32. The General (1927)

Directed By Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton

Synopsis

Man loves train, man loses train, man goes in chase of train, man finds train. Man takes care of Union army in the process.

Review

Ok this is a great film, but honestly it is not as funny as some films previously reviewed, like Our Hospitality or Sherlock Jr. Fortunately the film does more than make up for that with its amazing epic qualities. There's the whole North vs. South thing going on in the background of a truly amazing train chase.

I can only imagine that Keaton had some strange fetish with trains, I still haven't seen one film of his which is train free, even if just for a shot there has got to be a train there. In this film he pulls all the stops in his train loving. About 3/4ths of the film are set on a train or during the great train chase which ends up with the phenomenal destruction of the Union train on the collapse of a bridge, in what was one of the most expensive shots in the history of the cinema at the time.

Again, Keaton presents us with his death defying stunts, many of which are very well known, like the one in which he escapes the shot of a cannon which is pointing at his train, or when he sits on the cowcatcher of The General (the name of the train) trying to clear the tracks while the train is still going. Through it all Keaton keeps his stony face for ultimate comedic payoff. Buster has a much bigger budget here than he had on any of his previous films and this is put to very good use. The battle scenes, army encampments etc. are truly amazing.

Definitely a film not to be missed. Get it at Amazon UK or US.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

Keaton was such a fucking train spotter. Glad they hadn't popularised anoraks then.

From Wiki:

The climax of the film includes a spectacular moment where a bridge (sabotaged by Keaton's character) collapses as a railroad train crosses it (compare The Bridge on the River Kwai). Keaton filmed the bridge collapse in the pine forest around the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon, using 500 extras from the Oregon National Guard. This scene was one of the single most expensive shots in motion picture history at the time. The production company could not afford to remove the wreckage after the scene was filmed, so they left the wrecked locomotive in the river bed, where it became a minor tourist attraction for nearly twenty years. The metal of the train was salvaged for scrap during World War II.