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The General (1926)

Director(s) Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
Producer(s)

Buster Keaton

Joseph M. Schenck

Top Genres Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Silent Films, War
Top Topics Book-Based, Civil War, Public Domain, Romance (Comic), Spies, True Story (based on)

The General Featured Cast See Full Cast »

Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton(as Johnny Gray)

The General

Released
1926

Buster Keaton
(as Johnny Gray)

Marion Mack
Marion Mack(as Annabelle Lee)

The General

Released
1926

Marion Mack
(as Annabelle Lee)

Glen Cavender
Glen Cavender(as Captain Anderson)

The General

Released
1926

Glen Cavender
(as Captain Anderson)

Frank Hagney
Frank Hagney(as Confederate Recruiter)

The General

Released
1926

Frank Hagney
(as Confederate Recruiter)

Anthony Harvey
Anthony Harvey(as Raider)

The General

Released
1926

Anthony Harvey
(as Raider)

Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff(as Union General)

The General

Released
1926

Boris Karloff
(as Union General)

The General Overview:

The General (1926) was a Silent Films - Romance Film directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman and produced by Buster Keaton and Joseph M. Schenck.

SYNOPSIS

Keaton's greatest achievement grew out of an authentic episode of American history - the theft of a strategically important locomotive during the Civil War. Keaton takes the train, belching smoke, on a single-handed wild ride, shielding his beloved while fending off Union soldiers. The chase sequence culminates in Keaton's grandest stunt as the train crashes into the river.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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The General was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.

The General BlogHub Articles:

Silents are Golden: A Closer Look – The General (1926)

By Lea Stans on Apr 29, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silents are Golden: A Closer Look – The General (1926) Often called one of the finest silent films of all time – some people even consider it the finest – Buster Keaton’s masterwork The General (1926) still feels wonderfully fresh nearly 100 years later. Handsomely photographed and proudl... Read full article

Seattle International Film Festival 2016: Buster Keaton on the Big Screen in The General (1926)

By KC on Jun 11, 2016 From Classic Movies

The General (1926) has endured as one of Buster Keaton's greatest features, because it perfectly balances the wit and physical abilities of his stone-faced hero. Today a near capacity crowd enjoyed a 4K restoration at the Egyptian Theater, with a new symphonic score from Studio Ghibli composer Joe H... Read full article

History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE

By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual Virago

In The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article

History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE

By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual Virago

In The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article

History, Hollywood, and a Famous Train: THE GENERAL and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE

By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 29, 2014 From Virtual Virago

In The General (1926), Buster Keaton plays a Confederate train engineer who doggedly pursues his beloved locomotive when Yankees make off with it. Thirty years later, The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) tells basically the same story, this time with Jeffrey Hunter as the Southern engineer and Fess Par... Read full article

See all The General articles

The General Quotes:

No Quote for this film.
The General Facts
The first try at getting the cannonball to shoot out of the cannon into the cab caused the ball to shoot with too much force. To cause the cannonball to shoot into the cab of the engine correctly, Keaton had to count out the grains of gunpowder with tweezers.
Florida State University commissioned composer Jeff Beal to write a brand-new soundtrack for this silent film. It was premiered by the University Philharmonia along with the original film playing just above the orchestra.
Joseph M. Schenck gave Buster Keaton $400,000 for the movie, so the production company moved with 18 freight cars of props and sets to Oregon. In the next two months the town of Marrietta, Georgia, was built, near the Oregon town of Cottage Grove.
A number of celebrities have cameos in this film: Glen Cavender had been a hero in the Spanish-American War. Also, Frederick Vroom had appeared earlier in Keaton's The Navigator as the girl's father whose ship is hijacked. Keaton's former director of photography, Elgin Lessley, has a cameo as the Union general who gives the command to cross the burning bridge. Producer Louis Lewyn has a bit part as a soldier.
The film's hard-edged look was inspired by the battlefield photographs of Matthew Brady, which captured the carnage of the Civil War in shocking detail.
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