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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Facts about
Based on a true incident during the Civil War. In April 1862, Union agent James J. Andrews led a squad of 21 soldiers on a daring secret raid. Dressed in civilian clothes, Andrews and his men traveled by rail into the Southern states. Their mission was to sabotage rail lines and disrupt the Confederate army's supply chain. At the town of Little Shanty, GA, the raiders stole a locomotive known as "The General." They headed north, tearing up track, burning covered bridges and cutting telegraph lines along the way. William Fuller and Jeff Cain, the conductor and engineer of "The General," pursued the stolen train by rail and foot. They first used a hand-cart (as Buster Keaton does in the film), then a small work locomotive called "The Yonah," which they borrowed from a railroad work crew, and finally a full-sized Confederate army locomotive called "The Texas," which pursued "The General" for 51 miles - in reverse. During the chase, Confederate soldiers were able to repair the sabotaged telegraph wires and send messages ahead of the raiders. Andrews and his men were intercepted and captured near Chattanooga, TN, by a squad of Confederate troops led by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest (who, after the war, was one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan). Tried as spies, Andrews and seven of his raiders were hanged (a special gallows was built to hold al In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #18 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.
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