Cat. No. DVDM 1715: THE GENERAL ~ BUSTER KEATON / MARION MACK / GLEN CAVENDER / JIM FARLEY.
FORMAT: PAL REGION: 4.
BLACK & WHITE RUNNING TIME: 75 MINS.
REVIEW: One of Keaton’s best silent features, The General is a tremendous action comedy with a host of visual gags! Youthful Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) is a brave little Southern engineer on the Western & Atlantic Rail Road running through Georgia. The Civil War is declared and Johnny tries to enlist but he is told he is more valuable as an engineer. When his train, containing his girlfriend Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is stolen by Union spies, Johnny takes another locomotive and the most memorable chase in silent history ensues.
Based on the story “The Great Locomotive Chase” by William Pittenger, The General is well-known for its solid scripting, meticulous attention to detail and flawless stunt work (Keaton performed the dangerous and hair raising stunts himself).
Pittinger’s original story was based on actual Civil War events, in 1862, a party of saboteurs from the North captured the locomotive “General” near Marielta, Georgia and took her north, wrecking whatever they could on the way. Hotly pursued, they almost reached the safety of Tennessee but were captured with several of the group hanged as spies.
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