The General

The locomotive majesty of silent motion pictures amplified tenfold by the genius of Buster Keaton.

One of the great masterpieces of cinema, Buster Keaton's "The General" combines inventive humor with terrific action and fine melodrama, all beautifully and carefully planned and photographed. It is filled with subtle and wonderful details that make it well worth devoting your full attention to watching. As an extra bonus, it offers a fascinating look at the Civil War era, with many realistic details, inspired by a historical incident.

After a short opening sequence, the movie divides nicely into two halves. Johnny (Keaton) is a railway engineer, turned down in his attempts to enlist in the Confederate Army and subsequently rejected by his girl. Continuing with the railroad, one day his locomotive is stolen by Union spies, who also kidnap his girl. Johnny first chases the engine into Union territory to recapture it, and then is himself chased by the Northern Army as he attempts to return home. Both chases are filled with excitement and manic fun, with some breathtaking stunts by Keaton thrown in. It all leads up to a dramatic and memorable climax that includes many ironic and suggestive touches.

Keaton is at his best, with the story offering him a perfect showcase for his many talents. His slapstick and acrobatic skills are given free rein, and his character's stoic perseverance is a fine complement to the frantic action.

This belongs near the top of any list of great films, a classic worth watching and re-watching.

It's 1861. Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) is a train engineer. He loves his train "The General" and Annabelle Lee. They won't let him fight in the Civil War because he's needed as an engineer. People tell Annabelle that he's a coward, and she won't speak to her until he's in uniform. A year later, Union spies have captured The General and kidnapped Annabelle intend on recking havoc on the South. Johnnie comes to the rescue.

There are some hilarious impossible stunts that Keaton gets into. This is Buster Keaton in his prime. The story is a good melodramatic yarn. There is a lot of amazing train stunt work. The scale of the production is certainly grand. It's not really constant laughs but it is a joy to watch.

Johnnie Gray is turned down for military action, as his job as a train driver means he's an essential worker. He's forced to take drastic action to retrieve his train, aka The General, when it is stolen.

For many years I overlooked silent movies, I always thought they'd not be able to hold my interest, Sherlock Jr and The Great Dictator proved me wrong.

The latest masterpiece I checked out was this one, and The General is just that, a masterpiece.

I'm not quite sure what you'd class it as, a drama, a comedy, perhaps it's a combination of several different styles.

It's fast paced, engaging and pretty thrilling, I was stunned by Keaton's physical stunts, he definitely wasn't afraid to roll his sleeves up, and get do his own stunts, he took several chances, but they definitely paid off.

I love Sherlock Jr for its cleverness and the sheer imagination of it, I equally love The General for the effects, pacing and originality of it.

It's a classic.

9/10.

This film flopped when it was released in late 1926 for several reasons. First, its premiere was delayed because "Flesh and the Devil" was such a sensation that it was held over an extra couple of weeks. Second, people came to the movies to see Buster Keaton the comedian, not Buster the filmmaker and director, which is more of the role he played here. The film was funny, but it was not gag after gag, like so many of Keaton's other films. Keaton plays a railroad engineer living in the South. A title card declares he has two loves - his girl and his engine. when the Civil War starts he tries to enlist, but is considered too valuable to be in the Army due to his profession. His girlfriend misunderstands, thinks him a coward, and says she won't speak to him again until he is in uniform.

Meanwhile, the Union forces have developed a plan to crush the South that involves stealing Buster's train. Unknown to Buster, his girlfriend is on the train at the time of the theft. Buster starts out in hot pursuit of the thieves to retrieve his train, still without the knowledge of his girl's captivity by the Union army.

Forgotten with the arrival of sound, the film revived - often cut up from its original length - in the 1950's because Buster didn't preserve his rights to the film and it fell into the public domain. That is the reason there are so many versions of The General out there today, often with poor video and hideous musical accompaniment.

Today The General is considered one of the best silent feature length films, and one of the few silent films to not only be on DVD but to get the Blu Ray treatment too. SHERLOCK, JR. is clever. OUR HOSPITALITY is hilarious. The General is both of these things. It's story driven, races to a climax, and is fueled by cute, clever, inventive gags.Buster recycled these gags when he was a writer for MGM years later in "A Southern Yankee".