Silent Classic: The General

Received poorly on its release in 1926, The General really is an extraordinary film. Buster Keaton's superb physical comedy and relentless energy in performing all his own stunts (undertaken with considerably fewer safety measures than today's actors enjoy) shine throughout a film that will make you laugh at loud at the escapades of Keaton's hapless Johnnie Gray, a railway engineer working on the Western & Atlantic Rail Road in 1862.

Johnnie has two loves in his life - his steam engine, General, and Annabelle (Marion Mack).  To impress Annabelle he tries to enlist to fight for the Confederate forces, but is turned down because he is more useful to the south as an engineer.  Annabelle declares she will not speak to him again until he is in uniform like her heroic father and brother.  When Johnnie's beloved engine is captured by Unionist spies, he sets off on a disaster-laden one-man pursuit of it behind enemy lines, unwittingly rescuing Annabelle in the process.  They make their escape from the Unionist forces and Johnnie is hailed as a hero for warning of the attack.

Keaton's physical exertions are well-matched by Mack, who manages it all in a cumbersome frock.   The battle set pieces at the end are hugely impressive, considering the limited editing techniques available at the time.  When a bridge and steam engine collapse into a river, in the single most expensive scene of the silent movie era, you'll forget that you're watching a film made nearly 90 years ago.

The slapstick gags are sometimes predictable but always hilarious.  The story is dragged out a bit towards the end and in the re-released version from January 2014 the ragtime piano soundtrack becomes a little repetitive, since no attempt has been made to match the music to the action.

Overall, however, this an excellent film that more than holds it own against today's action blockbusters and delivers a lot of laughs along the way.  Well worth seeing.