Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
The General (1926)
Director: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
Movie review
From Time Out London
Only superlatives will do to describe Keaton’s hilarious Civil War dramatic comedy. Made in 1927, at the culmination of the silent era, it sees the graceful, stone-faced genius at his inventive best. Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), fiancée of Western and Atlantic railway engineer Johnnie Gray (Keaton), wrongly suspects him of cowardice. When, in a preamble to hostilities, Union spies abduct her – along with her rival for Johnnie’s affections, the titular locomotive – he hot-rails it in pursuit of them both. What follows is a thrilling adventure yarn, based essentially upon a pair of hurtling and symmetrically opposed train chases, that is as superbly structured as it is executed.The extraordinary budget (some $400,000) allowed Keaton unprecedented freedom – and resulted in a series of his most spectacular large-scale set pieces. But what makes the film so special is the way the timing, audacity and elegant choreography of its sight gags, acrobatics, pratfalls and dramatic incidents is matched by Buster’s directorial artistry, his acute observational skills working alongside the physical élan and sweet subtlety of his own performance. On another level, it’s also very satisfying as a Civil War drama (not to mention train movie), with Keaton’s ardour for authenticity expressed in his beautifully detailed (and expensive) period reconstruction. You have to watch every inch of the frame in a Keaton movie; you’ll find things that will continually delight and surprise.The cool contemporary response to the film disappointed poor Buster, but since then its status has steadily grown and grown and now it’s accepted as one of the greatest ever film comedies. This revival – heading a two-month NFT Keaton retrospective – will be digitally projected and feature Carl Davis’s fitting score.
Author: WH
Time Out London Issue 1850: February 1-8 2006
Cast & crew
Director: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
Producer: Joseph M Schenck
Cast: Buster Keaton, Marian Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Joe Keaton full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: U
Duration: 79 mins
UK Release: Feb 3 2006
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now