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Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Fred Vroom ... see more see more... , Richard Allen , Joe Keaton , Mike Donlin , Tom Nawn , Jimmy Bryant , Budd Fine , Frank S. Hagney , Edward Hearn , Ross McCutcheon , Charles Phillips , Charles Smith , Anthony Harvey , Ray Thomas

Buster Keaton plays Johnny Gray, a Southern railroad engineer who loves his train engine, The General, almost as much as he loves Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). When the opening shots of the Civil War a... read more read more...re fired at Fort Sumter, Johnny tries to enlist -- and he is deemed too useful as an engineer to be a soldier. All Johnny knows is that he's been rejected, and Annabelle, thinking him a coward, turns her back on him. When Northern spies steal the General (and, unwittingly, Annabelle), the story switches from drama and romance to adventure mixed with Keaton's trademark deadpan humor as he uses every means possible to catch up to the General, thwart the Yankees, and rescue his darling Annabelle -- for starters. As always, Keaton performs his own stunts, combining his prodigious dexterity, impeccable comic timing, and expressive body language to convey more emotion than the stars of any of the talkies that were soon to dominate cinema. ~ Emru Townsend, Rovi

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39 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 19 min.

Directed by: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton

Release Date: February 5, 1927

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DVD Release Date: October 26, 1999

Stats: 996 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (996)

  • hunterjt13
    October 30, 2011
    hunterjt13
    Rejected by the Confederate Army, a train conductor pursues his love and the Union army in his engine, The General.
    This isn't just a great action comedy for its time; it's a timeless, great action comedy. Some of the stunts Buster Keaton is able to do make Jackie Chan look like... read more my grandmother. I marveled at how precise his movements are as he slips in and out of the bridge of the engine and later balances himself on the front; that first train chase is truly a fabulously choreographed sequence.
    Going into the film and even for the most part during it, I was uneasy about the hero of the film fighting for the Confederacy. And the film portrays the Union as being a bunch of bumbling fools while the Confederate general is stern, heroic, and eventually deals justly with Johnny Gray, Keaton's character. Yes, you can say that in 1926 there was an audience who still referred to the Civil War as "the war of Northern aggression" (hell, there are still some people who say that in 2011), and yes, you can say that the side Gray fights for is tangential to the plot, but I maintain that we should expect visionary filmmakers to be visionaries, people who, despite their contemporaries, still see righteousness. Is it too much to hope that Keaton picked the North as his hero? I suppose so, just as it's too much to expect his valorization of the South not to interfere with my enjoyment of the film.
    Overall, if it were possible to pretend that Keaton picked the Jets and the Sharks or the Capulets and the Montagues as the film's rivals, then I would have thoroughly enjoyed this silent classic.
  • fb100001581602053
    August 29, 2011
    fb100001581602053
    The film that many consider the perfect comedy from the perfect comedian. Yeah, not really. The General has its moments, but the disengaging storyline and the lack of many, effective jokes results in one of the more disappointing "classics" I've seen.
  • FrizzDrop
    March 24, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    One of the greatest silent films ever made, Buster Keaton uses daring action sequences packed with trains, Union and Confederate soldiers, and his damsel in distress, to make the first action-comedy. Though completely silent, there was a great use of train noises in the original ... read moremusic, also performed by organ, to build suspense during these rough hewn and well thought out action sequences. The protaganist, played by old Stoneface himself, is both clumsy and quite brave, as he follows Union spies in his train, as the only engineer not asked to participate in the war, his lady love travelling around with him until she is ultimately captured. As Orson Welles stated: this is the best silent, comedy, action film of all time. I would daringly agree to some aspects of that assessment.
  • stormyweather980
    January 2, 2011
    stormyweather980
    I would've never heard of this film had I not watched a cable network's list of greatest movies of all time and this silent film (with dialogue and effective sound effects and music) made the list pretty high. I remember seeing clips and how they said it was amazing how Buster Ke... read moreaton did his own stunts. After finally watching it, I'm not as impressed with the stunts as I thought I'd be. He didn't really do anything any very coordinated and athletic young person such as myself couldn't do, but I was a lot more impressed with the comedy side of it than I would have thought. This movie's very entertaining, especially with how much you'll laugh from seeing Buster and Annabelle's clumsy antics, like how he accidentally kills a soldier then not meaning to fling and lose his sword. This may be the oldest film I've ever seen so far. Highly recommended for those who like the classics.
  • stevenecarrier
    September 27, 2010
    stevenecarrier
    "The General" is a great platform for Buster Keaton's many talents. One of his most memorable efforts.
  • ajv2688
    September 3, 2010
    ajv2688
    One of Keaton's best. I can't imagine why it didn't do well in theatres at the time. See it for yourself and you'll see what I mean. This movie is hilarious.
  • webalina
    July 19, 2010
    webalina
    One of the classics of silent comedy starring one of the clown princes of the period, Buster Keaton. Loosely based on a true story from the Civil War, Keaton stars as Johhny Gray, a young train engineer in the Confederate South who retrieves a steam engine -- the General of the ... read moretitle -- when it is stolen by Union soldiers and taken over to the North's side.

