Seven Years Bad Luck
About Seven Years Bad Luck
After his bachelor party, Max wakes to find his valet John has broken a mirror while chasing the maid Mary. John has the chef dress as Max and copy him in the empty frame. A repairman replaces the glass, and Max, still fooled, throws something and breaks it himself. The bad-luck panic costs him his fiancée Betty, lands him on a train where he is robbed, and puts him in jail. He gets Betty back when he sees her about to marry the friend who lied to her.
Cast & crew
More about Seven Years Bad Luck
Max Linder wrote, directed, produced, and starred. Charles Van Enger photographed it. Robertson-Cole released it on 6 February 1921. It runs 65 minutes. Alta Allen plays Betty. Hugh Saxon is in the cast.
Themes
Making
Linder stages the mirror as a practical trick: the chef stands in the empty frame, and the glass is back before Max throws.
Look
Charles Van Enger shot the mirror gag, with the chef matching Max in the empty frame and the repaired glass in place for the throw.
Music
Silent.
Notes
- John tells Max that Mary dropped a napkin, which is why he was chasing her.
- At Betty’s house a maid warns Max about a dog. He traps her pet in a vase, and she breaks with him.
- They make up, then split again after he plays a record, dances with her maid, and pounds the piano.
- A friend tells Betty that Max will marry an old girlfriend, and then proposes himself.
- On the train Max is robbed, chased by the conductor, and disguises himself as a station agent before the arrest.
Scenes
- The chef copies Max in the frame where the mirror used to be.
- Max throws an object and smashes the glass the repairman has just put in.
- From jail he sees Betty about to marry his friend.
