The General

1926 79 min ★ 7.9 Comedy, War, Romance

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.

▶ Watch Trailer

Cast

Buster Keaton

Johnnie Gray

Marion Mack

Annabelle Lee

Glen Cavender

Captain Anderson

Jim Farley

General Thatcher

Frederick Vroom

A Southern General

Frank Barnes

Annabelle's Brother

Charles Henry Smith

Annabelle's Father

Joe Keaton

Union General

Mike Donlin

Union General

Tom Nawn

Union General

Details

Director

Clyde Bruckman

Screenplay

Clyde Bruckman

Tagline

"Buster drives "The General" to trainload of laughter."

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$750,000

Revenue

$1,000,000

Production

Joseph M. Schenck Productions, Buster Keaton Productions

Reviews

A

Andres Gomez

February 26, 2016

★ 10/10

Just amazing. Really, really impressive scenes with the railway engines and a physically incredible Keaton.

C

CinemaSerf

June 6, 2022

★ 8/10

There's quite a lot going on here - it is certainly comedic, but there is also plenty of action and even some romance in this American Civil War story. Keaton ("Johnnie") has been deemed more important as a railroad engineer so was rejected as a soldier - but this causes his girlfriend "Annabelle" and her family to think he is yella'! When the Yankees concoct a plan to steal his engine "The Genera...

J

James

October 28, 2023

★ 7/10

This is Keaton’s masterpiece, a flawed one, yes. It’s not funny enough and the story could be developed more. But it is significant, flaws and all. The closest a film will ever get to flawed perfection.