Movie Review: The General (1926)

The General (1926) co-written and co-directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman

Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) is an engineer on a southern railway line who has two loves: his engine (called The General) and his girl (called Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack)). The American Civil War breaks out. Annabelle's father and brother sign up for the army. Johnny tries to enlist but is rejected because he is more valuable as an engineer. The recruiters don't bother to tell him this. Annabelle is disappointed in Johnny, especially when her relatives say he wouldn't even get in line with them (he had already been rejected). She refuses to see him again unless he's in a uniform. A year passes and the war is raging. A Union general plans to steal his engine and bust up the rail line so the army can attack. A group of northerns sneak into town and steal The General just when Annabelle is riding to the front to check on her wounded father. Johnny sees the train steaming away and races off in pursuit of his two loves.

This movie is widely regarded as Keaton's best. The movie has a lot of pathos and a plethora of sight gags. The comedy works very well, capitalizing on Keaton's stone-faced reactions to the improbable events and circumstances. Keaton has good chemistry with Mack. Their reunion and escape from the northerners gives the movie some dramatic weight and some opportunities for Keaton to play off his costar. They make an entertaining couple as they try to help each other make it back home.

The craftsmanship is amazing. Keaton is famous for doing his own stunts, often very elaborate and dangerous stunts. The movie uses real trains and he performs complicated and amazing comedy routines on the tracks. There's no Godzilla-style miniatures or dodgy CGI here, just real people executing carefully-timed stunts that deliver the laughs and the wows. The battle scenes have tons of extras and have a lot happening on the screen. Even little details are surprising. At one point, Johnny is hiding under a table where the northern officers are planning their attack. One of the officers accidentally burns a hole in the tablecloth and in Johnny's sleeve. He has the appropriate comic reaction. But then Annabelle is brought into the room. The tablecloth hole provides Johnny a way to see Annabelle. The hole also make a wonderful frame for Annabelle's face. I appreciated the attention to detail that makes this well worth watching.

The version I watched has an excellent score by the Alloy Orchestra. There aren't many copies left at Amazon. The DVD comes with Steamboat Bill Jr., which I saw with them perform live back in the 1990s. 

Highly recommended--this is the third time I've watched this and it's just as enjoyable as ever.

This movie is discussed, along with The Lodger, on A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #277!