The General (1926)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Directors:

Clyde Bruckman
Buster Keaton

Writers:

Buster Keaton (written by) and
Clyde Bruckman (written by) ...

Release Date:

5 February 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | War | Action

Tagline:

Love, Locomotives and Laughs

Plot:

When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines.

Plot Keywords:

General | Confederate | Train | Spy | Escape

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Marion Mack	...	Annabelle Lee
Glen Cavender	...	Captain Anderson
Jim Farley	...	General Thatcher
Frederick Vroom	...	A Southern General
Charles Henry Smith	...	Annabelle's Father (as Charles Smith)
Frank Barnes	...	Annabelle's Brother
Joe Keaton	...	Union General
Mike Donlin	...	Union General
Tom Nawn	...	Union General
Buster Keaton	...	Johnny Gray

Runtime:

Australia:107 min | Spain:80 min (1982 version) | Spain:83 min (1962 version) | USA:75 min (2003 alternate version)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | UK:U | South Korea:All (2002) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | Norway:7 (original rating) | Norway:A (re-rating) (2004) | Portugal:17 (director's cut) | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated | West Germany:6 | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA

Company:

Buster Keaton Productions

Trivia:

The film's hard-edged look was inspired by the battlefield photographs of Matthew Brady, which captured the carnage of the Civil War in shocking detail.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Annabelle Lee is brought inside the Union headquarters by two soldiers, her clothes are soaking wet from the rain clearly visible through a window, but the soldiers' clothes are dry.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Annabelle's brother: Fort Sumter has been fired upon.
Mr. Lee: Then the war is here.
Annabelle's brother: Yes, dad, and I'm going to be one of the first to enlist.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fractured Flickers: (#1.20)" (1963)

Loco and Motive

No one will top Keaton for physical risk, and risk is what deep film experiences are all about. This might be classed as a comedy, but for me it touches deeply enough. Its about a man who needs to prove himself by taking risks and being true. And its by a man who takes even greater risks and is more true. True to the spirit of the social compact, here displayed as the chummy south.

He's always done stunts that amaze. Many of his other films have things in them that if the timing were only a little off, he'd be seriously injured, or die. But this takes the cake. Its almost as if he started with the idea that he'd have three locos to play with and had a year to think up stunts.

And the stunts are so physical! And so dangerous. And so, so very effective.

His trademark is the deadpan face placed as a sort of innocent cluelessness. Its particularly funny when you see the physical movements and you know that 1) they take incredible preparation and timing to pull off and 2) the fellow you see that looks so puzzled by the reality you see is the guy that devised and directed those stunts.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.