A fine collection of silent-comedy gags that never quite coheres, "Three Ages" stands up best today as Buster Keaton's earliest statement of purpose as he ventured into feature-length films, working more here as a parodist than inventive storyteller, but still good for more than a laugh.
"Love is the unchanging axis on which the World revolves," reads the title card at the beginning of this back-and-forth story of how a dogged dreamer (Keaton) and a bullying opportunist (Wallace Beery) vie for the love of a pretty woman (Margaret Leahy) across three different eras: Stone Age, Roman Age, and the time when the film was made, the Roaring Twenties.
The story behind the film was that Buster, who produced and co-directed this with his regular collaborator Eddie Cline, was hedging his bets. He made three twenty-minute stories with the idea he could always release them as separate shorts if the feature idea didn't pan out. The problem with this is the high bar set by other Buster shorts, like "The High Sign" and "The Scarecrow." Only the '20s section contains material you'd expect from such a master. The Roman section has a funny scene with a lion which is nevertheless underdeveloped, while the caveman stuff is a subtle as a club in the head.
Despite the unevenness of the feature, you kind of need the three sections running together for their context. Like how Joe Roberts as the girl's father is the heavy in the first two sections, but a meek servant of his stern wife's will in the modern-day story. Or how a Ben-Hur style chariot race devolves into a football scrimmage when we move along in time.
The 1920s section is, like I said, the best part here. While the historical-period stuff may be parodying D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance," I get the feeling Buster here is playing off the work of fellow screen clown Harold Lloyd, whose never-say-die gumption Buster mimics to nearly tragic effect. Like Lloyd, Buster just won't quit. One attempted building-leap stunt, which actually went wrong in filming but was kept, works in retrospect because it's the sort of thing you always expected would happen to Lloyd, but never did, at least when the cameras were rolling.
I also love Buster's five-minute drunk act in a restaurant, which includes some funny Prohibition humor. A woman sitting next to Buster starts to fix her make-up, so Buster whips out some shaving cream right there and joins her. Buster unknowingly orders crab, then freaks when the boiled crustacean is brought to his table.
The other segments work just well enough as excuses for gags, even when the gags are somewhat thin in places. Leahy's a bit of a lump as the leading lady; apparently her career after this wasn't much more than Buster's other leading lady Brown Eyes from "Go West" enjoyed. Leahy does sell one good joke, her final scene in the Stone Age sequence. Beery's a bit too heavy for this role; one wishes Roberts had been given the job instead.
Overall, I like the film; it's funny in an unassuming way, and better than many other history spoofs of more recent vintage. Still, "Three Ages" is best viewed today as a placeholder for much better Buster work to come.
"Love is the unchanging axis on which the World revolves," reads the title card at the beginning of this back-and-forth story of how a dogged dreamer (Keaton) and a bullying opportunist (Wallace Beery) vie for the love of a pretty woman (Margaret Leahy) across three different eras: Stone Age, Roman Age, and the time when the film was made, the Roaring Twenties.
The story behind the film was that Buster, who produced and co-directed this with his regular collaborator Eddie Cline, was hedging his bets. He made three twenty-minute stories with the idea he could always release them as separate shorts if the feature idea didn't pan out. The problem with this is the high bar set by other Buster shorts, like "The High Sign" and "The Scarecrow." Only the '20s section contains material you'd expect from such a master. The Roman section has a funny scene with a lion which is nevertheless underdeveloped, while the caveman stuff is a subtle as a club in the head.
Despite the unevenness of the feature, you kind of need the three sections running together for their context. Like how Joe Roberts as the girl's father is the heavy in the first two sections, but a meek servant of his stern wife's will in the modern-day story. Or how a Ben-Hur style chariot race devolves into a football scrimmage when we move along in time.
The 1920s section is, like I said, the best part here. While the historical-period stuff may be parodying D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance," I get the feeling Buster here is playing off the work of fellow screen clown Harold Lloyd, whose never-say-die gumption Buster mimics to nearly tragic effect. Like Lloyd, Buster just won't quit. One attempted building-leap stunt, which actually went wrong in filming but was kept, works in retrospect because it's the sort of thing you always expected would happen to Lloyd, but never did, at least when the cameras were rolling.
I also love Buster's five-minute drunk act in a restaurant, which includes some funny Prohibition humor. A woman sitting next to Buster starts to fix her make-up, so Buster whips out some shaving cream right there and joins her. Buster unknowingly orders crab, then freaks when the boiled crustacean is brought to his table.
The other segments work just well enough as excuses for gags, even when the gags are somewhat thin in places. Leahy's a bit of a lump as the leading lady; apparently her career after this wasn't much more than Buster's other leading lady Brown Eyes from "Go West" enjoyed. Leahy does sell one good joke, her final scene in the Stone Age sequence. Beery's a bit too heavy for this role; one wishes Roberts had been given the job instead.
Overall, I like the film; it's funny in an unassuming way, and better than many other history spoofs of more recent vintage. Still, "Three Ages" is best viewed today as a placeholder for much better Buster work to come.