The General (1926) | |
| Director(s) | Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton |
| Producer(s) | Buster Keaton (uncredited), Joseph M. Schenck (executive uncredited), Joseph M. Schenck (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Silent Films, War |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Civil War, Public Domain, Romance (Comic), Spies, True Story (based on) |
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The General Overview:
The General (1926) was a Silent Films - Romance Film directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman and produced by Buster Keaton and Joseph M. Schenck.
SYNOPSIS
Keaton's greatest achievement grew out of an authentic episode of American history - the theft of a strategically important locomotive during the Civil War. Keaton takes the train, belching smoke, on a single-handed wild ride, shielding his beloved while fending off Union soldiers. The chase sequence culminates in Keaton's grandest stunt as the train crashes into the river.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The General was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.
BlogHub Articles:
Silents are Golden: A Closer Look ? The General (1926)
By Lea Stans on Apr 29, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub BlogSilents are Golden: A Closer Look ? The General (1926) Often called one of the finest silent films of all time ? some people even consider it the finest ? Buster Keaton?s masterwork The General (1926) still feels wonderfully fresh nearly 100 years later. Handsomely photographed and proudly recrea... Read full article
Seattle International Film Festival 2016: Buster Keaton on the Big Screen in The General (1926)
By KC on Jun 11, 2016 From Classic MoviesThe General (1926) has endured as one of Buster Keaton's greatest features, because it perfectly balances the wit and physical abilities of his stone-faced hero. Today a near capacity crowd enjoyed a 4K restoration at the Egyptian Theater, with a new symphonic score from Studio Ghibli composer Joe H... Read full article
History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual ViragoIn The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article
History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual ViragoIn The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article
History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual ViragoIn The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article
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Quotes from
Facts about
A number of celebrities have cameos in this film: Glen Cavender had been a hero in the Spanish-American War. Also, Frederick Vroom had appeared earlier in Keaton's The Navigator as the girl's father whose ship is hijacked. Keaton's former director of photography, Elgin Lessley, has a cameo as the Union general who gives the command to cross the burning bridge. Producer Louis Lewyn has a bit part as a soldier.
In the scene where Johnnie and Annabelle refill the water reservoir of the train, Marion Mack said in an interview many years later that she had no idea that she was supposed to get drenched. Buster Keaton had not told her what was supposed to happen, so the shock you see is genuine.
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