The General

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The General

93% Liked It
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The General

Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Charles Henry Smith

Johnnie loves two things: his train and the lovely Annabelle Lee. When the Civil War breaks out he enlists as a soldier, but it is decided that he is too valuable as an engineer. Annabelle thinks it i...( read more  read more... )s because he is a coward. When Union spies capture Johnnie with Annabelle on board, Johnnie "The General" must rescue both his loves.

Id: 10881013

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Recent Reviews

The General Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 17, 2009
    SirPant
    Buster Keaton's The General is one of the greatest films ever made!
  • wanbaclone
    January 17, 2009
    wanbaclone
    I like old movies, but I have a confession to make. I don?t watch silent movies. There are two exceptions to this rule. I watch Charlie Chaplin movies and I watch The General. I have yet to see another movie starring Buster Keaton, and I?ve decided, if he?d never made a movie...( read more) besides The General, he?d still be a legend. Neither Buster Keaton nor Chaplin needed words to tell a heck of a story. In fact, even if The General didn?t have title cards to tell you what was going on, you?d still be able to figure it out.

    The plot is simple: Johnny Gray (played by Keaton) is an locomotive engineer in the South when the War of Northern Aggression, er, Civil War breaks out. His best gal, Annabelle Lee, snubs him when she mistakenly assumes he?s a coward because he doesn?t enlist (when in reality he?s not allowed to enlist because he?s more valuable as an engineer). What takes place over the next hour or so is a series of scenes in which Keaton bumbles his way into rescuing Annabelle from captors, foils a pack of Northern spies, and almost singlehandedly routes the Northern army. Most of the action takes place aboard the film?s namesake, The General, Gray?s locomotive.

    The complaint against silent films is that there just isn?t enough there without words to keep a viewer interested. Normally I agree, but Keaton?s comic timing combined with numerous chase scenes keeps the pace lively. Kids under 10 are usually the toughest critics. I?ve heard and read many folks say that when they sat down with their young children to watch this one when the movie ended, the kids were ready for a repeat viewing.

    One of my favorite gags of the movie comes when Gray tries to shoot a cannonball from a moving train in order to hit a train full of spies he?s pursuing. With one misstep, he manages to aim the cannon directly at?himself. It?s hard to choose a favorite scene because one gag begets another throughout the running time of the movie, and at a time of 74 minutes, it?s amazing how many funny bits Keaton packs in.
  • smith44
    September 29, 2008
    smith44
    One of my new all time favourite movies, simply perfection. The best silent film ever and one of the greatest comedies ever. Poetry in motion.
  • columbiatch
    July 8, 2008
    columbiatch
    This is essentially Keaton doing a chase film, probably the most inventive I've seen. The film ends in a war scene impressive in scope. There is generally more suspense and action than comedy.
  • hypathio7
    June 24, 2008
    hypathio7
    Keeps the suspense and humor rolling!! Set during the Civil War with the protagonists being from the South. At first Keaton is chasing Northern spies, trying to prevent them from returning to the North with his train. Then he's trying to flee back to the South with news of the...( read more) approaching Northerners. All the while, trying to show his loyalty to Dixie and win the heart of Annabelle Lee.
  • catbox9
    November 18, 2009
    catbox9
    The General starring Buster Keaton is generally regarded as one of the greatest silent films of all-time. This film depicts a railroad conductor during the American Civil War. He tries to join the Confederate army but is considered too valuable and is not allowed to enlist. Nonet...( read more)heless, he ends up becoming a major hero when a train he was in charge of is taken over by Union soldiers and he helps thwart a would-be surprise attack.

    While technically a comedy, I found this film to be more of a mix between comedy and drama. It certainly had its funny moments, but it was not at all like a Chaplin film in which every moment attempts to be funny. This certainly isn't a bad thing as the plot was genuinely dramatic.

    Upon its release, this film received terrible reviews and was generally regarded as an absolute failure. This upset Keaton as he felt it was perhaps his best film. To make matters worse, this film was quite expensive and required numerous costly stunts. The scene where the bridge collapses and the train falls into the river was possibly the most expensive stunt of the silent film era. Today, this film is much better received. Silentera.com considers this film to be the greatest silent film ever made and most every other poll lists it as amongst the best. I would agree with the critics and rank this second only to The Battleship Potemkin in my list of silent films. It is also worth noting that the score for the version I saw, by Carl Davis, is perhaps the best I have ever heard for a silent film.

    90.5/100
    A-
  • TioBradski
    October 27, 2009
    TioBradski
    Not to be confused with the specific. In this film, the South is good and the North is bad, just like in real life.
  • ElCochran90
    October 9, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Review coming someday...

    99/100
  • fluturash
    October 2, 2009
    fluturash
    an extraordinary film? yes.
    is buster keaton phenomenal? yes.
    a fantastic piece of the silent? yes.
    great soundtrack? yes.
    the funniest movie ever? as to me, no. i go for chaplin for numerous reasons. the general could never win against the dictator.
    still this is magnificent. l...( read more)ike watching a piece of history. cinema history, that is.
  • ifitz
    October 1, 2009
    ifitz
    I didn't think I would love anything more than when I saw 'The Kid' when it came to silent comedy- I loved this better! Too funny to explain, Buster Keaton is a master of his art! A wonderful comedy I would recomend to anyone!
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