The General Backdrop Blur
The General Poster

The General

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

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.

Top Cast

  • Buster Keaton

    Buster Keaton

    Johnnie Gray

  • Marion Mack

    Marion Mack

    Annabelle Lee

  • Glen Cavender

    Glen Cavender

    Captain Anderson

  • Jim Farley

    Jim Farley

    General Thatcher

  • Frederick Vroom

    Frederick Vroom

    A Southern General

  • Frank Barnes

    Frank Barnes

    Annabelle's Brother

  • Charles Henry Smith

    Charles Henry Smith

    Annabelle's Father

  • Joe Keaton

    Joe Keaton

    Union General

  • Mike Donlin

    Mike Donlin

    Union General

Overview

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.

Rating

7.9 / 10
1,409 Reviews
2 Popular

3 Reviews

  • Andres Gomez
    Andres Gomez
    10 Feb 26, 2016

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

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    8 Jun 6, 2022

    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 General" whilst she is travelling on it; he must use all his wits and guile to get them both back and is soon caught being enemy lines where he learns of their dastardly plan to attack. Can he get back with his gal and tell his confederates of the Unionist plans? There is something about the quality of the images - they are pretty much prefect; even when the train in rattling along a-pace. There are loads of skirmishes supporting a properly constructed, and exciting, story with plenty of drama and sometimes some quite scary bits too, all jammed into just over an hour. The version I saw had been re-scored by Carl Davis and that added immeasurably to the pace and tension - and the romance - and helped create a superb piece of cinema.

  • James
    James
    7 Oct 28, 2023

    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.

Trailers & Clips

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