Silent Film Review - The General (1926)

 Again, we are back to more film reviews. I have two more left from the 1920s. Stay tuned for those. Today we have The General from 1926, a Buster Keaton film. 

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I know that many of my reviews are already overwhelmingly positive toward Buster Keaton. This is no exception. The main plot of our film is Johnnie Gray and his love for his train (named General) and his love interest, who only had eyes for a soldier at the beginning of the film. This is set in the south, so the south army is actually the side we root for in this film. If you hate that, pass on the film, but it isn't really the point of the film. The train gets taken by the north, along with the love interest who went into her trunk while it was on the train. Johnnie was told no by recruiters and the love interest was lied to. Her family told her he never got in line, but that was a lie. When the train is taken he goes after it, naturally, and ends up saving the love interest from the northern soldiers. Not only that, but the two of them thwart the plans of the northern army by delaying their train and taking Johnnie's train back.  They warn of the oncoming attack and the northern army is defeated. Johnnie gets admitted into the army as a lieutenant for his heroics. 

It's cute, it's dramatic, it's a long train chase scene you'll never be bored of. I would say the only thing that was missing was the other guy showing up and looking shocked while Johnnie kissed his love interest. Literally all of it was gold. It was the perfect blend of drama and comedy. I rate this 10 out of 10 stars. 

Why You Should Watch It

There are so many reasons to watch it that I have no reason why you shouldn't. It's free on YouTube and I can drop the video here for easy access. It showcases Keaton's stuntwork and how he literally chilled out on a cowcatcher of a train while it was moving. His stunts are illegal to do in Hollywood theses days because insurance won't sign off on them - because all these stunts he did could kill you. He's amazing and knowing he did his own stunts makes his films more wonderful. 

Our characters are adorable, though the beginning of the film is a little less comedic than the end and middle. Keaton wrote this with someone else and I think the drama might have come from the other writer. All the same, it blended together well. You cared about Johnnie Gray and his train from the start and never stopped caring. I never lost interest in our main characters and no one was portrayed badly, except the northern army. That's just because the setting was the south. Both our main man and the main woman were shown to be intelligent, which makes me very happy. 

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