One Week: Synopsis

In One Week (1920) Keaton's character attempts to build himself and his new bride a flat-pack house which they have received as a wedding gift.

According to the instructions, the house can be built in 'one week' and the short film recounts Keaton's struggles to assemble the house. A rival love interest switches the order of the instructions resulting in a number of mishaps, ultimately leading to the construction of house that is totally misshapen.

As the film reaches its climax, Keaton realises that he has built the house on the wrong plot of land. As he attempts to move the house, it becomes stuck on railroad tracks. As Keaton and his bride try to move the house out of the path of an oncoming train (which eventually passes on a neighboring track), the house is immediately struck and destroyed by a different train coming the other way.

Keaton looks at the demolished house, places a 'for sale' sign on the heap (alongside the building instructions) and walks away with his bride.

The inspiration for One Week was an educational documentary (Home Made) about portable housing produced by the Ford Motor Company, and the film reflects Keaton's preoccupations with machinery and modern life (common themes found throughout his short films). The story also allows Keaton to utilise stunts as a means of storytelling; a technique that can be found at the heart of all of the films we are studying.