The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1927): USA

Reviewed by Kevin Tran . Viewed on DVD.

If you opened an American Film History textbook, the two big names you’ll find from the silent film era are D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin (and arguably a third with Murnau). But if you skim over too quickly, you’ll miss out on a lot of great films by lesser-known directors. The greatest of these filmmakers is Buster Keaton. Who broke new ground in his exploration with film techniques, often using them as playful gags, but would be more memorable for his death-defying stunts

In his biggest picture (among silent cinema’s biggest), The General , Keaton stars as Johnnie Gray, a man who loves two things – his darling Annabelle Lee and his train “The General.” When the Civil War breaks out, Johnnie wants to enlist as a southern soldier but is rejected. Not because he’s a bad soldier, although he is, but because he is more valuable as an engineer than a soldier. Annabelle thinks it’s because he is a coward. When Union spies steal The General with Annabelle on board, it is up to Johnnie to rescue the both of them.

In the same vain as Chaplin’s “Tramp” persona, Keaton garners pathos from the crowd by always playing the underdog with the heart of gold. Chaplin, however, was always able to get his audience to laugh with him rather than at him. Keaton doesn’t care and would rather risk life and limb to get a laugh than to jeopardize a scene so that it wasn’t funny. This makes The General’s plot action packed with stunts, gags, and chases. With that said, Keaton’s deadpan style of acting is funny in itself.

What makes the movie so fun is it knack to make you want to root for Johnnie. At times its suspenseful, other times whimsical, but it is always funny. The film’s magnitude is still impressive compared to today’s standard. During a chase scene (via railroad trains) they send an entire steam engine off a cliff. Imagine the expense of just that one scene today, and then think about how they had to do it back in 1927.

I have yet to see a film do more to try and make its audience laugh. Nor have I have seen any artist who would sacrifice his body like Keaton does just to bring smiles onto people’s face.

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Published:
12.30.08 / 7pm
Category:
DVD, Films, Silent films