"If you lose this war don't blame me."
-Johnny Gray
Before there was color, there were black and white films. Before there was sound, there were silent films that created a motion picture without the use of noise. Director Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) has both these elements and yet still creates one of the most cinematic motion pictures today.
Keaton not only does his own stunt work, like moving a log while the train is still in motion, but also still has time to make sure his camera work is flawless. According to imdb.com, “In the train crash a dummy was used as engineer. It looks so realistic that the townspeople who had come to watch screamed in horror.” He doesn’t need fancy CGI or animation to bring this film to life. His character is the main point of view and his camera follows him through his journey. Filmed in parts of Tennessee and Oregon, the story unfolds with us viewing him on a stolen train in search of his beloved locomotive, The General, and also Annabelle, his damsel in distress, during the Civil War era. He uses multiple extreme long shots to show us the train in front of him with his darling Annabelle captured onboard. He sometimes uses an overhead shot to show us what he is doing so we see the whole picture, like when he is putting wood into the train so it doesn’t stop. Many times we see a medium shot and it brings us into Keaton’s world and his famous ‘great stone face’. His dead pan expressions are right on and sometimes you just can’t help but laugh out loud.
Throughout the film, the characters of Keaton’s Johnny and Annabelle are seen talking but are never heard. You can read their lips but it’s their actions that really do all the talking. There are a couple of scenes in which images as text appear to fill us in as to what is going on. Though it’s not really necessary, it gives the characters appeal. The opening text is quoted as saying, “There were two loves in his life: his engine and...” and then a close up of his beloved Annabelle is shown. Johnny’s closing line of, “Soldier!” after being asked his occupation, makes us happy and applaud Johnny’s new found title. Both of these added texts to the screen show us Keaton’s great awareness to little details. Keaton’s attention to detail in comedy makes you forget the film is silent. Though there is music added to the version I viewed it didn’t take away from the film; it enhanced the images being shown on screen.
When The General (1926) was released it was critically panned. It was one of the most expensive movies at the time as well. I wonder if it was because a comedy film like this had never been created before or the audience was expecting something else. Keaton is quoted as saying this was his favorite film he worked on. He had total and complete artistic control, very rare back then and unheard of today. Today the film is on AFI’s Top 100 Films of all time. I’m sure it will stay there for the next 100 years.
The General. Directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. Starring Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Frank Barnes, Charles Henry Smith. Kino International. 1926. DVD. 2008.
Corrigan & White (2009), The Film Experience: An Introduction.
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