It’s all part of an unbelievably riveting actioner (based on the historical Great Locomotive Chase of 1862), which is so tightly edited and designed that very few intertitles are ever displayed. Countless sequences provide utterly iconic black-and-white film imagery. Even Mack has her share of physical feats and slapstick, most of which are inspired by unintelligence and misfortune – but nonetheless riotous. “The General” gleefully features Keaton’s signature brand of acrobatics, with risky stunts involving the moving train, cannonball mishaps, derailments, the desperate pulling of wooden beams off the tracks mere inches before the engine tramples Gray, and jumping aboard or across individual railroad cars. When an attempt to lead an army detachment in pursuit of the stolen train fails, he unwittingly gives chase by himself, captaining the Texas train, though his opponents believe they’re being followed by an outnumbering amount of soldiers. Witnessing the heist and the incidental kidnapping of Annabelle, Gray treks after his precious locomotive – and woman – on a handcar. Thatcher promises to send General Parker’s victorious squadron to advance to meet them during the day of the hijacking. Heading north, they’ll burn every bridge, effectively cutting off supplies to the enemy. Disgusted with his apparent cowardice, she insists that she won’t speak to him again until he’s in uniform.Ī year later, in a Union encampment north of Chattanooga, General Thatcher (Jim Farley) and chief spy Captain Anderson (Glen Cavender) plan a military maneuver in which they’ll pretend to be neutral Kentuckians to steal the W&A train. When Lee’s family returns from the recruitment center, they inform Annabelle that Johnnie didn’t even get in line. They fail to mention that fact to the slight man, who believes his rejection is instead based on his physical diminutiveness. Reluctantly, Gray follows suit, but is turned down by the Confederate Army, as he’s more valuable to the South as an engineer. When Fort Sumter is fired upon, telling of the war’s arrival, Annabelle’s father and brother hurry off to enlist. He Western and Atlantic Flyer speeds into Marietta, Georgia in the spring of 1861, with Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) at the helm of his locomotive, the “General.” Any moment that he’s not piloting his first love, the engine, he woos dainty Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack).
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