SYNOPSIS: "The General" (1926), directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, is a silent comedy film set during the American Civil War. It stars Buster Keaton as Johnnie Gray, a Southern railroad engineer deeply in love with his locomotive, named "The General." When the Civil War breaks out, Johnnie tries to enlist in the Confederate Army but is rejected because he is deemed more valuable as an engineer. However, his beloved locomotive is stolen by Union spies, along with his girlfriend Annabelle Lee (played by Marion Mack), who mistakenly believes Johnnie is a coward for not joining the army. Determined to prove his bravery and retrieve both his engine and his love, Johnnie embarks on a daring mission behind enemy lines. The film is renowned for its elaborate and dangerous stunts, as well as its groundbreaking use of trains and authentic period detail. It blends thrilling action with Keaton's trademark deadpan humor, showcasing his unparalleled athleticism and comedic timing amidst the backdrop of a historical conflict. "The General" remains a classic of silent cinema, celebrated for its technical achievements, innovative storytelling, and enduring appeal.

PLOT Spoiler Alert: The General (1926) follows the story of Johnnie Gray, a Southern train engineer, who has two great loves: his locomotive, "The General," and his fiancée, Annabelle Lee.

When the Civil War breaks out, Johnnie attempts to enlist in the Confederate Army but is rejected because his skills as an engineer are deemed more valuable to the South. Unaware of this reason, Annabelle and her family believe he is a coward.

A year later, Union spies, led by Captain Anderson, steal The General and kidnap Annabelle, who happens to be on the train. Johnnie sets out alone to pursue them, eventually stealing another train, "The Texas," to give chase. Along the way, he faces numerous obstacles and challenges, showcasing his incredible physical comedy and daring stunts.

Johnnie eventually catches up to the Union spies and rescues Annabelle. Together, they manage to steal back The General and head back towards Confederate lines. In a thrilling sequence, Johnnie uses various tactics to slow down the pursuing Union forces, including setting fire to a bridge.

After returning safely to Confederate territory, Johnnie warns the army of an impending Union attack. With the information he provides, the Confederates are able to launch a successful counter-attack. Johnnie is hailed as a hero and is finally accepted into the Confederate Army as a lieutenant. Annabelle now sees Johnnie as brave and heroic, and the film concludes with the two embracing as Johnnie stands proudly in his new uniform, saluting passing soldiers.

PRODUCTION: In early 1926, Buster Keaton's collaborator Clyde Bruckman introduced him to William Pittenger's 1889 memoir, The Great Locomotive Chase, about the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase. Keaton, a huge fan of trains, had already read the book. Although it was written from the Union Army perspective, Keaton changed the story's viewpoint, believing the audience would not accept Confederates as villains. He initially considered shooting the film where the original events took place and attempted to lease the real-life General locomotive. However, the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway, which owned the engine, denied Keaton's request upon learning the film was a comedy.

In April 1926, Keaton's location manager, Burt Jackson, found an area in Oregon with old-fashioned railroads that suited the film's period setting.

Jackson discovered the Oregon, Pacific, and Eastern Railway owned two vintage locomotives used in lumber service, which were purchased for the production. A third locomotive was later acquired in Oregon to portray the Texas for the iconic bridge collapse stunt. Producer Joseph Schenck was enthusiastic about the project and gave Keaton a $400,000 budget. Keaton spent weeks working on the script and preparing for elaborate pyrotechnical shots, even growing his hair long for the role. He hired Marion Mack, a Sennett Bathing Beauties actress, for the female lead.

The cast and crew arrived in Cottage Grove, Oregon, on May 27, 1926, with 18 freight cars full of Civil War-era cannons, rebuilt passenger cars, stagecoaches, houses, wagons, and laborers. They stayed at the Bartell Hotel in nearby Eugene and brought three 35mm cameras from Los Angeles. Set construction began on May 31, and regular train service in Cottage Grove ceased until production ended. One-third of the film's budget was spent in Cottage Grove, and 1,500 locals were hired.

Filming began on June 8. Initially, Keaton ignored Mack on set, focusing on his work and his close-knit crew.

