Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925)

Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925)

Performed with new score at the Slapstick Festival Gala!

Accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble who will be performing the word premiere of a newly commissioned score written and conducted by Guenter A. Buchwald, Seven Chances (1925), one of Buster’s greatest onscreen accomplishments, will lead the celebration of silent comedy on Friday 23rd January at Colston Hall in 2015.

One of Buster Keaton’s funniest comedies, the film features Keaton in the almost impossible situation of having less than twenty four hours to marry in order to inherit a fortune! The film follows Keaton on his quest for a bride, with all the unfortunate (but hilarious) bad luck he could expect; the love of his life turns him down, and this is followed by a string of further turn downs! There are many memorable gags including “an extended sequence, created by accident, with Buster chased down a hillside by a number of small to enormous boulders. During a preview showing Buster noted that a gag sequence of him running away from the brides downhill was falling flat, until the audience saw him briefly running away from rolling rocks that he had accidently dislodged from the hillside.”(www.silentera.com).

The film originally had a Technicolor opening sequence, but unfortunately the negatives for this sequence have been lost. However, they have been rendered “as clear and faithful a representation of the original colour as is possible today”(www.silentera.com) . Slapstick Festival is lucky enough to be screening the film with the recreation of this colour sequence!

Slapsticks musical Director Guenter A Buchwald has been commissioned to produce a new score for the comedy classic and Bristols very own Bristol Ensemble will be playing the world premiere on Friday 23rd January 2015. More details to follow.

We will or course be screening other and more diverse comedies at the gala as well, so keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest updates!

(Sources: IMDB www.imdb.com and Silent Era www.silentera.com)