- theLillyPad17 février 2025Buster Keaton was the Tom Cruise of his era. No, I'm serious. What this man pulled off for his stunts both stuns and amazes. Nowhere is this better showcased than the General, where we see him pull off every fantastic feat one could imagine with a train (and many you couldn't!) I highly recommend watching a little documentary on his life on youtube or something and then jumping in both feet first into this or Sherlock Jr. Otherwise, Keaton makes his stunts look so natural you might just miss how dangerous they really are!
- Pyutaros1 février 2026Watching The General 100 years later, you realize that Buster Keaton wasn’t just a comedian—he was the original Tom Cruise. The level of physical commitment here is staggering. There are no green screens or safety wires; just a man, a moving train, and a willingness to actually set fire to a bridge and crash a $42,000 locomotive into a river for the sake of the shot. What really stood out to me though, was the character of Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). While she’s often framed as the "damsel," she’s a total boss from the jump. She’s the one who shames Johnnie into the war, effectively "cuckolding" his pride until he can earn back his status with a uniform. And when she finally gets on that train, she doesn't wait to be rescued—she climbs on like she owns the place and starts operating the engine herself. She’s essentially a 1920s proto-Ripley. The film also has this fascinating, almost "exploitation" grit. Keaton flips history on its head, making the Confederacy the scrappy underdogs just to make the "David vs. Goliath" stunts work better. It’s an apolitical, purely visceral approach to filmmaking that prioritizes the spectacle of the stunt over the logic of the era. The ending is pure "Keaton Logic"—an adorable, mechanical sequence where he has to solve the engineering problem of how to salute the army and kiss his girl at the same time. A masterpiece of action-geometry that still feels more modern than most CGI blockbusters today.
- Jackson18 septembre 2025This is my first Buster Keaton movie, and I am very impressed with his stunt work. However I had to watch the movie twice to really grasp it, and for being a silent film, it shouldn't have required that. Knowing it has one of the most expensive scenes in silent-film history, I was not impressed by it at all. However it was a silly and moderately entertaining movie, the ending disappointed however.
- shreyasray13 juillet 2025Firstly, the Confederate propaganda is painfully evident and jarring personally. The technical aspects of the film are well done particularly given the limitations of the time. The train chase sequences are ingenious from an action perspective and well-choreographed. The plot, however, feels relatively bare-bones and becomes repetitive quickly. The two extended train sequences become repetitive after a while and contribute nothing to the story. Overall, a decent enough film, may be worth a watch just to experience the really impressive choreography and stuntwork.
- Rowan Krzysiak6 janvier 2025I was all about ready to lay into Buster Keaton having seen two pretty shitty movies held aloft as classics and then I watched 'The General' and it helped reframe him a little for me. I naturally and perhaps unfairly drew comparisons against Chaplin to which Keaton has no chance of matching. Too often it seems he has the 'Family Guy' disease of just shoving in a joke or set-piece abruptly without it really serving much purpose toward the wider context at which Chaplin was the king. However, where these jokes also fall flat, the set-pieces and trickery are often startling and impressive. The stunts are also so raw that the treachery is real. So as for 'The General' well...here the set-piece essentially is the wider conext. It's not far off an hour long train-chase with every stunt and situation possible thrown at it. It remains entertaining throughout with a couple of moments that actually had me gasping. He's not particularly a storyteller or a clown and his screen presence is weak. It is as a human prop, driving the on-screen action where he is most successful and as a wholly action-packed and punchy movie I recommend this one. I am however also unlikely to watch another Keaton movie.
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Le Mécano de la Générale was released on 25 décembre 1926.
Le Mécano de la Générale was directed by Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton.
Le Mécano de la Générale has a runtime of 74min.
Le Mécano de la Générale was produced by Buster Keaton, Joseph M. Schenck.
En 1861, en Géorgie à Marietta, Johnnie Gray à deux amours : sa locomotive, la « Générale », qu'il conduit pour la compagnie ferroviaire « Western et Atlantique » et sa fiancée, Annabelle Lee. Mais la guerre de Sécession éclate. Le père et le frère d'Annabelle s'enrôlent dans l'armée des Sudistes. Sur les demande et pression de sa fiancée, Johnnie, se présente au bureau de recrutement. Mais il jugé plus utile pour le Sud à son poste de conducteur. Ce refus militaire entache la réputation de Johnnie et dépose un soupçon de couardise de la part de sa fiancée et de sa belle-famille. Un an plus tard, pour répondre à un plan militaire établi, des soldats yankees volent sa « Générale » et enlèvent dans la foulée sa fiancée, Annabelle, qui était également dans le train. Johnnie part à la poursuite de ses deux amours et devra relever bien des défis...
The key characters in Le Mécano de la Générale are Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton), Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), Captain Anderson (Glen Cavender).
Le Mécano de la Générale is rated U.
Le Mécano de la Générale is an Action, Adventure, Drame film.
Le Mécano de la Générale has an audience rating of 9.2 out of 10.
Le Mécano de la Générale had a budget of 750 k $US.
Le Mécano de la Générale has made 1 M $US at the box office.