 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
24.91.201.174
I have all the Buster Keaton silents and along with "Sherlock, Jr." this one is my favorite. Like all of Keaton, a child can understand the physics involved and the sheer dangerousness of his stunts still amazes. This one is about a stolen civil war Confederate locomotive and engineer Keaton's rescue of it. It is almost all chase, using authentic period engines and boxcars. Keaton went to great pains to be historicly accurate and that adds to the overall enjoyment. There is a train collapsing on a bridge scene that rivals the one in "...Kwai". If you only see one Keaton film, make sure it's this one. I watch it every year or so.
Follow Ups:
The work of a true master.
The General is Keaton's crowning achievement. I favor it over all works of Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, or any other 'drama/comedy' film of the early part of this century. THE GENERAL is also believed to be the most expensive silent comedy ever made. The bridge collapse scene alone cost $42,000 to shoot (That's $2 million dollars by today's standard). Three years before Buster's death in 1966, Keaton said, "I was more proud of that picture than any I ever made."My favorite moment is when during the getaway from the enemy lines, Annabelle is stoking the fire and throws a small and woefully inadequate stick into the General's boiler. Buster sees this and then sarcastically hands her an even smaller stick, she, unknowingly throws that in too. If memory serves, he starts to strangle her, stops and then gives her a kiss. That is a timeless gag that still works today as well as the physical humor he performs so well. Humor that still holds up and holds up well.
One more interesting note that I read on the production:
'The movie's total budget ultimately exceeded $750,000 but it grossed only $474,000 on its first release. Today, the reasons for its box-office and critical failure seem almost inexplicable. True, it wasn't as funny as other Keaton films, but it was never intended as an all-out laugh riot. Perhaps audiences were beginning to resent a comic star who (half a century before Eddie Murphy) was increasingly grounding his on-screen character in superhuman competence instead of all-too-human incompetence.'
That to me is a facscinating revealing statement, 'grounding his on-screen character in superhuman competence instead of all-too-human incompetence.'
Even his character choices were 50 years ahead of his contemperaries.
The miraculous cannon shot, the flip of the railroad tie with another, the disapaering and reappearing boxcar, the water spout and his holding out his hand for rain, his slide down the cliff when he misses the train only to have her back it back up to where he had been, etc. Pure denius, couldn't agree with you more.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
