The General (1927)

The General

Directed by: Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman

Starring: Buster Keaton and Marion Mack

Released: 1927

Country of Origin: USA

Runtime: 75 min.

In the last ten years, I've devoted much of my spare time to the exploration of the vast world of cinema. I've made some major progress, but there will always be certain corners of film that get overlooked. I'm 27, and trying to catch up on over a century of movie making. I know that I will die with an incomplete picture of cinematic history. While that thought does make me a little sad, I know it's a completely impossible goal to achieve. In what ever years I have left on this planet, I will try my darnedest to catch up as much as I possibly can. That being said, I am fairly new to the silent film era. I started watching silent movies around three, or four years ago, and to be honest, I haven't made much progress. The fact that up until yesterday, I had never seen a single Buster Keaton film is something I should be very ashamed of. Actually, until close to two years ago, I had never seen a Chaplin film either. I apparently was missing out, because Keaton's The General is one of the best silent films I've ever seen.

The story is simple, a conductor tries to join the Confederate army to impress his lady, he is rejected, and she then rejects him. A year later, when Northern spies steal a train, and inadvertently kidnap his love, he takes off alone to get her back. The plot is simple, but it's timeless. This is an adventure story of the grandest order. It's exciting, hilarious, and at times even a little tense. Huge chunks of the film are devoted to the train chase, as Keaton tries to catch up with the enemy as they shoot at him, set fires and throw things on the tracks in an attempt to slow him down. It's one of the most entertaining chase sequences I've seen, and the level of craziness that Keaton delivers is down right impressive. Being, that this film was made over eighty years ago, makes the stunts and antics a complete marvel. Keaton runs around his small train effortlessly, jumping from car to car, riding on the cow-catcher with a railroad tie, all without the modern film techniques that make spectacles like this much easier to pull off. Keaton did all his own stunts, some of which involved great risk to himself. If some of the stunts had gone just a little awry, he could have easily killed himself in the process.

Keaton himself is brilliant. While he is often mentioned along side Chaplin, in talks of the great comedians of the silent era, they have very different styles. Chaplin takes his cues from slapstick, Keaton has a bit more sophistication and most of his humor is situational. He is extremely funny, but it's more down to earth than the antics of Chaplin. I haven't gotten a chance to revisit any of the Chaplin films I've seen, but I'd wager, because Keaton's humor is less reliant around sight gags, that the humor holds up better to repeat viewings. Everything he does on-screen has a grace and finesse that, with one movie, has gained my extreme respect and admiration.

When this film opened in 1927, it was met with negative reviews and ended up hurting Keaton's career greatly. Obviously, since then, the view has greatly shifted, it now is mentioned in numerous "greatest films ever made" lists. Public opinion is a strange thing, I've seen many films bomb, and then, years later, become films that people scratch their head at why it never did very well. Several movies have had a similar path for me, I started off hating David Cronenberg, and he is now one of my favorite directors. Maybe when I saw them, it just wasn't the right time for me. However, I have a hard time believing, that anyone watching this film, could consider it anything less than amazing.

FINAL VERDICT: I think it's fairly obvious what I think of this. I fell absolutely in love with it, and could see myself returning to it again and again. This could be the film that makes you fall in love with silent cinema. I think it's the perfect jumping off point into that world. Having to read title cards, is something that seems to bug some people, just about as much as reading subtitles. The General has minimal dialogue, and most of the action is self-explanatory enough that you don't need sound to keep you glued into what's happening. Give it a try, and I think, even if you have never seen a silent film, that you'll be surprised with how much you love it.

(Side Note: A year ago Kino International released a blu-ray copy of The General. This is the first silent film to be released in high definition. I haven't seen this on blu-ray yet, but Kino does amazing things with silent film restoration. There is no one that does a better job making these silent gems look their very best. Every movie I've seen, through Kino, has been mind-blowing in how modern and un-aged they can make them look. )