The General (1926) | The Film Index

Film Record

The General

Country: United States
Release: 25 DEC 1926
Runtime: 79 min
Original Language: English

Community Rating

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During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.

Why It's Here

Buster Keaton’s The General is one of cinema’s cleanest demonstrations of action built from physical reality, not editorial trickery. The film stages gags, chases, and reversals around real locomotives, real terrain, and long takes that let you read cause and effect in the same frame. Study how Keaton designs screen geography: where the tracks run, how distance is measured, how props become problem solving tools, and how his deadpan performance stays constant while the world turns chaotic. Watch the timing of stunts and the clarity of staging, it is basically an engineering diagram that makes you laugh.