Movies From the Hat IV #25 – Darren’s Pick – The General (1926)

This is my 2484th Review

Thanks to Darren of Movie Reviews 101 for this recommendation.

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“[to the recruiter who rejects him] If you lose this war don’t blame me. ” – Johnnie Gray

Number of Times Seen – 1 (5 Sep 2016)

Brief Synopsis – A railroad worker is banned from enlisting for The South during the Civil War due to his profession but things change when his prized Engine is stolen by Union forces and he goes after it by himself.

My Take on it – I have never really been much of a fan of silent movies and up until recently, I pretty much only appreciated the silent films of Charlie Chaplin.

I had heard about Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd over the years, but never really had much exposure to either of their works until relatively recently.

This is one of my favorite Keaton films largely due to the fact that it is feature length and still manages to keep us interested and entertained despite there being no sound.

Keaton really was a comic genius and was able to plan out such a film that keeps the audience constantly laughing at the humorous antics of the characters.

One thing that really caught my interest is the fact that this film is told from a Southern perspective where they are the good guys and The Northern soldiers are the enemy.

This was a nice change of pace because we are all use to seeing it the other way around.

This film proves to me once again that I need to seek out more of his work because he did this so well.

Bottom Line – Keaton at his best. Once again, I have been able to see how his comedic genius worked.  His slapstick antics rank up there with Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin and this trio really knew how to entertain us without sound.  I must say that I’ve never been the biggest fan of silent films but this one really hit the mark with me.   Also liked the way that the Union were the bad guys here instead of the usual good guys. I really need to see more of Keaton’s work. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The first try at getting the cannonball to shoot out of the cannon into the cab caused the ball to shoot with too much force. To cause it to shoot into the cab of the engine correctly, Buster Keaton had to count out the grains of gunpowder with tweezers. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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