One of the great silent comedies (and one of the most expensive), Buster Keaton as writer, director, stuntman and star comes to grips with the hijacking of his train during the American Civil War.
A spectacle involving up to three speeding locomotives, extraordinary stunts, explosions, burning bridges, slapstick comedy, sight gags, Keaton looks to save the woman he loves (Marion Mack), who finds herself hostage on the train.
Rejected by the Conferderates on the outbreak of the war – as an engineer for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, he is more valuable where he is than in uniform – Keaton sets out to prove he is no coward. Based on a real-life Civil War era story of The General, a steam locomotive, the engineer spoils the Union Army’s plans to mount a surprise attack – and win the heart of the woman he loves.
Like the best silent films, the lack of dialogue is almost irrelevant. The General is a goodly mix of comedy, drama, thrills and adventure – all delivered at breakneck speed.
Rating: 81%
Director: Buster Keaton (The Cameraman, Go West)
Writer: Buster Keaton (The Cameraman, Go West)
Main cast: Buster Keaton (Sunset Boulevard, The Navigator), Marion Mack (Mary of the Movies), Glen Cavender
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