Luke Graham continues our Buster Keaton month with reviews of Three Ages and Sherlock Jr….
The British Film Institute’s decision to pair Three Ages (1923) and Sherlock Jr. (1924) proved a wise one, as these two films serve as a great introduction to Buster Keaton. By 1923, Keaton was already famous for his short films, but Third Ages was the first feature film he directed, wrote and starred in. Sherlock Jr., produced a year later, cemented his reputation as a talented film-maker and was the first in a string of critically acclaimed and highly popular films, many of which are currently being shown as part of the BFI’s Keaton season.
Another added pleasure to this screening was the use of live music. An improvisational piano player performed throughout the film, similar to how silent films were originally watched. This created an authentic and enjoyable experience.
Three Ages, 1923.
Framed as a parable about the unchanging nature of love, Three Ages effectively tells the same story three times, but in different time periods. A young man (Keaton) tries to win the hand of a beautiful girl (Margaret Leahy, in her only starring role) but is constantly thwarted by his rival (the amazing and imposing Wallace Beery, The Champ, Viva Villa!). This story is told in a prehistoric setting, a Roman setting and a contemporary one. This clever narrative structure of parallel storylines was meant to be a satire of a film from 1916 called Intolerance, but it also allowed Keaton the creative freedom to experiment and come up with a variety of jokes.
What is most striking about Keaton’s films, especially Three Ages, is how timely and universal the humour is. There is plenty of slapstick comedy, but visual gags, puns and non sequitur, surrealist humour is also used throughout the film; types of humour that are more familiar and appealing to modern audiences.
The film is an absolute riot. One highlight is a chariot race between Keaton and Beery; while Beery rides a proper, horse-drawn chariot, Keaton opts for sled pulled by dogs because it’s snowing, and has a spare dog in his trunk where a tire should be, then uses a cat tied to a stick to motivate the dogs. It’s a truly bizarre scene that had the audience in stitches.
Keaton himself manages to pull all the humour together. With his blank, deadpan expression, no joke seems too outlandish, and his ability at physical humour and the fact he did many of his own stunts (and some of the stunts in the film are impressive) make him a truly remarkable performer and electric screen presence.
In some ways, the film hasn’t aged well. The prehistoric setting is very cheesy, with the cast wearing leopard-skin loincloths, bad wigs and fake beards, though the Roman setting is much grander and much better designed (and has a great parody scene of the folk-tale Androcles and the lion). However, some sections of the film are almost unwatchable, due to damage to the original negatives, but at least we’re fortunate that much of the movie has been saved.
Overall, while it has some highlights and is often very funny, it’s a fairly average movie. The narrative structure ends up creating a feeling of repetitiveness, though in some ways this was unavoidable. I also wonder if Keaton struggled to fill a feature film running time. It’s likely that Three Ages was a learning curve for Keaton, but it all paid off in his 1924 film.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Sherlock Jr., 1924.
A movie projectionist (played by Keaton) dreams of being a detective and (of course) is in love with a beautiful girl (Kathryn McGuire, The Navigator). His love rival (played with dastardly charm by Ward Crane, who appeared in the famous 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera) frames Keaton for a crime and Keaton is kicked out by the girl’s father. Dejected, Keaton falls asleep during a movie and imagines himself as the star of a film called Sherlock Jr. about a world famous detective.
Sherlock Jr. is a surrealist, minimalist master-piece. Keaton manages to create humour and extract comedy from nearly every scene, and the technical effects and cinematography is spectacular. A sequence where Keaton literally steps out of his own body is an early indicator of the film’s surrealism, but this is followed by a stunning sequence where Keaton climbs into the movie screen, with the scene shifting every few seconds; Keaton is transported from a garden, to a city, to a desert, to the middle of an ocean in a matter of minutes! While we can tell today that this was achieved with a series of jump cuts between projected footage, but the sequence is done with more care, skill and technical aptitude (and laughter) than any modern example. Keaton bragged in an interview a few years later that every cinematographer in Hollywood studied the film trying to work out how he had shot the movie.
The comedy in the film ranges from simple puns and visual gags, to more elaborate sequences, and deftly shows off Keaton’s performing abilities; of note is a scene where Keaton plays pool and does some amazing trick shots, as well as some of the death-defying stunts that he performed himself. There is an extended sequence in the last part of the film, where Keaton balances on the front of a motorbike, not realising there’s no driver. At one point he crosses a train-track a split second before a train would have hit him, and it’s an exhilarating moment to watch on the big screen.
While modern movies can do much more elaborate stunts and sequences with CGI and advanced technology, it’s important to remember that many of the stunts and effects in silent films often had to be done live on set, and these films have to be admired for how creative, inventive and innovative they were.
Keaton made extensive use of magic tricks and illusions as well, and this film is all the more captivating when he uses them to boggle the audiences’ mind; during a chase scene, Keaton’s assistant stands against a wall and points at his stomach, then Keaton jumps through his stomach and out the other side of the wall. I know it’s a little gauche to explain jokes and reveal key scenes like this, but it’s difficult to explain just how great this film (and to a lesser extent Three Ages) is.
Truly a masterpiece, Sherlock Jr. is a must-watch and a comedy master-class.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Luke Graham is a writer and works in newspaper production. If you enjoyed this review, follow him @LukeWGraham and check out his blog here.
Originally published January 13, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