However, he eventually warmed up to her, often playing practical jokes. The atmosphere on set was lighthearted, with the cast and crew playing baseball with local residents every Sunday. Keaton's talent for the sport impressed many who believed he could have been a professional player.

According to a United Artists press release, the film had 3,000 people on its payroll and cost $400 an hour to make. Rumors in entertainment trade papers suggested the budget had ballooned to between $500,000 and $1 million, with reports of Keaton being out of control, building real bridges, and constructing dams to change river depths. Producer Schenck grew angry over the escalating costs, exacerbated by numerous on-set accidents, including Keaton being knocked unconscious, an assistant director being shot in the face with a blank cartridge, a brakeman's foot being run over by a train wheel, resulting in a $2,900 lawsuit, and fires caused by the train's wood-burning engine, which cost the production $25 per burnt haystack.

On July 23, Keaton shot the climactic train wreck scene in a conifer forest near Cottage Grove. The town declared a local holiday so everyone could watch the spectacle.

Between three and four thousand local residents attended, including 500 extras from the Oregon National Guard, who also appeared in the film as both Union and Confederate soldiers. Keaton used six cameras for the train wreck scene, which cost $42,000, the most expensive single shot in silent-film history. The production company left the wreckage in the riverbed, where it became a minor tourist attraction for nearly twenty years until salvaged for scrap during World War II.

A fire during the filming of a large fight scene cost the production $50,000 and forced Keaton and the crew to return to Los Angeles on August 6 due to excessive smoke. Heavy rains finally cleared the smoke in late August, allowing production to resume. Shooting concluded on September 18, with Keaton having shot 200,000 feet of film, leading to a lengthy editing process for a late December release date.

Keaton performed many dangerous stunts on and around the moving train, including jumping from the engine to a tender to a boxcar and running along the roofs of the railcars. One of the most dangerous stunts involved pulling a railroad tie from the track while the train approached, then sitting on the cow-catcher of the slow-moving train while carrying the tie, tossing it at another tie to dislodge it from the tracks. Had he mistimed any part of this, the locomotive could have derailed, potentially injuring or killing Keaton. Another dangerous stunt involved him sitting on one of the coupling rods connecting the locomotive's drivers. Shot in one take, the scene shows the train starting gently and gradually picking up speed as it enters a shed, while Keaton's character, Johnnie Gray, distracted and heartbroken, remains oblivious.

"The General" was co-directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. Keaton, known for his meticulous attention to detail and physical comedy, performed many of his own stunts, making the film one of the most expensive silent films ever made at the time, with a budget of $750,000. The production included elaborate set pieces, such as the destruction of a bridge and a train, filmed on location in Oregon. Despite being considered one of Keaton's greatest works today, the film did not perform well at the box office initially and received mixed reviews, resulting in a commercial failure that deeply affected Keaton's career.

RELEASE: "The General" was released on December 31, 1926, premiering in two small theaters in Tokyo, Japan. It was initially set to debut in the United States at the prestigious Capitol Theatre in New York City on January 22, 1927, but its US premiere was delayed due to the success of "Flesh and the Devil." It eventually premiered on February 5, 1927, with the engine bell from the real General train on display in the lobby to promote the film. It played for a week at the Capitol Theatre, earning $50,992, an average box-office return. Despite a final budget of $750,000, it made only $474,264 in the US.

Upon its initial release, "The General" received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Critics were largely unimpressed, with Variety calling it "far from funny" and "a flop," and The New York Times describing it as "singularly well mounted" but lacking in humor. The Los Angeles Times noted that the film "drags terribly with a long and tiresome chase of one engine by another," and Motion Picture Classic deemed it "a mild Civil War comedy, not up to Keaton's best standards." The New York Herald Tribune found it "long and tedious," while Robert E. Sherwood criticized it for attempting to find humor in the grim reality of battle. There was, however, a favorable review in the Brooklyn Eagle.

In 1963, Keaton expressed pride in the film, stating, "I was more proud of that picture than any I ever made. Because I took an actual happening out of the...history books, and I told the story in detail too."

