Comedy in the 1920's: "The General"

Despite opening to weak numbers at the box office and receiving poor reviews from critics, The General, directed by and starring American comedian Buster Keaton, is widely considered a classic of the silent era of movies. Released twelve years after D.W. Griffith's Civil War epic The Birth of a Nation, Keaton's General uses historical parody of the same wartime events to appeal to audiences of the comedic genre. For example, the film takes place from the perspective of the Confederate army, which was incredibly unusual and provocative for the time period. By way of a clumsy lead character played by Keaton, who considered The General his best movie, the narrative uses fast paced train chases and physical shticks to attract and retain viewers. For a comedy, the film showed a tremendous attention to detail replicating Confederate locomotives, war uniforms and scenery with impeccable accuracy. Orson Welles, acclaimed auteur director of Citizen Kane, called the film  “the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made.”

Another remarkable feat for The General is that Buster Keaton performed all of his own stunts. In one memorable scene, Keaton's character Johnnie Gray sets fire to the tracks behind him after taking back his stolen locomotive engine:

Filmed in one take, the crew used a real train with a dummy conductor. The accident looked so realistic that many people who were part of the shot screamed in horror. The reactions of the Union soldiers and officers after the stunt were also real since the actors were not told what would be happening in the scene. Townspeople of the local area in Cottage Grove, Oregon were shocked when they heard and saw the staged event. Rumor has it that a few bystanders even fainted. This extraordinary scene would later come to be recognized as the most expensive stunt of the silent era having a budget of $400,000. This consumed much of the film's total budget which was estimated to be only $750,000. 

After eighty-seven years, The General, in my opinion is a "cult classic" of sorts. The late film critic Roger Ebert said that The General "is an epic of silent comedy... including an accurate historical recreation of a Civil War episode." Ebert went on to say that like most of Keaton's movies, The General showcases “a graceful perfection, such a meshing of story, character and episode, that they unfold like music.” While under performing at the box office and falling short to critics, the film dug a niche into the heart of viewers. Using quirky characters, exciting, fast paced train chases and a blend of comedy and drama, The General elicits a smile on the face of the viewer and leaves audiences with a sense of wide-eyed wonder.