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The Three Ages

Play trailer Poster for The Three Ages 1923 1h 0m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The rituals of courtship, romantic rivalry and love play out three times as a Man vies with a Villain for the Girl. In the Stone Age, the rivalry is set off by dinosaurs, a turtle used as a Ouija board, and a round of golf with stones. In ancient Rome, the men display their brawn through a chariot race, using dogs instead of horses. During contemporary times, the Man finds himself overcome by modernity, including a very fragile car.
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The Three Ages

Critics Reviews

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies 08/09/2023
as puny but perspicacious Keaton vies with the larger, cheating Wallace Beery for the hand of Margaret Leahy, it will turn out that the other constants in this non-evolving history are ingenious stunts, pratfalls and sight gags... Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 03/27/2024
2.5/4
enjoyable enough, but hardly in the league of Keaton’s best features Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 12/10/2023
3/4
Anticipates Mel Brooks’ hilarious History of the World: Part I in a few ways (not to mention some Marx Brothers tomfoolery). Go to Full Review
Robert E. Sherwood LIFE 10/07/2021
Although one has considerable difficulty in following the weird meanderings of Buster's plot (if any), one has no trouble whatever in greeting his antics with a hearty laugh. Of the three ages, the cave-man part is easily the most comic. Go to Full Review
Adele Whitley Fletcher Motion Picture Magazine 11/16/2020
One of the funniest comedies of the silversheet. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 06/04/2019
2.5/4
Not Keaton's best feature (it often feels like three short films stitched together), it's filled with such wonderful visual wit. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Eric P @RT06161622 11/21/2022 Buster Keaton's first feature film is a romantic comedy parody of D. W. Griffith's 1916 film Intolerance. Three stories in three different settings but have the same scenario. For a 1923 film, the visual effects were quite impressive. Buster Keaton did a wonderful job as the film's director and star performer. Especially when he did the most famous stunt in the film that went wrong yet he worked his way through it. It was so brilliant and clever of Buster Keaton to do that. As it was stated before, it will be stated again. Not only did he do a wonderful job as an actor in Three Ages, he also did a fantastic job as the film's director. For his first feature-length film, Buster Keaton's Three Ages is visually impressive, well executed directing, impressive acting, and quite comical. See more Christopher B @Ikari777 10/16/2022 Even though this was Buster Keaton's first feature film, it was later revealed to be three two-reel shorts put together in order to create a feature length film. While the pieces all work separately, seeing them together and intertwined within the confines of The Three Ages makes the experience and film richer as a whole. Not quite up there with some of Keaton's masterpieces, The Three Ages is still a fantastic comedy that is just as timeless and relevant in film history as any of his other films. Any Keaton film shows his prowess as an actor and director and showcases his amazing talent and passion in film! Highly Recommended and another great from the silent-film era! See more Ethan S @RT80629691 09/29/2020 A solid three stars. There are some funny gags and sequences - particularly in the Roman storyline I found - but definitely far from Keaton's best. See more 09/18/2015 Diretor, ator, produtor e roteirista, Keaton sempre com seu jeito sisudo conquistava o público como resultado indireto de sua competência em narrar suas aventuras em diferentes histórias e, ao contrário de Charles Chaplin, com diferentes personagens. cinetenisverde.com.br See more 02/22/2015 A parody of D.W. Griffith's Intolerance that laid the comedic architecture for Keaton's stronger films. See more 01/12/2014 I love Buster Keaton - but this wasn't his strongest film. Each one of the short films that make up the three tied together as a feature might work - but the three interspersed together is a bit of overkill. See more Read all reviews
The Three Ages

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Movie Info

Synopsis The rituals of courtship, romantic rivalry and love play out three times as a Man vies with a Villain for the Girl. In the Stone Age, the rivalry is set off by dinosaurs, a turtle used as a Ouija board, and a round of golf with stones. In ancient Rome, the men display their brawn through a chariot race, using dogs instead of horses. During contemporary times, the Man finds himself overcome by modernity, including a very fragile car.
Director
Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
Producer
Buster Keaton, Joseph M. Schenck
Screenwriter
Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Buster Keaton, Joseph A. Mitchell
Distributor
Image Entertainment Inc., Video Yesteryear, Kino Video, Reel Media International [us], Grapevine Video
Production Co
Buster Keaton Productions Inc. [us]
Genre
Comedy
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 24, 1923, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 26, 2020
Runtime
1h 0m
Aspect Ratio
Academy (1.33:1)