Three Ages (1923)

 

Eureka continues to bring us classic restored Buster Keaton on Blu-ray, making the world is a better place for it. Up this time, and out for its 100th anniversary, is THREE AGES, Keaton's first feature as star, writer and co-director. It's based around the theme of love being eternal and to illustrate this we see three tales set in three different time periods.

First up in 'The Stone Age' in which caveman Buster, riding around on his pet dinosaur (a nice bit of stop motion animation) spies the girls of his dreams (Margaret Leahy) and has to woo her away from the charms of his rival (Wallace Beery)

The second time period is 'The Roman Era' where again Keaton is seeking the love of Leahy and having to avoid Beery whilst also competing in a chariot race where his chariot is pulled by dogs, and deal with a lion in his jail cell.

The third period is 'The Present'. It's the same story and the same actors again but in this one the gags and stunts are more over the top and involve fire engines, cars falling to pieces and plunges from an improbably height. The three stories weave in and out of each other and the film as a whole is a spoof of D W Griffith's classic INTOLERANCE. 

Eureka's disc comes with a stack of extras. David Kalat provides commentary duties. "Keaton is timeless," he says before launching into an erudite and extremely listenable account of the film. In This Side of the Impossible David Cairns provides a short (16 mins) video essay about the film, while in Under the Flat Hat Fiona Watson argues the case for Keaton being neuroatypical. Ian Lavender, star of stage screen and Dad's Army talks Keaton for 15 minutes, which John Bengtson provides a tour of the film's locations. 

Keaton himself speaks in four short audio pieces, mainly excerpts from radio interviews, and also appears in a short commercial for Alka Seltzer Finally, an excerpt from the segment 'Man's Genesis' from INTOLERANCE is provided so you can see exactly what Keaton was making fun of. The disc also comes with a collector's booklet and O-Card slipcase for the first 2000

Buster Keaton's THREE AGES is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 21st August 2023