The General (1926)

My Review

“The General” is a silent comedy-action film where Buster Keaton plays a Southern train engineer in the Civil War who pursues Union spies to rescue his stolen locomotive and his girl friend. Keaton was involved in most areas of production, including co-directing (with Clyde Bruckman), co-writing the screenplay, co-editing, and co-producing. The results were outstanding with “The General” possessing high production values, good dialogue (on English intertitle slides), and excellent performances. This 80 minute film is considered one of the best of the silent picture era.

The cast includes Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Frank Barnes, and Mike Donlin, Tom Nawn, and Joe Keaton (Buster’s father) as Union generals. Keaton is, of course, the star of the show. His deadpan delivery is perfect for silent pictures; he even performed stunts on the moving trains. The watchable “The General” was popular at the box office for Buster Keaton Productions, Joseph M. Schenck Productions, and United Artists. It was filmed in Oregon.