    This started off rather slowly, and I was beginning to wonder what the big deal was about this film. But as it went along, it got more interesting, more exciting and more creatively chaotic, thanks to Keaton's trademark athleticism and comic timing. Credit his imagination as well, as Keaton had total creative control of the film, and claimed that all the numerous sight gags were improvised during the film's production. I started getting into the film about 1/2 way through, and by the time the battle scenes arrived, I was glued to the screen.

    There are several train "stunts" in the film which are simply incredible -- train crashes, locomotives tumbling into rivers on collapsing bridges, cannon fire and gunfire between characters on different trains. The meticulous planning that had to go into these scenes -- there couldn't have been more than one take per scene, considering the destruction involved -- must have taken weeks, even months. The same goes for the battle sequences, which resemble the scope of the similar scenes in Birth of A Nation.

    Keaton claims this is his favorite film, and pretty much anyone who sees it holds a similar opinion. I actually prefer Sherlock, Jr. from a comic standpoint, but for its technical merit, this one is unsurpassed.
  • smith44
    January 28, 2010
    smith44
    One of my new all time favourite movies. The best silent film ever and one of the greatest comedies ever. Poetry in motion.
  • flixsterman
    December 12, 2009
    flixsterman
    Set in 1861, Buster Keaton is "Johnnie Gray", a mild-mannered railroad engineer who, in true comedic fashion, risks life and limb to retrieve his stolen train engine from a band of Union spies.

    Being a long-time Charlie Chaplin fan, I never thought that anyone could ever come cl... read moreose to equaling his mastery of physical comedy. I was wrong. Buster Keaton's brand of humor is uniquely original and just as awe inspiring as any Chaplin production I've ever seen. Both men were brilliant performers.

    In my opinion, The General is more than just another old movie, it's a national treasure.
  • SirPant
    September 17, 2009
    SirPant
    Buster Keaton's The General is one of the greatest films ever made!

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
January 11, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

The result is a flop. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 11, 2008
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

An almost perfect entertainment. Full Review

Mordaunt Hall
March 25, 2006
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

This is by no means so good as Mr. Keaton's previous efforts. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

[Keaton's films] have such a graceful perfection, such a meshing of story, character and episode, that they unfold like music. Full Review

Cole Smithey
September 5, 2011
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

[VIDEO] There was only one Buster Keaton. "The General" is his swansong. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 25, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

One of Buster Keaton's most hilarious and most popular comedies Full Review

Charles Cassady
June 8, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Silent masterpiece is enter-train-ment for all ages. Full Review

Sean Gandert
December 28, 2009
Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine

he General is the highlight of his career's tragicomic performances, featuring not just the awe-inspiring stunts that were his bread and butter, but also a level of fluidity only he and Chaplin attain... Full Review

Peter Canavese
November 25, 2009
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

Keaton proves as endlessly clever and athletic as his screen surrogates...chock-full of hilarious sight gags, including bits of business that incorporate moving trains, cow-catchers, a bear (and bear ... Full Review

Bill Weber
November 11, 2008
Bill Weber, Slant Magazine

The General isn't likely to be the favorite opus of the star's purist fans, but it's the one with the trappings of ambition and historical poesy Full Review

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  • During the filming of "The General" on location near Cottage Grove, Oregon, cinders from one of the locomotives set off a major forest fire, which the cast and crew joined in with the firefighters and local volunteers to put out.
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