SEVEN CHANCES (1925)
Buster Keaton, in search of a wife, unintentionally walks into a performance by female impersonator Julien Eltinge in the 1925 silent film SEVEN CHANCES.
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SEVEN CHANCES
1925. USA.
Director: Buster Keaton
Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez & Joseph A. Mitchell
Starring: Buster Keaton, T. Roy Barnes, Ruth Dwyer, Snitz Edwards, Frances Raymond, Jules Cowles, Erwin Connelly & Rosalind Byrne
SEVEN CHANCES follows Keaton as a bachelor who learns that he will inherit 7 million dollars from his grandfather under the condition that he be married by his 27th birthday (which happens to be that very day!). Desperate for the cash, Buster scurries around town trying to convince every woman he encounters to marry him. Eventually, he arrives at a concert hall where he sees a poster for a lady performer. While inside making his case, it is revealed that the performer in question is noted female impersonator (what we would now call a "drag artist") Julian Eltinge.
Prior to the Great Depression, Eltinge was one of the highest paid performers on the American stage, even having the opportunity to perform for King Edward VII. "Drag" of the early twentieth-century differed largely from the modern day art both in style and purpose. Eltinge was dedicated to the "illusion" of appearing as a woman, offering grounded performances that would often end with the removal of his wig much to the shock and celebration of audiences who were none the wiser. At this time, female impersonation was not viewed as an exclusively "queer" endeavour, but was a widely popular form of entertainment. This explains the scene's unfortunate undercurrent of homophobia, but also demonstrates that audiences in 1925 would have understood the joke without need for comment or intertitle, indicating Eltinge's widespread popularity and the public's familiarity with this kind of performance.
You can find SEVEN CHANCES streaming on Criterion (Canada/USA), Kanopy (USA), FreeVee (UK) and YouTube, it’s also available on DVD & Blu-ray.
