Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) is an engineer for the railroad company.  After being rejected by the recruitment office for the Confederate Army in the civil war his only love, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), refuses to speak to him.  One day a Union steals his train, nicknamed The General, as well as kidnaps Annabelle in a devious plot to try and win the war.  Johnny single-handedly chases after his train, and lady, in an attempt to foil the Union’s plot.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve watched a silent film.  The last time I think was five years ago in my German film class.  The type of filmmaking in the 20s was so strikingly different that it’s hard to judge films based on the same standards of today, especially without the knowledge of what was deemed ‘funny’ or ‘entertaining’ back then.  However, since film is a static medium, meaning that once a film is made it stays the same and people continue to discover film as time wears on, is why people call it timeless.  But the truth of the matter is that eventually time does catch up with a film.  I’m here to say that time had caught up with this revered classic.

Watching this movie I could easily tell that the film was a comedy, but it was a comedy of a time long past for sure.  With Buster Keaton’s ridiculous falling over a banana peel style comedy it’s hard for me to relate to it.  I guess, it does at times remind of me of when I was a young child and watched things like Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons, but is that a good thing?

If there is one thing I have to hand to this film though is that it is engaging.  Even though back then they didn’t have the technology that films like Watchmen or Iron Man has today, they were definitely able to take a seemingly simple idea – i.e. a really long train chase sequence – and place it in a civil war backdrop and make me want to know how it would all work out in the end.  I found myself caring for these characters, especially the horribly mistreated damsel in distress: Annabelle.  There were moments during Johnny and Annabelle’s escape that I thought Johnny to be one of the worst boyfriends on screen.  I know it’s being done for comedic effect, but it just seemed wrong while watching the film for some reason.

In the end it’s a film that I’m sure more than 70 years ago would’ve knocked me out of my chair laughing, but today it’s just a look back at something that isn’t that funny anymore.  I wish I could find some way to grade the acting in this film, but looking back it just seems like someone knowing he’s being really stupid for 70 minutes and nothing more.

IMDB says 8.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes says 92%

I say 4.0/10