IMDb RATING
7.0/10
5.2K
YOUR RATING
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.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Kewpie Morgan
- The Emperor
- (as Horace Morgan)
- …
Lionel Belmore
- Undetermined Role
- (unconfirmed)
- (uncredited)
George Davis
- Roman Guard Knocked Down
- (uncredited)
Louise Emmons
- Old Fortune Teller
- (uncredited)
F.F. Guenste
- Butler
- (uncredited)
Blanche Payson
- The Amazon
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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.
- GoofsIn 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 versionsIn 1995, Film Preservation Associates copyrighted a version with an orchestral score; no details were specified on the print.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Golden Age of Buster Keaton (1979)
Featured review
Underappreciated Keaton Comedy
Loosely intended as a satire of D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, The Three Ages was Buster Keaton's first attempt at a full length comedy feature. The only similarities to Intolerance are the opening "book" scene and the fact that similar stories through the ages are edited together into a complete film. Keaton's reasoning for appropriating this style was that if it didn't succeed as a feature film, it could be reduced to three two-reelers. Fortunately, The Three Ages succeeds brilliantly as a comedy and contains some of the funniest routines I've seen in any of Keaton's film. There is nothing unique or daring about the story lines. They are simple boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl plots, but the period satires are riotous and set the standard for future works by Mel Brooks and all films of this genre. However, I don't believe that anyone has ever topped this comedy. No one can play the lovable goof like Keaton and the stunts in this film are some of his best. In addition, Wallace Beery's appearance as Keaton's rival adds to this film's appeal. Anyone who thinks that comedy from the 1920's cannot be appreciated by modern audiences needs to see this movie.
helpful•234
- prionboy
- May 17, 2000
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Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $177
- Runtime1 hour 3 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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