
#Buster keaton movies directed free#
Johnnie manages to knock out both guards and free Annabelle. He then sees Annabelle brought in she is taken to a room under guard while they decide what to do with her. He overhears their plan for a surprise attack and that the Rock River Bridge is essential for their supporting supply trains. Johnnie stops the Texas and runs into the forest to hide just as a downpour develops.Īt nightfall, Johnnie climbs through the window of a house to steal some food, but hides underneath a table when some Union officers enter. Johnnie finally notices he is now behind Union lines, and the hijackers see that Johnnie is by himself. As the chase continues northward, the Confederate Army of Tennessee is ordered to retreat and the Northern army advances in its wake. The Union agents try various methods to shake their pursuer, including disconnecting their trailing car and dropping railroad ties on the tracks. By the time Johnnie realizes he is alone, it is too late to turn back. However, the flatcars are not hooked up to the engine and the troops are left behind. He alerts the army detachment there, which boards another train to give chase, with Johnnie manning the locomotive the Texas. Johnnie gives chase, first on foot, then by handcar and boneshaker bicycle, before reaching the station at Kingston. Annabelle, who returned to a baggage car, becomes an inadvertent prisoner of the raiders. Anderson's objective is to burn all the railroad bridges he passes, thus preventing reinforcement and resupply of the Confederate army. As previously planned, Union Army spies led by Captain Anderson use the opportunity to steal the train. When it makes a stop, the passengers and crew detrain for a quick meal. She travels north on the W&ARR to see him, with The General pulling the train. Annabelle informs Johnnie that she will not speak to him again until he is in uniform.Ī year passes, and Annabelle receives word that her father has been wounded. On leaving, he runs into Annabelle's father and brother, who beckon to him to join them in line, but he walks away, leaving them with the impression that he does not want to enlist. To please Annabelle, Johnnie hurries to be first in line to enlist, but is rejected because he is more valuable as an engineer, although he is not told that reason. News arrives that the American Civil War has broken out, and Annabelle's brother and father rush to enlist in the Confederate Army. When Western & Atlantic Railroad train engineer Johnnie Gray arrives in Marietta, Georgia, he visits the home of Annabelle Lee, one of the two loves of his life, the other being his locomotive, The General.

In 1989, it was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the first class of films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The General has since been reevaluated, and is now often ranked among the greatest American films ever made.
#Buster keaton movies directed registration#
In 1954, the film entered the public domain in the United States because its claimant did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. Because of its then-huge budget ($750,000 supplied by Metro chief Joseph Schenck) and failure to turn a significant profit, Keaton lost his independence as a filmmaker and was forced into a restrictive deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The film stars Buster Keaton, who co-directed it with Clyde Bruckman.Īt the time of its initial release, The General, an action-adventure- comedy made toward the end of the silent era, was not well received by critics and audiences, resulting in mediocre box office returns (about half a million dollars domestically, and approximately one million worldwide). The story was adapted from the 1889 memoir The Great Locomotive Chase by William Pittenger. It was inspired by the Great Locomotive Chase, a true story of an event that occurred during the American Civil War. The General is a 1926 American silent film released by United Artists. 75 minutes (8 reels) (times vary with different versions)
