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The same story told in three different historical ages: the Stone Age,
the age of the Roman Empire, and of course the Modern Age: Each time
Buster Keaton is in love with Margaret Leahy, and she's in love with him,
but each time there's Wallace Beery, the adventurer type of man who's also
wealthier and a lot more to Margaret's parents' (Lillian Lawrence, Joe
Roberts) liking ... so Margaret's promised to Wallace in all three ages,
and Buster's attempts to make her jealous backfire. The though the two men
fight over the woman, in the Stone Age per club, in the Roman Empire in a
chariot race (in which Buster turns his chariot into a dog sled) and in
the Modern Age in a game of American Football. All three times, Buster
wins but Wallace lures him into a trap anyways - be it being dragged
around the countryside via mammot, be it being locked into a cell with a
lion (whom Buster gives a manicure) or be it being apprehended by the
police for possession of alcohol. Of course though, Buster manages to
escape every time, and in the end, after a showdown with Wallace the
villain, Buster cannot only defeat but also expose him, so he gets the
girl fair and square. The first feature film Buster Keaton
directed was not among his best ones: Since his producer Joseph M.Schenck
did not totally believe in features as a medium for slapstick comedy (then
something new), the movie became pretty much an anthology film which could
have been sold as three shorts should it have failed - and unfortunately,
Keaton was not exactly on top of his game in both the Stone Age- and Roman
Empire-segments of the film ... well, they are still pretty funny, but not
among Keaton's best stuff. In the Modern Age though, there's at least one
sequence (Buster unsuccessfully leaping from one rooftop to the next)
that's at least breathtaking. In all, Three Ages might not be among
Buster's best films, but it's still pretty good, and if you're at all into
intelligent slapstick, it's essential viewing - like most Keaton-films
from the 1920's though.
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