Essentials: The General

Year: 1926
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Charles Henry Smith, Frank Barnes, Joe Keaton, Mike Donlin, Tom Nawn
Production: Buster Keaton Productions

Truth be told, I'm more a Charlie Chaplin man than an acolyte of his famed slapstick counterpart Buster Keaton. But while The Tramp has an innocent naivety that can be admired, and a pathos that make his movies accessible to this day, Keaton has Chaplin beat when it comes to sheer physicality. The man was an unstoppable force; able to take collapsing debris, speeding trains and harsh pratfalls with the same stone face that has become his trademark. Even the most modernistic of viewers watching some of Keaton's famed set pieces will scratch their heads and wonder how a single man can do so much talented stunt work and live to the ripe old age of seventy.

Buster Keaton plays the diminutive Johnnie a locomotive engineer eager to fight for the south in the Civil War but can't because of his important job tending to The General, his beloved steam-engine. But when Union spies steal it to disrupt Southern train-lines, its up to dear old Johnnie to bring it back. He also must rescue his sweet Annabelle Lee (Mack) who has wondered into the mix and is abruptly kidnapped. It's a simple story that requires little setup or explanation but does require enough stunt work to make Jackie Chan think twice.

Just like in Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) and Sherlock Jr. (1924), Buster Keaton shows absolute fearlessness in the face of overwhelming odds both in the story and in front of a camera that doesn't give him a break. The camera-work is elaborate even by today's standards. Imagine what the audiences at the time were thinking when they first saw Keaton fearlessly hanging on to the front of a train grill, trying desperately to remove all obstacles in The General's way. At the time, The General was the most expensive film ever created, showcasing an exquisite burning bridge finale so astonishing that when it was shot the screech of the locomotive's boiler could have been heard for miles.

If any beef is to be made with The General it's its run time. Don't get me wrong, 107 minutes goes by pretty swiftly when you're already a convert to the Order of Keaton and have accustomed yourself to silent movies in general. Yet for those watching Keaton's oeuvre for an Appreciation of Cinema class, The General may not be your best introduction to the clown prince of silent comedy and what was arguably the most experimental decades in the art of film.

Only twenty-eight years prior to The General, the Lumiere Brothers showcased Train Arriving at Bombay Station (1898) one of the first films ever created. At the time, the camera's position adjacent to the station platform was enough to panic crowds who thought the train was going to burst through the screen and run them over. When 1926 came around, I doubt a single soul would be flinching at Bombay Station. The General on the other hand aptly creates the same kind of tension through masterful storytelling, brilliant stunt work and "real" special effects. Today, these techniques inform and elevate the film to the point of timelessness giving the viewer a strong sense of excitement while simultaneously filling the room with guffaws and laughter. Today we still view The General as a silent masterpiece; one of the few of its time. If there's a single silent film you should watch in this lifetime it would and should be The General.

Final Grade: A