The General (1927) - Video On Demand

The General - Movie Review

"Love, Locomotives and Laughs". The General is generally regarded as one of the greatest of all silent comedies. The film is based on a real incident during the American Civil War when northern soldiers hijacked a confederate train. Filled with hilarious sight gags and perfectly timed stunt work, the chase comedy is an imaginative masterpiece of dead-pan Buster Keaton comedy.

Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a railroad engineer. He loves two things: his locomotive, dubbed The General, and his girl, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). When the war breaks out, the rebel army doesn't want him as a soldier, because they think he's more valuable in his civilian occupation. Unknown to Buster, the Union army is planning to highjack his train, then use it to head north, blowing up every bridge they pass. His girlfriend is on the train, and when his engine is stolen by northern spies. What follows is a non-stop train chase, with a dozen Union officers trying to outrun lone Buster.

The film is predominantly composed of two train chases over the same territory. Each scene in the chase of the first half has a counterpart in the film's second half. In the first chase, Johnnie pursues the blue-coated spies who have stolen The General and escaped to the North. In the second half, the Union spies chase Johnnie in his re-possessed General back to the South.

The film concludes with a climactic battle at a river gorge, with the dramatic crash of the pursuit train into the Rock River in the film's most spectacular scene - and the most expensive shot of the entire silent era. Keaton filmed the bridge collapse in the pine forest around the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon, using 500 extras from the Oregon National Guard. He did not tell the actor portraying the Northern commanding officer what to expect: his look of total shock was genuine.

Keaton performs lots of dangerous physical stunts on and around the moving train, which include jumping from the engine to a tender to a boxcar, sitting on the cow-catcher of the slow moving train while holding a railroad tie, and running along the roof.

The General - Cast & Crew

Add New Tags