The General / Steamboat Bill Jr.

Buster Keaton's career reached its creative apex with the rousing comic adventure The General. Not merely one of the finest silent films, this remains one of the great film comedies of all time. The Great Stone Face stars as Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray, a man with only two loves: the sweet Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) and his trustworthy engine, the eponymous General. When Fort Sumner is fired upon he's one of the first to enlist, but when the war office rejects him (he's too valuable as a trained engineer) his sweetie rejects him as a coward. Johnny has the opportunity to prove his bravery when Yankee spies steal his engine and inadvertently kidnap Annabelle, and Johnny pursues with all the resources at his disposal: handcar, bicycle, and finally railroad engine. Keaton's love/hate relationship with technology and machinery shines as he becomes one with his beloved locomotive and wrestles with a finicky cannon that threatens to blow his engine off the tracks; with tremendous dexterity, he nails the humor with inimitably deadpan takes. Spunky Marion Mack makes a perfect partner for Keaton, not merely a foil but a gifted comedienne in her own right. Other Keaton films contain more laughs and inspired comic stunts, but none combines romance, adventure, and comedy into a solid story as seamlessly as this silent masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker

In Steamboat Bill Jr., Keaton stars in the story of a college-educated young man who comes home to help his father work on his Mississippi River steamboat and immediately demonstrates just what a landlubber he is. What's worse, the woman he falls for is the daughter of his father's worst rival, a bullying rich guy who wants to drive Buster's boat out of business. Keaton's slapstick is inspired and precise, particularly during an amazing sequence in which he tries to walk across town during a tornado. Watch in amazement as the front of a building falls on Keaton and he walks away without a scratch. --Marshall Fine more

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Smarter Choice Format: DVD, Buster Keaton Double... DVDs. Buster Keaton Double Feature - The General/Steamboat Bill Jr.	4,156 reviews *smarter certified	$16.75 Free Shipping Coupon 2 coupons available Code: Detail: Free USPS shipping at DeepDiscount.com Expires:Nov-20-2010 Restriction:Unknow Code:No Code Required Detail: Free Standard shipping on any order at DeepDiscount. Expires:Aug-31-2010 Restriction:Unknow	See it
General/Steamboat Authorized Dealer	HotMovieSale 139 reviews	$11.85 Free Shipping Coupon 1 coupon available Code:No Code Required Detail: Take $5 off and free shipping on your first in-stock item at HotMovieSale. Expires:Dec-31-2010 Restriction:This offer is exclusive to new customers and does not apply to current members of SmartSavingsCenter.	See it
Format: DVD, Buster Keaton Double...	11,777 reviews *smarter certified	$21.99	See it
General/Steamboat Contains the Buster Keaton classics THE GENERAL and STEAMBOAT BILL JR.THE GENERAL: Often listed among the ten best...	Buy.com 23,982 reviews *smarter certified	$17.99 Coupon 1 coupon available Code: Detail: Take $5 OFF the purchase of $100 or more at Buy.com Expires:Nov-30-2009 Restriction:New Customers Only. Coupons are not valid on Marketplace items	See it
Buster Keaton Double Feature: General... Includes:The General (1927) Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) The General Buster Keaton plays Johnny Gray, a Southern...	Best Buy 14,835 reviews *smarter certified	$21.99	See it

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ProductReviews74/100 (18 Reviews)

Recent Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jul-03-2008; Two Reasons to Love America; The two funniest and most visually artful movies ever made! Some of my amazon friends have expressed concern over my lack of gung ho patriotism and regard for home-grown all-American products. Well, y'all, I say without reservation that...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jan-06-2007; Wonderful; Both movies are really, realy side splitting funny. Buster Keaton was great physical comic genius. I love to watch him run! Great print.Great music.; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-15-2005; Great movie/terrible music; I was very disappointed when I watched this dvd. I had seen "The General" for the first time at an outdoor theatre last summer in Greece. I was absolutely blown away by Keaton's genius. I, along with a international audience were...; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Mar-24-2005; Music Kills It; The picture is perfect. Why can't the Laurel and Hardy series be so good, especially their silents, which look just hideous, even in the Hallmark releases. BUT, the music for the General is SO BAD I can't get through it. I don't know...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jul-03-2008; Two Reasons to Love America; The two funniest and most visually artful movies ever made! Some of my amazon friends have expressed concern over my lack of gung ho patriotism and regard for home-grown all-American products. Well, y'all, I say without reservation that...; read full review | report as inappropriate

3/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-07-2004; The General (1927); One of the few silent films that still manages to stand up today three-quarters of a century after it was originally made. This is thanks to its rapid pace and to the comic genius of Buster Keaton, the master of physical comedy. The...; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-15-2005; Great movie/terrible music; I was very disappointed when I watched this dvd. I had seen "The General" for the first time at an outdoor theatre last summer in Greece. I was absolutely blown away by Keaton's genius. I, along with a international audience were...; read full review | report as inappropriate