The General
1926, NR, 67 min.
Directed by Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Buster Keaton, Marion Mack.

Many Keaton aficionados consider The General to be Keaton’s absolute masterpiece. Although it’s too sentimental for my personal taste, I have too much respect for this comedy’s adherents to argue otherwise. Keaton is a wonderful treasure no matter the movie, and The General is certainly among his best. In this Civil War comedy, Keaton does battle with the General ­ only thing is the General is a stolen train, not a soldier. There’s a girl and some Union spies ­ but, mostly it’s Keaton, the Great Stone Face, all the way.

This article appears in February 9 • 2001.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.