← Back to the films

Mystery comedy

Seven Keys to Baldpate

Year
1917
Director
Hugh Ford
Length
Not established

A writer seeking solitude at an isolated inn discovers that his supposedly unique key is only the first of several arrivals and competing secrets.

Search for a copy ↓ Before you watch ↓

Amazon.com search · paid link. Check the edition and region before buying.

MysteryFunny Great first watch · Easy Mystery comedy
Seven different old keys fan out above overlapping house-like graphic shadows.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

What to expect

George M. Cohan stars in the first surviving screen version of his play, a durable mystery-comedy premise repeatedly remade across later decades.

How to ease in

Count entrances rather than clues at first. The pleasure comes from watching a promised empty space acquire one visitor, motive, and possible deception after another.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes threats, criminal intrigue, firearms, deception, and stage-derived plotting.
Momo's Note May contain spoilers Who is Momo? →
Open the note ↓ Close the note ↑

Solitude is funniest when everyone has been promised it separately. I like how each new key changes the inn from a retreat into a machine for producing suspicion.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Where to go next

Want a gentler, shorter, or stranger next film? Ask Momo for something like this →
Momo is on shift. Visit Momo Cinema →

Continue through the catalogue →