Overlooked Movie Marathon 2: The General (1926)

Until recently, I had only seen two movies featuring Buster Keaton.  Both of those movies were talkies.  One was It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  This is a movie I watched many years ago based on the fact that it was on a movie channel and the description sounded like an older version of Rat Race.  Hey, I like Rat Race, okay?  I don’t remember Buster Keaton in it.  I was pretty young at the time.  It was probably ten years ago.  The other movie I saw him in was Sunset Blvd., a movie that I don’t remember too much of and should probably take some time to rewatch.  Neither of these movies are what people remember Keaton for.  What they remember him for is his work in silent films.

Recently, I was persuaded by a couple of podcasters to watch a Buster Keaton silent film called Steamboat Bill Jr.  Persuaded might be the wrong word.  They were watching it for their podcast and I watch all of the movies that they watched.  So, I guess it would be my fault.  Watching that movie, I understood the Buster Keaton love.  To kick off the second annual Overlooked Movie Marathon, I watched The General.  For some reason, I didn’t write down who suggested each of the movies so nobody is going to get credit for getting me to watch the movies.  I can say that this was one of the suggestions I got for the greatest movies ever made when I asked on Twitter.  I’m not sure that I agree that it is one of the greatest, but I do agree that it is a great movie.

The General is about a man named Johnnie Gray, a Southerner train engineer, who tries to enlist in the Civil War, but gets denied because they need engineers.  Eventually, his train, The General, gets stolen by troops from the North, and Johnnie must pursue them in order to get his train back.  Antics ensue since Johnnie is played by Buster Keaton.

The single thing that most helps The General be successful in what it is doing is the physicality of everyone involved.  From the facial expressions to the dangerous stunts, every movement of a person’s body helped to push forward a joke or a stunt or a gag.  Not one motion is without its reason.  But the thing that really helped to propel the physicality is that, for the most part, everything was confined a train traveling down the tracks.  It seems like it would be difficult to think up a series of gags involving riding an engine down the railroad in pursuit of another engine, but writers Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman, and Al Boasberg made the entire chase exiting and filled with physical gags that I would not have expected.  It’s difficult to write about how good the physical aspects of the movie were without spoiling them.  I don’t want to spoil them, though, because it is worth watching the movie without knowing what you’re going to see.  It might help to surprise you while you are watching it, if you are going to.  What I can say is that it is delightful to see the effort that went into the physical aspects of The General.

I was undeniably entertained while watching The General, but I feel like I was a little bit spoiled in having watched Steamboat Bill Jr. prior to it.  The General absolutely has a better story, one which can be followed a little bit easier.  Everything flows together in a steady stream and as a whole makes for a more complete experience.  However, I thought Steamboat Bill Jr. was funnier.  Now, you might be complaining right now that I’m comparing the two movies and that I should really leave this entire writing to The General.  I feel that I need to compare in order to fully explain what I mean.  When I saw Steamboat Bill Jr., I was laughing out loud the entire time the movie was on.  The gags were funny, and the jokes that weren’t physical gags were funny.  My expectations going into The General were to get a laugh out loud silent comedy just like the previous Keaton film I had seen.  Expectations can be a problem.  We all know that.  When I sat down and watched The General, I didn’t laugh out loud through the whole movie.  It did get me at moments, but not the entire time.  The General is a sightly more serious movie.  There are still comedic moments, but it isn’t as comedic a movie as Steamboat Bill Jr.  That’s not a knock against the movie, but against my own expectations.  They clouded my judgement for a little bit.  When not being humorous, the movie is still amusing.  The physical gags that aren’t meant to be entirely funny are still fun to watch because of how much it takes in order to execute them well.  The General is a better movie than Steamboat Bill Jr. in most senses, but I think I still prefer Steamboat Bill Jr.

I really like The General.  I could see myself going back and rewatching it at some point down the road.  It is entertaining, funny, and filled with talent.  There is no denying any of that.  It’s a movie that I feel bad having not seen until now.  But that’s what the second annual Overlooked Movie Marathon is for.  It’s for watching the movies that I should have seen before now that I am finally going to watch.  The General is the first of twelve movies, and it was a great way to start the marathon.