Over time, the film has been re-evaluated and is now considered one of the greatest silent films of all time, showcasing Keaton's genius in physical comedy and filmmaking. Critics such as David Robinson and Raymond Durgnat have praised its authenticity and beautiful cinematography. In 1989, "The General" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

CAST:

• Buster Keaton as Johnnie Gray

• Marion Mack as Annabelle Lee

• Glen Cavender as Captain Anderson

• Jim Farley as General Thatcher

• Frederick Vroom as Southern General

• Charles Henry Smith as Annabelle's Father

• Frank Barnes as Annabelle's Brother

• Joe Keaton as Union General

• Mike Donlin as Union General

• Tom Nawn as Union General

CREW:

• Directors: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

• Producers: Joseph M. Schenck, Buster Keaton

• Writers: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

• Cinematographers: Bert Haines, Devereaux Jennings

• Editor: Buster Keaton, Sherman Kell

• Art Director: Fred Gabourie

Production Company: Buster Keaton Productions, Joseph M. Schenck Production
Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: December 31, 1926
Country of Origin: United States
Running Time: 75 minutes
Budget: $750,000
Box Office $1 million

IMDB Rating =  8.1 / 10

TRIVIA: 

• The first attempt at shooting the cannonball into the cab caused it to shoot with too much force. Buster Keaton had to count out the grains of gunpowder with tweezers to get it right.

• Buster Keaton wanted to use the real locomotive "General," initially permitted by the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St Louis Union Depot. However, permission was withdrawn when it was learned the film was a comedy.

• For scenes with opposing armies, Keaton had 500 Oregon National Guard troops wear gray Confederate uniforms and march past the camera, then change into Union blues and march again.

• Buster Keaton always said this was his favorite of his own movies.

• The final battle scene sparked a small forest fire, which Keaton, his crew, and the extras helped to extinguish.

• Marion Mack, who played Annabelle, was unaware she was supposed to get drenched in the water reservoir scene, resulting in a genuine reaction.

• Producer Joseph M. Schenck gave Keaton $400,000 to make the film, leading to the relocation of production with 18 freight cars of props and sets to Oregon. A replica of Marietta, GA, was built near Cottage Grove, OR.

• Selected into the National Film Registry in 1989 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." All prints had been lost by the 1950s until actor James Mason found a copy in a hidden cupboard in 1952.

• Based on a true Civil War incident where Union agent James J. Andrews led a daring raid, stealing a locomotive called "General."

• Buster Keaton did all his own stunts, including the dangerous railroad tie scene, risking derailment and potential death.

• The film's failure led producer Joseph M. Schenck to sell Keaton's contract to MGM, ending Keaton's complete creative control over his films.

• The film fell into the public domain due to the failure to renew its copyright, leading to many poor-quality versions on the market.

• Shot mostly in Oregon because narrow-gauge railroad tracks suitable for antique locomotives were still in use.

• The film's hard-edged look was inspired by the battlefield photographs of Matthew Brady.

• Keaton grew his hair long to match the men's hair of the Civil War era.

• The film was neither a resounding critical nor box-office success upon its initial release.

• Based on William Pittenger's memoir "The Great Railroad Chase," Keaton changed the film's perspective to make a Confederate the hero.

• Keaton shot 200,000 feet (almost 38 miles) of film for this picture.

  • Buster's father, Joe Keaton, appeared as a Union General in his final credited feature film role.

• Three locomotives were used: one as "General," one as "Texas," and one as a spare.

• Location manager Bert Jackson discovered and purchased the three Civil War era locomotives in central Oregon.

• The Union and Confederate armies were played by 500 members of the Oregon National Guard.

• The real "The General" locomotive is at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia.

• The Western and Atlantic Railroad depicted in the film still exists and is leased by CSX Transportation.

• During the filming, Keaton was knocked unconscious by the water tower spout, sustaining a hairline fracture in his cervical vertebrae.

• The movie's rating in Australia coincidentally stands for the movie's title.

• Buster Keaton performed many dangerous stunts himself, including the burning bridge collapse scene, one of the most expensive shots of the silent film era. The remains of the locomotive used in this scene became a local tourist attraction in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

"The General" (1926) remains a timeless masterpiece of silent comedy, renowned for Buster Keaton's unparalleled physical comedy and its innovative blend of humor and thrilling action sequences set during the American Civil War.