One Week (1920 film)

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One Week is a 1920 American silent comedy short film starring Buster Keaton. Running about 19 minutes, it was Keaton’s first independent project, co-written and co-directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. Sybil Seely co-stars, with Joe Roberts in a supporting role.

Plot in simple terms: A newlywed couple receives a prefabricated house as a wedding gift. The instructions say to build it from numbered packing crates, but a rejected suitor renumbers the crates, so the house comes out crooked and full of zany gags. During a Friday the 13th housewarming, a storm spins the house around. They discover it sits on the wrong lot, so they try to move it on rollers, only to stall on railroad tracks. They attempt to get it out of the way of an oncoming train; the first train passes, but then another train demolishes the house. The groom sees the wreck, puts up a “For Sale” sign, and leaves with his bride.

Style and significance: The film is famous for visual jokes centered on the house and ladders, with many stunts filmed as the action happened. The house sits on a turntable to spin during the storm, and the train sequence was shot at an actual station. One Week helped establish Keaton’s signature approach: simple setups, brisk pacing, and clever, practical gags that build to a frenetic finale.

Background and reception: Inspired by Ford Motor Company’s 1919 educational short Home Made about prefab housing, One Week borrows elements like a wedding, a Model T, and calendar pages to show the house being built in a week. Its playful title teases a famous scandal of the era. Released on September 1, 1920, it was one of the year’s top-grossing films and earned praise from critics for its humor and innovation. In later years it was celebrated as a landmark Keaton comedy and was preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry in 2008.

Legacy: One Week helped shape Keaton’s future work and many of its ideas were reused in later films. The movie also inspired discussions of pre-Hays Code humor. A soundtrack by Bill Frisell for One Week appeared in 1995 on his The High Sign/One Week release.