The General (Keaton)

Star Review

The General is one of Keaton’s most perfectly realised films. With a large budget and two renovated period locomotives at his disposal, he set out to recreate an authentic Civil War backdrop to his tale of a Confederate engine driver who chases a stolen train into Unionist territory, rescues his kidnapped girl and manages to return home to warn of an impending attack.

One of the film’s most impressive feats is the full integration of its comedy into the storyline. There are no superfluous gags, and frantic slapstick is replaced by a more measured approach to humour. Keaton’s athleticism and his acrobatic skill is of course still present. The miracle is that his delicacy of timing has been upgraded to the scale of locomotives which take curves, stop, reverse and nudge each other exactly when needed and with no trick photography involved either.

Keaton’s risks to himself on set are legendary and an early scene in The General is typical. Dejected, he sits on the driving rod of the locomotive and is slowly carried around on the bar as the engine moves off. It’s a gentle fade-out gag that merits a smile, yet a fraction too much steam and the wheel would have been set spinning, with serious injury the result. Half an hour into the film, Keaton himself starts an engine up and you see then exactly what he was risking. The scene also allies his physicality with impeccable comic timing as he realises with a start just before entering a tunnel that he actually is being carried round on the driving-rod.

Keaton’s reputation was for stone-faced acceptance of whatever fate had in store. His face though is actually alive with emotions – his brilliance was that he realised it was enough to merely think them.

Graeme Hobbs on 1st April 2005

View all 230 of Graeme Hobbs’s reviews

[ Show Film Description ]

Film Description

Keaton is on top form as the Confederate train driver rejected for civil war service, but who nevertheless fearlessly sets off in pursuit of his girlfriend and the eponymous engine, hijacked together by dastardly Unionist spies. Meticulously evoking the period, overflowing with the invention, serene timing and deadpan charm typical of its ever-resourceful hero, this is a veritable treat.

[ Show Star Review ]

In THE GENERAL, the silent screen's "chivalrous angel" Buster Keaton is on top form as a Confederate train driver rejected for civil war service, who fearlessly sets ... more >

In THE GENERAL, the silent screen's "chivalrous angel" Buster Keaton is on top form as a Confederate train driver rejected for civil war service, who fearlessly sets off in pursuit of his girlfriend and eponymous engine, hijacked together by dastardly Unionist spies. Meticulously evoking the period, overflowing with the invention, serene timing and deadpan charm typical of its ever resourceful hero, it's a veritable treat. < less

View all 51 of John Davies’s reviews

Ratings for this DVD

Average Rating
Log in to place your vote!

DVD Extras

• Digitally remastered and restored. Tinted version. Includes two short films 'Cops' and 'Balloonatics'.

Film Details

Cast

Buster Keaton

Technical Details

Other Versions & Formats