The General (1926)

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The General

75
Global Ranking


Wins 60%
of its Matchups

3083
Total Users
Who've Ranked It

76678
Total Times Ranked

9
Have It At #1

190
Have It In Their Top 20

Directed By Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton Starring Buster Keaton Buster Keaton  •  Marion Mack Marion Mack  •  Glen Cavender Glen Cavender  •  Jim Farley Jim Farley  •  Fred Vroom Fred Vroom Genres Action Comedy  •  Action  •  Comedy  •  Period Film  •  Romance  •  Romantic Comedy  •  Silent Film  •  War Studios &
Franchises
National Film Registry  •  Kino International  •  AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs  •  Masters of Cinema  •  They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?  •  1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die  •  Roger Ebert's Great Movies  •  Sight & Sound's Greatest Films of All Time Poll  •  AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies 10th Anniversary Edition  •  Alamo Drafthouse 100  •  Time Out: London's 100 Best Comedy Movies  •  Cohen Film Collection  •  United Artists  •  Time Out: New York's 100 Best Action Movies  •  Time Out: New York's 100 Best Movies of All Time  •  Paste Magazine's 100 Best Silent Films of All Time  •  Writers Guild of America's 101 Funniest Screenplays  •  The Cinemaholic's 100 Best Movies of All Time
Release Info 1926-12-31T00:00:00Z December 31, 1926
B&W  •  103 minutes NR Rated NR
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MOST RECENT MATCHUP DISCUSSION

The General vs. The Circus

The General The Circus VS.

AlgorithmJMO said on 1/9/2022

"The General; Buster Keaton's silent films appeal more to me than Chaplin's. Although, The Circus..." more ►

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MOST POPULAR MATCHUP DISCUSSION

Sherlock Jr. vs. The General

Sherlock Jr. The General VS.

johnmason said on 11/17/2017

"I appreciate the inventiveness of a few sequences in Sherlock Jr., but The General seemed more..." more ►

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Comments (7)

 
dkrichards16

dkrichards16 on 7/24/2013 Reply  · 

The age old debate of whether you are a Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton fan, is still a popular discussion among movie fans, critics and students. For me I choose Keaton. No doubt Chaplin is funny, I just choose Keaton because in addition to his humor he is also doing amazingly dangerous stunts. Growing up on Jackie Chan movies I've always found live stunts exciting and the stunts in The General are very compatible to today. Given the time period compared to today's safety and medical advancements, it's purely amazing that similar stunts were even considered in 1926.

4 people liked this  √ 

GoodFather

GoodFather on 10/16/2013 Reply  · 

My 250th ranked film.

0 people liked this  √ 

Arthouse

Arthouse on 9/26/2014 Reply  · 

You can see many things in this you'd see today. Very influential. A film on a large scale.

0 people liked this  √ 

eaglesflyhigh

eaglesflyhigh on 10/11/2015 Reply  · 

Among the funniest silent films, however, it doesn't compare to Chaplin's greats, as he adds a whole new level to it with emotion and character development while still being funny. None of Keaton's movies I've seen so far have been more than slapstick humor and crazy stunts.

0 people liked this  √ 

cdogzilla

cdogzilla on 9/29/2017 Reply  · 

Even if they weren't Confederates, the hero and heroine/damsel-in-distress are lousy, unsympathetic characters I wanted to see thwarted. Even if the story flipped to make them Union and the enemy Confederates, it wouldn't have salvaged anything. As it is, fuck if I want to sit through a story where pro-slavery rebels are the "good guys" hoping that something funny will eventually happen. Some of the stunts and locomotive action sequences are justifiably praised, but the film is mostly tedious and never finds its footing between comedy and melodrama. How this ends up being hailed as a masterpiece is, frankly, weird to me. Give me Chaplin's Little Tramp over this any day.

1 person liked this  √ 

hambone88

hambone88 on 1/1/2018 Reply  · 

Some parts weren’t funny like most of chaplains stuff. But I actually found myself laughing and having a good time with this as it went along. Much better than city lights in my opinion.

0 people liked this  √ 

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