Top 50 Actors, #43 - Buster Keaton: "The General" (1926)

Movie Stats:
Released 1926 (Japan)
American, in English (film is silent; scene cards in my version were in English)
Directors - Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
Stars - Buster Keaton, Marion Mack

Plot Summary:
At the outbreak of the Civil War, train engineer Johnnie Gray (Keaton) is denied enlistment due to his profession & is thus dumped by his girlfriend, Annabelle Lee (Mack). Later, when a group of Union soldiers steals his train, he has the chance to redeem himself.

Warnings:
Violence.

Bad Stuff:
I wasn’t too keen on the Confederates being the heroes of this story (early Hollywood was weirdly obsessed with the Confederacy) or the pro-war theme.

As clever as it was, the train chase scene got a bit tedious after a while.

Good Stuff:
It’s really quite funny. I laughed numerous times.

So many great stunts! Very entertaining.

If I ignore the part where the Confederates are the heroes, I enjoyed the story. Johnnie is so determined, so single-minded in his desperation to get his beloved train back. He’s fearless and he’s a problem solver. He’s not superhuman; he’s just a regular guy doing what needs to be done, which was nice to watch in this modern era of superhero supremacy.

About the Performance:
I always find it a bit difficult to rate a silent performance, because the era of silent film was filled with a lot of overacting, carried over from the theater of the time, when people needed to exaggerate to get the point across. However, you have to admire Keaton for his incredible stunts. Plus, there were multiple times when his facial expressions had me in stitches. I think it’s a bit sad that, nowadays, he doesn’t maintain the same level of admiration as other silent film stars.

Other performances of Keaton’s I’ve reviewed: Around the World in Eighty Days; Sunset Blvd.

The Verdict:
I liked it. It was fun. It was funny. The practical effects were fantastic, as were all the stunts. I also enjoyed that it was all about saving the train, not about saving the girl, which was refreshing. Maybe I didn’t jive with all of the film’s values, but that’s never stopped me from enjoying a movie. I’m surprised that none of Keaton’s features (the other films of his I’ve reviewed were bit parts/cameos for him) have come up on any of my lists before.

I give it 4.25 stars.