work was breath-taking! According to Kevin Brownlow, he was the only star who didn’t have a stunt double, and indeed he did stunts for other stars. Oh, and I was happy to spot Jean, Lori and Connie in their bit parts. Lori did look a \*little \*like Theda, in profile. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/5 "2011-10-17T13:39:12Z")
I watched One Week with my 6 year old. He absolutely loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/6 "2011-10-17T16:17:17Z")
Is \*Seven Chances \* the one where he runs downhill while boulders crash down all around him? He just keeps running and running and running, and pretty soon you’re laughing with delight at the sheer athleticism of it. 😃 I bought the big Keaton collection on DVD a while ago; money well spent. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/7 "2011-10-17T16:44:46Z")
I watched it, **Eve** , and I loved it! I looked up locations for some of the scenes, and I see that the big church into which all the bridges crammed is still there today. It’s the [Greater Page Temple](http://whataboutbobbed.tumblr.com/post/8694255716/quietonthesets-buster-keaton-has-seven-chances), and it has barely changed at all. I’m willing to bet that the country club scenes were filmed in my neighborhood - before it was a neighborhood. It was the [Midwick Country Club](http://www.flickr.com/photos/13735510@N04/5906151172/in/photostream), and many golf/polo/country club scenes were filmed there. At least the building in the movie looked just like the old Midwick. It was demolished in the late 40’s and my neighborhood tract was built on the grounds. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/8 "2011-10-17T17:04:29Z")
Too late to edit. “Brides”, not “bridges”. What a foolish squid I am. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/9 "2011-10-17T18:07:30Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Too late to edit. “Brides”, not “bridges”. What a foolish squid I am. That’s OK, I made a car out of Constance Talmadge. Yes, it is the “chased down hill by boulders” movie, and his stunt work was _amazing_. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/10 "2011-10-17T18:25:36Z")
Apparently there is an episode of **King of Queens** where they go to a Keaton film festival, only to be disappointed that it’s not a _Michae_l Keaton film festival. That an alleged comic like Kevin James would think that was funny is appalling. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/11 "2011-10-17T18:28:01Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Yes, it is the “chased down hill by boulders” movie, and his stunt work was _amazing_. I’m amazed that the man was still in one piece later in life and that I’d see him intact in films like _Mad, Mad etc. World_ and _A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum_. He lived to rather an old age, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/12 "2011-10-17T18:57:30Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I’m amazed that the man was still in one piece later in life and that I’d see him intact in films like _Mad, Mad etc. World_ and _A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum_. He lived to rather an old age, IIRC. He found out later in life through a routine X-ray that he had actually fractured his neck sometime in the 1920s doing a stunt, and never realized it. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buster-keatons-seven-chances-on-tcm-oct-16/599852/13 "2011-10-17T20:44:47Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I’m willing to bet that the country club scenes were filmed in my neighborhood - before it was a neighborhood. It was the [Midwick Country Club](http://www.flickr.com/photos/13735510@N04/5906151172/in/photostream), and many golf/polo/country club scenes were filmed there. At least the building in the movie looked just like the old Midwick. It was demolished in the late 40’s and my neighborhood tract was built on the grounds. If the location is known, odds are you’ll find the answer in [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Echoes-Discovering-Hollywood-Through/dp/189166106X). It’s a great resource for any Keaton fan.