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Three Ages

  • 19231923
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 3m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)
Comedy
The misadventures of Buster in three separate historical periods.The misadventures of Buster in three separate historical periods.The misadventures of Buster in three separate historical periods.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
    • Edward F. Cline
    • Buster Keaton
  • Writers
    • Clyde Bruckman(story and titles)
    • Joseph A. Mitchell(story and titles)
    • Jean C. Havez(story and titles)
  • Stars
    • Buster Keaton
    • Margaret Leahy
    • Wallace Beery
    • Edward F. Cline
    • Buster Keaton
  • Writers
    • Clyde Bruckman(story and titles)
    • Joseph A. Mitchell(story and titles)
    • Jean C. Havez(story and titles)
  • Stars
    • Buster Keaton
    • Margaret Leahy
    • Wallace Beery
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 28User reviews
    • 36Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos38

    Buster Keaton and Margaret Leahy in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)
    "Three Ages, The" Buster Keaton 1923 Metro **I.V.
    Buster Keaton and Margaret Leahy in Three Ages (1923)
    Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton and Margaret Leahy in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton and Margaret Leahy in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)
    Blanche Payson in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)
    Buster Keaton in Three Ages (1923)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Buster Keaton
    Buster Keaton
    • The Boy
    Margaret Leahy
    Margaret Leahy
    • The Girl
    Wallace Beery
    Wallace Beery
    • The Villain
    Joe Roberts
    Joe Roberts
    • The Girl's Father
    Lillian Lawrence
    • The Girl's Mother
    Kewpie Morgan
    Kewpie Morgan
    • The Emperor
    • (as Horace Morgan)
    • …
    Lionel Belmore
    Lionel Belmore
    • Undetermined Role
    • (unconfirmed)
    • (uncredited)
    George Davis
    George Davis
    • Roman Guard Knocked Down
    • (uncredited)
    Louise Emmons
    Louise Emmons
    • Old Fortune Teller
    • (uncredited)
    Blanche Payson
    Blanche Payson
    • The Amazon
    • (uncredited)
      • Edward F. Cline
      • Buster Keaton
    • Writers
      • Clyde Bruckman(story and titles)
      • Joseph A. Mitchell(story and titles)
      • Jean C. Havez(story and titles)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The most famous stunt in the movie was actually built around what went wrong with the original stunt. Buster Keaton intended to leap from a board projecting from one building onto the roof of another building, but he fell short, smashing into the brick wall and falling into a net off-screen. He was injured badly enough to be laid up for three days. However, when he saw the film (the camera operators were instructed to always keep filming, no matter what happened), he not only kept the mishap, he built on it, adding the fall through three awnings, the loose downspout that propels him into the firehouse and the slide down the fire pole.
    • Goofs
      In the medium shot of the Stone Age soothsayer scene, Buster's hands are resting together near the side of the turtle. But in the cut to a close-up, we see only a hand double's right hand, and it's directly in front of the turtle's mouth. (It's clearly a hand double, since Keaton was missing his right index finger tip.)
    • Alternate versions
      In 1995, Film Preservation Associates copyrighted a version with an orchestral score; no details were specified on the print.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Golden Age of Buster Keaton (1979)

    User reviews28

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Taking Risks
    D.W. Griffith could have made any movie he wanted to after the enormous financial success of "The Birth of a Nation"; he chose to make the most technically ambitious film to that date, "Intolerance". He took a risk with such innovations in film montage and form, and the well-known financial train wreck resulted. Buster Keaton doesn't take that kind of a risk with "Three Ages", a parody of "Intolerance". This is Keaton's first feature-length film of his own (he only acted in "The Saphead"). He had the fallback plan of dividing the three episodes in this feature into three separate shorts, which Griffith did do with "Intolerance". Keaton didn't have to. Chaplin had already succeeded with feature-length comedies, so if Keaton was taking a risk here, it was completely calculated.

    Chaplin had already done a parody of another film, too, with "Burlesque on Carmen" (1915). Keaton appears to allude to that parody, as well. The wrestling scene in the Ancient Rome episode references the swordfight that turns into a wrestling match in Chaplin's burlesque. The comical distance from the plot of both scenes is the same, too. Furthermore, Chaplin's film imitated the glossy style of DeMille's "Carmen", and Chaplin's film seemed a tribute to that film. Keaton doesn't attempt the radical editing, narrative structure or monumental nature in his parody, but it seems respectful of "Intolerance" nonetheless. At least, the stories aren't told completely straightforward as in other "Intolerance"-inspired works, such as Dreyer's "Leaves from Satan's Book" (Blade af Satans bog, 1921) and Fritz Lang's "Destiny" (Der Müde Tod, 1921). There is some mild jumping back and forth between episodes.

    Where Keaton did take risks, however, is in his physical, daredevil comedy. That's Keaton unintentionally failing to jump across buildings in the modern episode. Reportedly, he was convinced to alter the scene rather than attempt the jump again. And, it wasn't just Keaton who took risks; the anachronistic baseball gag, for example, was rather dangerous. Thus, although in a different way, Keaton, like Griffith, took risks with his big film. And, I think they both succeeded.
    helpful•3
    1
    • Cineanalyst
    • Jun 29, 2006

    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 24, 1923 (United States)
      • United States
      • None
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Hill Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Buster Keaton Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 3 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Silent

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