The General (1926)
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
- Clyde Bruckman
- Buster Keaton
- Edward Hearn
- Buster Keaton
- Clyde Bruckman
- Charles Henry Smith
- William Pittenger
- Al Boasberg
Rating: 8/10 by 1237 users
Alternative Title:
将军 - CN
Le mécano de la Générale - FR
Come vinsi la guerra - IT
A Glória de Pamplinas - PT
De Generaal - NL
제네럴 - KR
Generalen - NO
Генерал - RU
Паровоз «Генерал» - RU
El maquinista de la General - ES
Dagens helt - NO
Country:
United States of America
Language:
No Language
Runtime: 01 hour 19 minutes
Budget: $750,000
Revenue: $1,000,000
Plot Keyword: cannon, army, general, southern usa, spy, fiancé, bridge, engineer, attack, black and white, train, silent film, behind enemy lines, american civil war
Just amazing. Really, really impressive scenes with the railway engines and a physically incredible Keaton.
There's quite a lot going on here - it is certainly comedic, but there is also plenty of action and even some romance in this American Civil War story. Keaton ("Johnnie") has been deemed more important as a railroad engineer so was rejected as a soldier - but this causes his girlfriend "Annabelle" and her family to think he is yella'! When the Yankees concoct a plan to steal his engine "The General" whilst she is travelling on it; he must use all his wits and guile to get them both back and is soon caught being enemy lines where he learns of their dastardly plan to attack. Can he get back with his gal and tell his confederates of the Unionist plans? There is something about the quality of the images - they are pretty much prefect; even when the train in rattling along a-pace. There are loads of skirmishes supporting a properly constructed, and exciting, story with plenty of drama and sometimes some quite scary bits too, all jammed into just over an hour. The version I saw had been re-scored by Carl Davis and that added immeasurably to the pace and tension - and the romance - and helped create a superb piece of cinema.
This is Keaton’s masterpiece, a flawed one, yes. It’s not funny enough and the story could be developed more. But it is significant, flaws and all. The closest a film will ever get to flawed perfection.
