The General




If you lose this war don't blame me.

While Charlie Chaplin was probably the silent comedian, Buster Keaton is apt competition and The General is probably his all time best.

Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) has two loves: his locomotive (being the titular General), which he works on as an engineer, and his girl Annabelle (Marion Mack). When the Civil War breaks out, Johnny jumps to enlist in order to impress Annabelle, but they won't take him because he's too valuable as an engineer. Awhile later, a group of Union spies capture the General while Annabelle happens to be on it. Johnny determinedly gives chase through hilarity and straight into enemy territory.

The bulk of the narrative involves two different train chases. There are not many other films comparable to it, as Keaton skillfully employs comedy married to an action driven plot. Enormous creative strides are attained in the assorted gags Keaton is able to wring from the premise. There's plenty of rail switching, fuel chopping and even the attempt to fire on a fleeing train using a cannon. All the while Keaton does his own stunts, jumping from car to car and even riding on the front to clear the track. A lot of it is some pretty genius stuff, even though there are only a few genuine, burst out laughing moments.

One of the incredible things is how well the special effects have held up, mostly due to the fact that they're not special effects. Keaton was after the real deal, as evidenced by the incredibly credible stunts, the sequences involving the cannon and the jaw dropping train collapse. The characters are pretty shallow, but this is a silent action/comedy after all. The music varies depending on the version and the acting is appropriately silly, featuring Keaton using a subtler deadpan approach than most of his contemporaries.

The funniest silent comedy ever? Hardly, but this was Keaton in perhaps his finest form.



-The Gnome