Anssi Vartiainen
Buster Keaton plays the lead in this silent era masterpiece that takes its inspiration from the Great Locomotive Chase, which in turn was a real event during the American Civil War in which a train was stolen by the North and sped over the lines in preparation for the coming offense.The General has some definitive upsides working in its favour. Buster Keaton is an amazingly versatile performer, able to go from clownish jokester to a saddened victim of war and poor circumstances in a heartbeat. The film is also really ambitious in scope. Keaton performs all of his stunts, most of them hair-raisingly dangerous and completely unimaginable nowadays. Plus, very little money is spared and the film famously has some of the most expensive set pieces and stunts of the silent era.The plot of the film is also a lot more cohesive than say in the films made by Charlie Chaplin in the same decade. Chaplin's films usually contain segments that have little to do with anything except the need for funny situations. The General is also a comedy, but with a clear, clean story arc.On the other hand, I didn't find the humour or the characters as captivating. They're okay, but in this regard the decades of cultural development between the film and yours truly work against the film. I just didn't find the slapstick all that funny.Still, The General is a great watch for all interested in early cinema or really involved physical humour.
Georgi Dianov Georgiev
Outstanding performance by Buster Keaton. What a silent comedy! What a character is this train engineer! Beautiful! This action-adventure-comedy is smooth and light fight with trains. But obviously, those kind of trains of the first ones - those that work with firewood and a flexible 'driver'.Our main character, very tenacious, wants his love. He has his first one, the train, and now he wants Annabelle Lee. He does everything, from the beginning till the end to achieve her attention. An attention obtained because of an uniform. Yes, that is true, but only because those times were like that.But forget about that love - cheap kisses and looks - because in here the story is about these bloody trains and how they chase each other. Interestingly enough, for 1926 this 67 minutes are 'marvelous'! There is more text than The Kid (1921) or City Lights (1931), and even more comedy and captivation. Yes, it is true that is all about those trains, but the story goes on the rails with a linear perspective.
GManfred
Enjoyed "The General" and it was a quick 70 minutes. Buster Keaton, of course, is from another era, when motion pictures were more visual (before sound). They relied on sight gags and optical wizardry and "The General" succeeds in spades.Haven't really seen much of Buster Keaton but his stunt work was impressive, even if his deadpan brand of humor is an acquired taste. The film is very good but I would stop short of calling it one of the all-time greats, as the TCM host claimed. But the story moved at a good pace and was interesting and absorbing. Can't ask for more than that, can you?
Python Hyena
The General (1926): Dir: Buster Keaton / Cast: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom: High profile silent film about one's personal perspective. Buster Keaton plays locomotive engineer Johnnie Gray who desires to join the Confederate army alongside his fiancé's father and brother but he is refused when he becomes too important to his job. His fiancé, Annabelle is misinformed and claims that she will not marry him until he is in uniform. A year passes and her father is wounded. She travels to see him but the enemy takes over the locomotive and takes her hostage. Gray gives chase and many hysterical physical sight jokes occur. Keaton is a brilliant physical comic, as seen in his clever Sherlock Jr. He meets all obstacles on the track while also trying to prevent the enemy from conquest any further. Keaton performs stunts that are far beyond normal and prevails to huge payoff. Unfortunately he is carrying the film by himself because other characters are a bore. Marion Mack as Annabelle is the standard damsel whose personality is shallow given her reasons for splitting with him in the first place. The villains are just targets for prat falls and never emerge as frightening or interesting. That aside, Keaton creates a film with action, including massive chase scenes and explosive production values that were led into a future that had forgotten how it all began. Score: 8 ½ / 10
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